Page 38

38

Piper

I’m planted on the couch like a tree stump, staring into space and replaying Emma’s exit on a loop. The living room feels twice as big now that she’s gone, and about ten times colder. I’d give anything to hear her voice, even if she was yelling, because at least it’d be something.

Maddie darted out after her, throwing me an apologetic glance, but Sadie pulled her usual disappearing act. I feel so hollow I could blow away with the slightest breeze.

My eyes burn, and I keep telling myself: You did the right thing. Telling the truth was necessary. But if it was so right, why do I feel like my heart’s been stomped on by that cow that nearly took me out?

Then, just when I’m about to bury my face in my hands and cry for the millionth time, the front door creaks open. My pulse leaps—half of me desperately hoping it’s Emma, the other half terrified she came back for Round Two.

Instead, Sadie steps inside. She looks… spooked. Which is weird, because Sadie is usually the picture of unbothered.

She spots me on the couch and winces. “Piper.”

I press my lips together. “Where’s Emma? Did she… drive off?”

Sadie shakes her head, swallowing hard. “She’s out front. Maddie’s with her, trying to calm her down, but it’s not going great.”

My eyes sting again. “I really screwed up, didn’t I?”

She moves closer, stopping a few feet away. “No. Well, yeah, but not alone,” she blurts, voice shaky. “Look… I’m about to do something I’ve been dreading. But I can’t let you take all the blame.”

My heart flutters. What does that mean? “Uh… you lost me.”

Sadie’s gaze flickers to the room’s open door. She inhales like she’s about to cannonball into icy water, then raises her voice: “Emma? Can you come back in here?”

My stomach twists. “I doubt she wants to talk to me again.”

Sadie ignores me, crossing to the doorway and calling out more insistently, “Em? Please?”

For a beat, nothing happens. Then footsteps. Then Emma appears, cheeks blotchy, eyes rimmed with tears. Maddie hovers behind her, looking like she’s bracing for an explosion. Emma’s gaze slides right past me, zeroing in on Sadie.

“What?” she demands, wiping at her eyes. “You want to twist the knife some more? I’ve had enough bullshit for one day.”

Sadie flinches, and my jaw nearly hits the floor. Sadie —flinching? That’s new. She glances at me, voice trembling. “I asked you to come back because… I have something to confess too. And Piper needs to hear it.”

My stomach does a half-somersault. Great. Another confession. The tension in the room is so thick you could serve it with a knife and fork.

Emma crosses her arms, face red and furious. “You’ve got sixty seconds. Then I’m gone.”

Sadie nods, licking her lips nervously. “Right. So, you’re mad at Piper because she lied about being Penelope Darling, and she wrote those blog posts about Jake.”

Emma narrows her eyes. “Not to mention to the stupid dare in the first place. Minor detail.”

Sadie purses her lips. “Yeah. That too.” She flicks her eyes my way for half a second. “But the dare part of this mess? That was all me. I started it. I dared Piper to mess with Jake, told her it’d be hilarious if she took him down a peg. I… encouraged her to use her blog if she wanted. I wanted it to be humiliating, for both of them, if I’m honest.”

Emma’s brow furrows so hard I’m worried she’ll give herself a migraine. “You started the dare?” she echoes, voice sharp with disbelief.

Sadie’s gaze drops to the floor, her voice small. “Yeah. If you’re looking for someone to blame for that fiasco—if you’re furious that Piper got close to Jake for the wrong reasons—then… that’s on me. I was the one who whispered it in her ear like it was just some fun little challenge.”

Maddie sucks in a breath. Emma’s face flushes, her fists clenched at her sides. “Why would you do that to her?” she demands. “She’s never done anything to you.”

Sadie winces, rubbing her sleeve like it might absorb the guilt. “It wasn’t really about Piper. Not at first.” She swallows hard. “It was about me. I was pissed off and insecure. Piper showed up all sparkly and confident and instantly got your attention, and Jake’s. Meanwhile, I felt like the leftover cousin. Again.” Her voice wobbles. “I didn’t think it’d turn into this whole disaster. I thought it’d be a joke, a dumb way to stir the pot. But then it got serious… and I panicked.”

She pauses, eyes flicking to mine, then back to Emma. “I doubled down. I told Davidson’s people she was Penelope, fed them some crap about her stirring up dirt on Jake. And yeah…” Her next words come out on a whisper. “I blackmailed her. I told her if she didn’t keep going with it—keep playing along—I’d expose her secret myself.”

Emma stares like she’s seeing her for the first time. “You blackmailed her?”

Sadie nods, tears prickling in her eyes. “Yeah. I was awful. I knew she was struggling, I knew she didn’t want to hurt anyone, and I still pushed. I just… wanted to feel important for once. Like I had the power. Like maybe if I could control one thing, I wouldn’t feel so invisible.”

The room goes still.

Even Maddie’s too stunned to chime in. Emma doesn’t speak either, but her expression shifts—still betrayed, still furious—but now tinged with something else.

Sadie’s voice trembles as she finishes, “I’m sorry. I don’t expect a gold star or forgiveness. But I needed to say it out loud. I see what I did. And I hate that it took this much damage for me to realize it.”

My heart is pounding like crazy.

“You… you never told me you felt invisible.”

Sadie snorts, but it’s watery, like she’s trying to laugh and cry at the same time. “Yeah, well, I don’t exactly do therapy talk, do I? But I was jealous. I was bored. I wanted to impress... I don’t know. Mostly, I just wanted someone—anyone—to notice me first for once.”

Emma leans in. “Someone like who?”

She swipes under her eye, exhaling hard. “My mom, maybe? She’s got this laser focus on my brothers—Sawyer and Rand walk into a room and it’s like the heavens part. Me? I could win a gold medal and she’d still ask if I remembered to brush my hair or something.” Her voice cracks. “I thought if I stirred the pot a little, if I made some noise, maybe I’d matter too.”

