Page 126 of What Goes Around

“I’ll be fine.”

Chapter 39: It Should Have Been You

The second I stepped through the front door, a coffee cup came flying at my head.

I ducked on instinct. It missed my hair by an inch and shattered against the wall behind me, hot liquid splattering across my red dress.

“Did it hit you?” my father asked sharply as he rushed over.

I shook my head. “No.”

“Good.” He turned on Marissa, voice rising. “What the hell are you doing?”

Marissa was shaking with fury. “She ruined Apple,” she spat. “She deserves to pay for this.”

On the sofa, Apple was folded in on herself, sobbing into her hands. Her makeup was smeared, mascara streaking down swollen cheeks. Marissa turned away from me and pulled her into her arms, rocking her, stroking her hair like she was still a child.

“She ruined me,” Apple cried, her voice breaking as she pressed her face into Marissa’s shoulder. “She wanted to destroy me. Everything I worked for. She hates me.”

Marissa tightened her grip on her without ever taking her eyes off me.

“Do you have any idea what you’ve done?” she demanded.

I tilted my head slightly. “That depends. Are we talking about tonight?”

Apple lifted her head then.

“You set me up,” she said. “All of it was fake. The recordings. The messages. You edited everything. You stole my private conversations and humiliated me in front of everyone. Do you have any idea what that does to someone’s future? Mom, tell her.”

I studied her for a moment, then exhaled slowly.

“You’re giving me far too much credit,” I said calmly. “I don’t have those skills. I don’t know how to manipulate audio, edit screen recordings, or fabricate videos. I barely manage my own phone settings.”

Marissa’s lips pressed into a thin line.

“And the staircase footage?” my father demanded. “Explain that.”

I didn’t hesitate. “That video was on my phone. If it ended up somewhere else, then someone accessed my device without my consent.”

Marissa’s eyes narrowed. “How convenient.”

“What’s convenient,” I replied evenly, “is blaming me instead of asking how that content existed in the first place.”

Apple stiffened.

“So now you’re the victim?” she snapped.

“I didn’t say that,” I said. “I said hackers exist. You just explained how easy it is to fabricate things, remember?”

Apple shook her head, her movements tight with disbelief. “This is insane. You expect us to believe some random hacker targeted only me?”

She looked straight at me. “You’re lying. You’ve always been jealous. You couldn’t stand that people liked me, that I got into Juilliard, that I succeeded where you didn’t.”

“I’m saying it’s possible,” I answered. “More likely than me suddenly developing advanced technical skills overnight.”

“I can’t believe you,” Marissa snapped. “Instead of standing by your sister, you’re adding to her pain. You know what she’s been through. After the kidnapping. After everything. She’s fragile, Ashley.”

Apple clutched at Marissa’s sleeve, crying harder now, like the sound itself was proof.