Chapter 9

We arrive safely back at my hotel room. Scott sets me down in a chair as I finally start to digest the events that have just unfolded. For me, the world seems to be falling apart. My heart is filled with melancholy; my fists are continuously clenching in frustration and anger. Yet I do not cry. It’s almost as if I physically can’t cry. The shock of the betrayal hasn’t worn off. My life, my family—nothing is going to be the same after tonight. I feel shattered beyond repair.

But then I look up, my eyes meet Scott’s, and I feel the tiny pieces of myself that were just shattered start to twitch back together. That’s when it dawns on me: he wasn’t surprised at all by Ashley’s announcement.

“You knew, didn’t you?” I ask.

“I figured it out. Once I recognized your voice, everything else made sense.” He kneels in front of me.

“You didn’t say anything to Aiden. To me.”

“It wasn’t my place to say anything,” he says with a slight shrug.