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“They’re here.”
Ryder’s foot bounced where it was resting on his knee. “Be prepared. She’s a fucking monster.”
“I see your monster and raise you the actual devil.” Jake sighed and clasped his hands together. “This should be fun.”
With their warnings in mind I opened my front door to greet two women who looked absolutely normal. If I’d spotted them jogging by the house early in the morning, I wouldn’t have looked twice. I’d actually started to expect horns.
“Hi! I know we’ve met before at some of the fundraisers around town, but that feels like forever ago. I’m Sara and this is Megan. Thank you for letting us meet at your house. It’s nice to have a neutral meeting ground with things like this.” Sara, who I had no recollection of ever meeting, held out her hand, acting completely civil.
I shook her hand and then gestured them both inside. “They’re in the living room, through the left.”
Megan stopped and faced me. “I’ve heard so much about you around Austin through the years. I wish we were meeting under better circumstances.”
I didn’t know what to make of them both being so cordial, considering the circumstances. “Yeah, sure.”
If I expected fireworks and curses when I entered the living room, I was wrong. Sara and Megan were perched on the couch across from Ryder and Jake, their legs crossed and matching looks of pity on their made-up faces. Jake and Ryder looked just as confused as I felt. They were the same women who’d attacked Fiona and tried to get her fired, but they seemed calm and peaceful. It was alarming.
“I know that y’all are upset about our methods, but I think once you find out what we uncovered, you’ll be a little more understanding.” Sara sighed and uncrossed and recrossed her legs. “I’m not exactly sure where to start. I don’t want to hurt any of you. Maybe at one point, I would’ve wanted this for you, Ryder, and maybe I would’ve felt like you deserved it, but not now.”
Ryder scowled. “What are you talking about, Sara? We need to talk about the shit you’ve been pulling to hurt Fiona.”
Megan sat forward and clutched her knees. “Jake, Ryder… We weren’t nice to her at first and that was us being jealous and petty. We shouldn’t have been so mean and this next part would probably be easier to believe. Both of us had a bad feeling about her right away.”
Bad feeling. Seemed like everyone was getting them.
“We should’ve come to y’all first and been open about our thoughts, but with our history… I didn’t think you’d believe me, Ry. Not after some of the shit I did to you.” Sara wiped a tear away. “This whole thing has really shown me that I messed up. Seeing another woman hurt you, Ry… It’s awful.”
Megan reached over and squeezed Sara’s hand. The two of them looked like a couple of Sunday school teachers with their most wholesome faces on. I wasn’t sure what I was seeing or if it was real. I didn’t know them but looking at Ryder and Jake, I could see that they were thrown off, too.
“What do you mean? Seeing another woman hurt me?” Ryder frowned and looked over at me like he was expecting to see the answers on my face. When I shrugged, he looked back at his ex and shook his head. “Sara, come on. What is this?”
“We talked to the man she told you fathered her son.” Sara winced when Jake exploded from the couch to pace behind it. “I know we crossed boundaries and went farther than we should’ve but I don’t regret it! Not after what he told us.”
Megan stood up and moved closer to Jake. “Jake, he told us a lot about their relationship. They dated and Fiona came to him and told him that she was pregnant. He’s from a wealthy, old money family and his parents wanted a paternity test.”
“Stop talking.” Jake turned his back to Megan but it did nothing to stop her.
“She freaked out over the paternity test and acted like a wounded bird over it. He was almost to the point of telling his parents to fuck off when his best friend confessed that he’d been sleeping with Fiona the entire time they were together.” Turning to face me, Megan took a deep breath. “They forced her to take the paternity test. But the doctor claimed there were twins.”
Sara sighed. “Sound familiar?”
My bad feeling turned into a hurricane of shit inside me. “That’s bullshit.”
“No, it’s not. This poor guy spent nine months being chased by Fiona claiming she was pregnant with twins, but as soon as the babies were born, they’d do a test and all that. It’s the exact thing she told y’all.” Megan sighed and gently rested her hand on Jake’s arm. “After what I did to you, Jake, you don’t deserve this.”
I sat on the arm of the couch next to Sara, my heart pumping too hard. “Why would we believe him? He was a piece of shit to her.”
“No, he wasn’t.” Sara turned a pleading look on me. “Sebastian, I know you don’t know me very well, but this is the truth. Matt’s going to go through his parents’ paperwork from around that time to see if he can find the paternity test that she finally had to take and the restraining order the family filed against her. It wasn’t his child. The best friend had no money, though, so she didn’t want him. She went on a crusade to convince everyone around them that Matt knocked her up and abandoned her. People believed her. His life was ruined by her. If you heard how freaked out he sounded by talking about her again, you’d believe us.”
Ryder held up his hands and shook his head. “This is not real. We slept with her. We were at the doctor’s office. We saw the scans. She’s pregnant with twins.”
“I can’t imagine why a doctor would go along with her tricks, but it happened with her ex. He saw the scans. He was there with her. I know it doesn’t make sense, but it’s true. This isn’t her first game.” Sara shook her head and frowned. “I’ll look into the doctor. She can’t keep getting away with this.”
“Did she tell you she was sleeping with a guy at work before going to the retreat?” Megan walked away from Jake and sat down next to Sara again. “Did she?”
I shrugged as I thought back. She’d mentioned seeing a guy but that they hadn’t slept together in a while.
“She was. Another teacher. Another broke teacher. He claims she was pregnant before the retreat. She told him she wasn’t getting sacked with another loser.” Sara shook her head and wrapped her arms around herself. “I’m so sorry, Ry. She saw you guys as marks. You were rich, single, and hurt enough from what I did to you that she just had to pretend to be a sweet, innocent little girl to make you fall for her. I’m sorry. You probably don’t believe me but I am. You don’t deserve this.”
