Chapter 50 NO MORE SECRETS

Chapter 50 NO MORE SECRETS
Alex
Alex woke up to find Elias’s side of the bed cold.
He checked the time. 4 AM. Way too early for Elias to be up for work.
He found him in the living room. Sitting on the couch in the dark. Phone in his hands. Face lit by the screen’s glow.
“Elias?”
Elias jumped. Dropped the phone. “You scared me.”
“What are you doing up?”
“Couldn’t sleep.”
Alex sat next to him. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. Just thinking about the conference.”
“Liar. You have your guilty face on.”
“My what?”
“The face you make when you’re keeping something from me.” Alex picked up Elias’s phone from where it had fallen. The screen was still unlocked. Messages open.
From Carter.
“Alex, don’t.”
But Alex was already reading. The messages from tonight. The ones about Chicago. About some girl. About watching them.
“He’s still texting you,” Alex said. His voice was flat.
“I was going to tell you.”
“When? After Chicago? After he’d already gotten in your head?”
“I didn’t want to worry you.”
Alex stood up. Angry. “We talked about this. No more secrets. No more protecting me.”
“I know. But these were just insane ramblings. They didn’t mean anything.”
“He said someone’s watching us. That there’s a girl at work. What girl?”
“There is no girl. He’s making it up.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I would know if someone was flirting with me. And nobody is.”
Alex paced. The apartment felt too small. His chest is too tight. “He knows about Chicago. How does he know about Chicago?”
“I don’t know. Maybe he’s following my social media. Or Jordan’s. The conference is public information.”
“Or maybe he’s actually watching us. Following us. This is getting worse, Elias. Not better.”
“I know. I’m sorry. I should have shown you the messages.”
“Yes. You should have.” Alex stopped pacing. Looked at Elias. “What else are you keeping from me?”
“Nothing. I swear.”
“Are there DMs he mentioned? Messages from someone at work?”
“No. I checked. There’s nothing. He’s just trying to cause problems.”
“Well, it’s working. Because now I’m sitting here at 4 AM wondering what you’re hiding.”
“I’m not hiding anything.” Elias stood up. Came closer. “Alex. Look at me. There’s no girl. There are no secret messages. Just Carter being Carter.”
“Then why didn’t you tell me about the texts?”
“Because you’ve been doing so well. School is getting better. People are leaving you alone. I didn’t want to drag you back into his mess.”
“It’s our mess. Not just yours. We’re supposed to deal with it together.”
“You’re right. I’m sorry. I screwed up.”
They stood in the dark living room. The city lights outside are casting shadows across the floor.
“I can’t do this if you keep lying,” Alex said.
“I’m not lying. I’m just bad at knowing when to share.”
“That’s the same thing.”
“Is it? Because to me, lying is malicious. I’m just trying to protect you.”
“I don’t need protection. I need honesty.”
Elias ran his hands through his hair. “Okay. Full honesty. From now on. Everything.”
“Promise?”
“Promise. No more secrets.”
They went back to bed but neither could sleep. Lay there in the dark. Not touching. The space between them felt wider than it was.
“Are you still going to Chicago?” Alex asked.
“Do you want me to?”
“I want you to do what’s right for your career. But I also want to trust you. And right now, I don’t know if I do.”
The words hung heavy in the dark.
“I’ve never cheated on you,” Elias said quietly. “I’ve never even thought about it. Carter is trying to make you doubt me.”
“I know. But you’re helping him by keeping things from me.”
“I know. And I’ll do better. Starting now. Full transparency.”
“Show me your phone.”
“What?”
“Your phone. If you have nothing to hide, show me.”
Elias handed it over without hesitating. Alex scrolled through messages. Social media DMs. Email. Nothing suspicious. Nothing from any girl. Just work stuff and messages from his family.
“Satisfied?” Elias asked.
“I hate that I had to ask.”
“I hate that I made you feel like you had to.”
Alex gave back the phone. “I’m sorry. For not trusting you.”
“You have every reason not to trust me. I keep messing up.”
“But I want to trust you. I want to believe we’re strong enough to get through this.”
“We are. I know we are.”
They finally touched. Hands finding each other in the dark. Holding on.
“When you’re in Chicago,” Alex said. “Call me every night?”
“I was planning to call you every hour.”
“That’s excessive.”
“Is it? I’m going to miss you every second.”
“It’s three days.”
“Three days too long.”
They fell asleep holding hands. When morning came, they woke up tangled together.
“I’m calling Carter,” Elias said over coffee.
“What? Why?”
“To end this. For real. No more games. I’m going to tell him to stop or I’m going to the police with everything. Harassment. Stalking. All of it.”
“You think that’ll work?”
“It has to. Because I can’t keep doing this. I can’t keep watching him poison us.”
Elias called. Put it on speaker.
Carter answered on the third ring. “Finally. I was wondering when you’d call.”
“This ends now,” Elias said. His voice was steel. “No more texts. No more messages to Alex. No more anything. Or I’m going to the police with every piece of evidence we have.”
“You already tried that. They didn’t care.”
“They will when I show them the pattern. The escalation. The threats.”
“What threats? I haven’t threatened anyone.”
“You’ve threatened our relationship. Our peace. Our safety. That’s enough.”
Carter was quiet for a moment. Then: “You think you’re so strong now. But you’re not. You’re just pretending. And when it falls apart, when Alex realizes what you really are, you’ll come crawling back.”
“I won’t. Because what I really am is someone who loves him. Someone who’s done with you.”
“We’ll see.”
“No. We won’t. Because this is the last time we ever speak. Lose my number. Lose Alex’s number. Lose everything about us. Move on.”
“Or what?”
“Or I make your life as miserable as you’ve made ours. I’ll post everything. Every message. Every lie. Every manipulation. I’ll make sure everyone knows exactly what you are.”
Silence.
“You’re bluffing.”
“Try me. You have twenty-four hours to delete every contact you have for us. Every photo. Every piece of information. Or I go public.”
Elias hung up. 
Alex stared at him. “That was incredible.”
“That was terrifying.”
“Do you think he’ll actually stop?”
“I don’t know. But at least we drew a line.”
They got ready for the day in silence. Both processing. Both hoping.
At work, Elias tried to focus. Failed. Kept checking his phone. Waiting for Carter to respond. To escalate. To do something.
Nothing.
By evening, still nothing.
“Maybe it worked,” Alex said when Elias got home.
“Maybe.”
They made dinner together. Simple pasta. Nothing fancy. Just being together in their kitchen. In their life.
At 10 PM, Elias’s phone buzzed.
Unknown number.
They both froze.
Elias opened it.
Unknown: Fine. You win. I’m done. But don’t come crying to me when he breaks your heart. Because he will. They all do.
Then another message.
Unknown: All contacts deleted. Photos gone. You’re free. Congratulations.
Alex read over Elias’s shoulder. “Is he serious?”
“I think so. I hope so.”
They waited. One hour. Two. Three.
No more messages.
At midnight, Alex finally breathed. “Maybe he’s really done.”
“Maybe.”
They went to bed exhausted but hopeful.
But at 3 AM, Alex’s phone rang.
Not a text. A call.
Unknown number.
He almost didn’t answer. But something made him.
“Hello?”
Heavy breathing on the other end. Then a voice. Female. Unfamiliar.
“Is this Alex?”
“Who is this?”
“Someone who knows what Elias is really like. Someone who thought you should know the truth before he goes to Chicago.”
Alex’s blood ran cold. “What truth?”
“About who he’s meeting there. About why he really took the promotion.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Ask him about Rachel. Ask him why he didn’t mention her.”
The line went dead.