Page 84 of Thirst Trap

“No,” I said. I stepped in and shut the world out. “I’m here to tell you something you don’t want to hear.”

“What?”

“It’s Remy.”

Silence stretched taut.

“Bullshit,” she snapped,then faltered at my face.

“It’s her, Maddie,” I said, voice breaking. “The timing, the files. She doesn’t think you deserve your fairytale.”

Maddison’s expression crumpled, hardened, shattered again. “She’s my best friend.”

“She was.”

Her eyes flamed. Tears burned. “If this is true, I’ll kill her.”

I didn’t flinch. I just stayed. Steady. Letting her world crack in my hands.

Better she heard it from someone who loved her than read it in a headline.

I tore the bandage off with clean hands.

Some wounds needed truth to heal.

Chapter 47

Cracks in the Glass

The Tower apartment reflected me a hundred times, red hair wild, eyes raw, lips pressed tight. Remy kept echoing. My best friend. Fries and hospital waiting rooms. Lipstick before meetings. Feeding my life to the press like scraps.

The door opened. “Maddie?”

Lucas.

He knelt in front of me, palm warm on my neck, the other covering my shaking hands. “Say you’re angry.”

“I’m humiliated,” I choked. “She knew everything, Lucas. Every scar. And she used them.”

“Then she was never your friend.” His voice was steel wrapped in velvet. “You have me now. Always.”

“What if I can’t handle it?” I whispered. “What if I break again?”

“Then I’ll break with you,” he said, forehead to mine. “And we’ll build something stronger out of the pieces.”

Something inside me shifted. Not just pain.

Trust.

The city still glittered outside.

Inside, I picked myself up and he held me tightly.

Chapter 48

Betrayal

The café was too bright for the way my stomach twisted.