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CHAPTER FIFTY-NINE

I DIDN’T KNOW how far I walked.

The road stretched ahead of me, bathed in pale moonlight, the night sounds barely reaching my ears. My heartbeat was too loud, too uneven, drowning out everything else.

I was trying to breathe. Trying to stay upright.

But my legs felt weak.

I had run out of the clubhouse like I was on fire, but no matter how far I got, the pain inside me didn’t lessen. It was still there, clawing at my chest, wrapping around my throat.

Mystic is married.

The words rang in my skull, over and over, until I felt like I was going to be sick.

He lied. He let me believe. Let me feel safe. Let me love him.

And I was stupid enough to fall for it.

A pair of headlights appeared in the distance, the hum of an engine growing louder. I ignored it, kept walking, my arms wrapped around myself, holding my fractured pieces together.

Then—the car slowed.

My spine stiffened.

The tires crunched over gravel as it pulled to the side of the road just ahead of me. I barely had time to react before the driver’s side door swung open and a woman stepped out, her.

The wife.

The one who had shattered everything in a single sentence.

She was still wearing that same smirk, the one that had sent my stomach twisting into knots back in the clubhouse. “You look like you could use some company.”

I turned away. I wasn’t doing this. She wasn’t worth my breath.

But she took a few steps closer, her heels not slowing her down. “Come on now, don’t be like that.” She let out a fake, amused sigh. “I wanted to have a little chat, woman to woman.”

I kept walking.

She laughed. “You really thought you had him, didn’t you?”

I stopped and my hands curled into fists. The night air felt too thick, too heavy. I turned my head just enough to see her, standing there in the glow of her headlights, arms crossed, watching me like I was pitiful.

She tilted her head, her smile widening. “You think you’re the first one he’s tried to play hero for? The first broken little thing he’s scooped up?” She let out a sharp laugh. “You’re adorable.”

I clenched my jaw so hard it ached.

Don’t listen. Don’t let her in.

She took another step toward me, her voice lowering, dripping with faux sympathy. “I get it. He makes you feel special, doesn’t he? Like he actually cares?” She let out a soft tsk. “Sweetheart, he doesn’t love you. He just loves feeling like a savior. Like he can fix something, because God knows he can’t fix himself.”

The breath punched from my lungs.

She sighed, shaking her head. “You’re just the next in line. The next broken thing he can pour himself into until he gets bored and moves on.”

My throat burned. I swallowed hard.

She’s lying.

But the doubt was already there, festering, sinking into the cracks Mystic had left in me tonight.

She saw it. She felt it. And she went in for the kill.

“Don’t believe me? Tell me something, sweetheart. If he really cared about you—if you were anything more than a distraction—don’t you think he would’ve told you about me?”

I was starting to feel faint.

She smiled. “There it is.”

I didn’t realize I was shaking until I tried to breathe, tried to force air into my lungs.

She took another step closer. “You don’t have to take my word for it. You saw the way he froze back there. He didn’t defend you. He didn’t defend himself. He just stood there, letting me talk, because deep down, he knows I’m right.”

“The only thing you’re right about is how full of shit you are.”

The words cut through the night like a whip.

I blinked. Turned.

And there she was—Lucy, standing in the glow of the headlights, arms crossed, her expression full of fury.

Mystic’s wife rolled her eyes. “Oh great, here comes the mouthy sidekick.”

Lucy took a step forward, eyes blazing. “Bitch, say another word and see how mouthy I get.”

For the first time, Mystic’s wife looked slightly caught off guard.

Lucy didn’t give her a chance to recover. “You wanna come out here and run your mouth? Fine. But let’s get a few things straight, sweetheart .” She spat the last word like it was toxic.

She pointed at her. “First off, you’re real confident for a woman who just got her ass dumped.”

Mystic’s wife scowled. “We’re still married.”

Lucy snorted. “Yeah? Not for fucking long. Kinda sad, huh? He got tired of your shit a long time ago and found someone better.”

Her lips pulled back in a sneer. “Oh, and don’t think for a second Zeynep’s ‘just another broken little thing’ he’s picking up. That’s projection, bitch. Zeynep is more beautiful than you in every way and that eats at you, doesn’t it? Knowing you can never compare.”

Mystic’s wife’s jaw clenched.

Lucy grinned. “Hit a nerve, didn’t I?”

“You forget I’m not the other woman here am I?” she smirked before turning back to me. “I’ve been his wife since I was eighteen and you’ve been fucking him for what? A month? Don’t let your bitchy friend try and make it sound any different than what it is… he loves me, always has… he just gets an itch now and then.”

Lucy stepped between us, turning her full attention to me. Her expression softened, but her voice stayed firm.

“Zeynep, don’t listen to her. She’s desperate, and she’s trying to hurt you because she has nothing else left. Mystic screwed up, yeah, but that man loves you.” Her voice lowered. “I see it. The whole damn club sees it. And if you walk away from him because of anything she says, you’re letting her win.”

I swallowed hard, my heart pounding.

Mystic’s wife let out a bitter laugh. “Oh, so this is the part where you convince her to stay? That I’m the bad one? I’m his wife, the one he married. I didn’t do anything wrong here.”

Lucy turned back to her with a smile full of teeth.

“Nah. This is the part where you get back in your car and get the fuck out of here before I make you.”

Mystic’s wife narrowed her eyes. Then, without another word, she turned on her heel, got back into her car, and sped off into the night.

Lucy exhaled sharply, watching her go before she turned back to me, arms crossed. “Come on. Let’s get you back before you do something stupid.”

I hesitated and, slowly—I nodded.

I was numb now. The same kind of numb that took after I was taken and realized I had no escape from the horror that would be my life.