Page 5 of Until the End (The Lost Letters #3)

Ginny

“ N ooooo.” Carson groans as he flops over into the pillows. “I thought I had an ally. When did you switch sides?”

I giggle at his dramatics. “When they cast Ben Affleck as Batman. He’s not polished enough to do Bruce Wayne justice.”

“But he got jacked for that role. It fits so much better with the comics than Christian Bale’s version.”

I roll my eyes. “There are two competing sides to Bruce Wayne: the playboy billionaire and the crime-fighting vigilante. Ben Affleck just looked like a brute.”

“I’m so disappointed in you right now.” Carson bites into a Twizzler rope as the Zack Snyder cut of The Justice League plays on the TV.

Shopping bags litter the floor of our hotel room, filled with clothes, toiletries, and more snacks than we’ll ever be able to eat.

Carson went all out for our night in, and I couldn’t love him more.

I’m also incredibly grateful he’s kept all the questions I see swirling in his eyes to himself.

He hasn’t asked me a single thing about what happened .

I’ll tell him. I just need a little time to distance myself from the avalanche of emotions I’m wading through.

I should’ve left my phone off like Carson suggested. The texts from my manager and Wesley just about broke me while Carson was checking us into the hotel. I tried to stop thinking about them while we shopped today, but now that we’re relaxing in the room, my brain has been running a mile a minute.

Cecelia called me a drama queen and told me I was ruining the best thing to ever happen to me. As if getting married could compare to becoming a world-famous singer. Especially not to a man willing to cheat on his soon-to-be wife.

No, my manager’s texts sucked, but they were nothing compared to Wesley’s.

At first, his messages were full of concern, asking where I was, begging me to get in touch with him so he knew I was okay, and saying my family was worried about me.

Then the texts turned mean. Telling me I was a spoiled brat looking for attention, and I’d regret walking away from him.

He called me a frigid bitch, and said he was glad he wouldn’t have to force himself to fuck me every day.

When that didn’t get a response from me, he turned to demanding I call him immediately or he’d go to the press and tell them I cheated on him. I almost caved at that threat, but then Carson opened the door to the Jeep, and I turned my phone off completely.

The craziest thing is that I don’t care if Wesley goes to the press with some made-up story. I don’t care if my singing career is over and I’ll never get to go on stage again. I don’t care about any of it anymore.

The first couple years of being on the road with my band and touring across the country were amazing.

I loved every second of it. But somewhere along the line, things changed.

I started dating Wesley, and Cecelia became my new manager.

The spotlight on me went from warm and inviting to ice-cold and scary.

With distance, I can see how I let a lot of this happen.

I could’ve stood up for myself at any point, but I never did.

I thought they knew what was best for me.

I thought they had my best interests at heart.

I was wrong.

Snuggling down into the blankets, I lay my head on Carson’s shoulder.

I need the reminder that I have a whole host of people who love me, whether I’m famous or not.

Carson wraps his arm around my shoulder and pulls me into his chest, and I squeeze his waist in a silent thank you as we watch the end credits begin to roll on the TV.

The movie had just started when I was scrolling through the channels.

It was a no-brainer to watch it since Carson and I have seen every single superhero movie ever made.

“You pick a show now,” I say against Carson’s chest.

“Let’s just see what’s on next.” Carson runs his hand up and down my spine in soothing strokes, and my eyelids begin to droop.

“I love you, Duck,” I murmur.

Carson kisses the top of my head. “I love you, too, Goose.”

With those words of comfort, I drift off into the most restful night’s sleep I’ve had in a while.

I close my eyes against the warm wind blowing into my face. The ocean provides peaceful background noise to the thoughts rolling around my head.

It was a great surprise when we found a patio behind our blackout curtains instead of just a window this morning.

We’ve been picking at our room service breakfast for the last hour.

The silence is heavy as Carson waits me out.

He wants to talk about the wedding escape.

I want to talk about it, too, but I’d like to enjoy this moment of calm for a few more minutes.

Once I say the words out loud, there’s no going back.

Another sip of my sugary-sweet coffee brings me life. “So…what are we doing today?”

“Ginny…” Carson practically growls.