Emma’s expression shifts, her anger softening into something more shocked—like Sadie just said something she never even considered.

“I never imagined that about Aunt Evelyn,” she says quietly. “She’s always seemed… I don’t know, like she has it together.”

Sadie lets out a bitter laugh. “Yeah, well, she’s real good at looking polished while making you feel like a nothing more than a little pest.”

Emma’s eyes widen, her anger shifting into something like shock. “So you decided to ruin Piper’s life because you felt overshadowed?”

Sadie shrugs, looking miserable. “It started as a petty dare, but yeah… then it snowballed. And when Piper got too close to Jake, I freaked out. I didn’t want her actually becoming part of this family. It felt like she was slipping into a space I’d never really had. So I panicked.”

She rubs her arms, voice lower now. “I told Davidson’s people things that were technically true—like that Piper was blogging again, that she wasn’t being honest with Jake—but I twisted it. I made it sound worse than it was. I didn’t think it would hurt him, not really. I just wanted to wreck things between them before they got serious. I wanted Piper to leave.”

She lifts her eyes to Emma. “But then I saw her with Violet. With you. With all of us. And I realized how far off the rails it had gone. I didn’t want to destroy anyone—I was just… scared. And jealous. But by the time I figured that out, the damage was already done.”

A hush falls so heavy it’s almost suffocating. I glance at Emma, who’s shaking her head like she can’t believe what she’s hearing. Maddie stands next to her, a hand on Emma’s shoulder in silent support.

Finally, Emma breathes out, “All this time, I blamed Piper for lying about who she was. But you were the one who… who started the entire fiasco. It’s both of you. I can’t believe this.” She scrubs a hand over her face. “I feel like I don’t recognize either of you.”

Tears slip down Sadie’s cheeks. She hugs her arms around her body, looking small and scared—so unlike the snarky cousin who always rolled her eyes at me. “I know, Em. I’m sorry. I never meant for it to go this far. I just wanted to feel like I mattered. Now everything’s broken, and I hate myself for it.”

Emma’s lip quivers. “Jake was humiliated, Piper was forced into a corner, and you acted like a puppet master? Good God, Sadie.”

Sadie’s voice shakes. “I’m not proud. But I couldn’t let Piper eat all the blame. I started that dare. That’s on me.”

I swallow, tears burning my eyes again. “I had no idea,” I whisper. “Sadie, I’m… sorry you felt that way.”

She meets my gaze, something vulnerable flickering in her usually guarded eyes. “I was a jerk. I know that doesn’t undo anything, but at least now you know I’m not some unflappable queen bee. I’m just… a messed-up girl who got in over her head.”

Emma drags in a shaky breath, tears edging her eyes again. “You both messed up so badly. I can’t even… this is too much.” She presses her lips tight, voice wobbling. “I need air. I need time. I can’t process all of this right now.”

Maddie gently squeezes Emma’s shoulder. “Em, maybe we can talk—”

Emma narrows her eyes. “What, you have something to confess too?” Her tone is razor-sharp, acid-tinged.

Maddie’s eyes go wide, her mouth forming into a hard line.

Emma goes on. “No. I’m done talking. Not now.” She levels Sadie with a heartbroken stare. “I can’t believe you did this. Either of you. I need to get out of here.”

I open my mouth, desperate to say something, anything, to fix this. But what can I say? We’re sorry? It’s too little, too late. Emma turns, tears streaking her cheeks, and she strides to the door.

Sadie looks rattled, like she wants to chase after her. But fear pins her in place. She stands there, trembling, and Emma disappears through the doorway. The final click of the latch feels like a coffin lid slamming shut.

A strangled silence presses in. Sadie sucks in a shallow breath and wipes her eyes, looking truly broken for the first time since I’ve known her. She glances at me, and I see how raw she is, how lost.

“I’m so sorry,” she whispers. “For everything.”

I can barely speak around the lump in my throat. “I—thank you for telling her. I had no idea you felt so… invisible.”

She gives a shaky nod, tears leaking down her cheeks. “I guess now you do.” Her voice is small. “I’m not evil. Just… desperate to matter, I guess.”

I reach out, resting a hand on her arm. “I see that now.” My own tears threaten to spill again. “Sadie, I—”

She shakes her head. “Don’t. We’ll figure it out later… maybe. But for now, I think we both just need space.”

She steps back, flicking a glance at the door Emma vanished through. Then, with one last pained look, Sadie drifts out, leaving the house in a hush so stark it makes my ears ring.

I stand there, heart pounding, tear tracks drying on my cheeks. What just happened? The snarky, aloof cousin who’d always thrown shade just revealed she’s as broken as the rest of us, if not more. And in that moment, I realize: She’s never really been seen for who she is. All that armor was just a shield for a hurt girl craving a spotlight no one ever gave her.

I close my eyes, leaning against the wall to steady myself. Emma’s heartbreak, Sadie’s raw confession—my life feels like a slow-motion train wreck I can’t stop. But maybe… maybe this is the start of something better. Because at least now, everything’s out in the open. No more secrets. No more illusions.

My throat tightens. It doesn’t fix the damage, though. Emma left without a single word of forgiveness. Jake still doesn’t know half of this. And how will they ever trust me or Sadie again?

I let out a trembling breath. One crisis at a time. For now, I’m grateful to see Sadie as more than a villain. She’s just a girl who made bad choices, same as me. And maybe, if we’re lucky, that truth can lead us to redemption—if Emma and the rest of the Ice clan ever give us the chance.

But from the look on Emma’s face, that chance might be a long time coming – if it ever comes at all.