I laugh. “I’m sorry. I couldn’t help it. Things were too tense.”

“It’s time to talk, Goose.”

With a sigh, I place my cup on the glass table.

“Yeah, okay.” I face Carson head-on, ready to spill my secrets.

Time and distance have brought a metric ton of clarity.

I didn’t have a great epiphany; I just finally accepted the truth about what happened to me.

I’m ashamed I let things go as far as they did, but being in the thick of it never allowed me to think beyond getting through the day.

I want to hold these secrets to my chest because if I say them out loud, I have to acknowledge my part in the story. The knowledge that Carson would never judge me is the only reason I can share them at all.

I open my mouth to speak, but no words come out. “I have no idea where to start.”

Carson’s eyebrows rise. “Where to start? I was hoping you’d tell me why you ran away from your wedding, but maybe from the very beginning would be better.”

“The beginning…right.” I blow out a long breath.

“Cecelia set up the meeting. She told me Wesley was a fan of my music and wanted to chat after a show. It wasn’t the first time she asked me to meet a celebrity backstage, so I agreed.

We hit it off that night. He was charming, funny, and humble about his career.

He was just starting out and quickly growing in popularity.

From there, we met up a few more times, getting lunch or coffee when we were in the same city.

It was laid-back. Simple. Looking back, I can see how easily he fooled me. ”

“Fooled you?”

I play with my napkin, twirling it around my fingers to get my thoughts in order.

“After we started dating, he gradually began to show his true personality. It started with little things. He’d tell me my outfit wasn’t quite right and I should change, or I should work out a little longer to stay in shape for the tour.

I thought he was my partner, that he was looking out for my best interests.

His requests eventually turned into demands, and then they became bold and degrading.

I pushed back on some, but then it turned into fights.

He had an incredible ability to turn my words into weapons.

It took too much out of me to battle him every day, so in the end, I would do what he asked.

I thought the more I followed his lead, the better things would get. ”

A self-deprecating snort comes out, and I finally make eye contact with Carson.

He’s trying to keep his expression neutral, but there’s murder in his eyes.

“You know, he never actually asked me to marry him. He told me it would play well in the press if we got married and said we might as well since we were already living together. That should’ve been my warning.

It should have told me this wasn’t the right move, but he’d been making choices for me for so long it felt normal. ”

“God, Ginny. How did we let you suffer for so long? How’d we not see it?”

“I didn’t let you. No one in a healthy relationship hides their life from their family. Another warning I should have paid attention to but ignored for peace instead.”

“We were all worried about you when the wedding planning started. You weren’t yourself, but I never would have guessed it’d gotten this bad.”

“Cecelia took over the wedding plans. I’d turned so far inward, I couldn’t see past getting through each day.”

“What happened yesterday? ”

“I walked in on Wesley having sex with one of my bridesmaids.”

“That motherfucker.”

I smirk. “Accurate. Seeing his betrayal broke the wall I’d built in my mind to deal with the abuse. Between the drive here and our day yesterday, I can finally see my situation for what it was. I was in an abusive relationship.”

I pause as that sinks in. It hits differently, saying it out loud.

It makes it real instead of something I can shove to the back of my mind.

But I can’t ignore the truth anymore. “I’ve been manipulated for years.

Cecelia’s part in it is almost worse than Wesley’s betrayal.

I thought she had my best interests at heart, but she was just as bad.

She pressed me to follow Wesley’s lead when I would question his choices.

I can’t quite understand her motive—a kickback, probably, for the different events we attended together.

There has to be more to it, but I don’t know what it is.

” Her texts after I ran from the wedding made me realize she was just as culpable as Wesley in all of this.

I’m not sure how they’re connected, but I’ll figure it out eventually.

“How are we going to handle this?”

A small smile ticks up the corner of my mouth at his use of we . “I don’t know yet. Fire Cecelia for a start, go home to Sonoma to lay low from the paps. My label wants another album, but I have some time to deal with that later.”

“That’s a good plan. Maybe coming home will give you a chance to focus on writing instead of everything else that’s going on.”

“That would be nice for a change.”

“Then we’ll make it happen.”

If only things in my life were that easy.