Page 108 of Bitter Truths

My heart pounds in my throat as I knock on the hotel room door.

For a second, I think about leaving. Just turning around and pretending none of this ever happened. Running back to the woods where I knew how to exist. How to survive.

Where I knew who I was.

I don’t belong in this world anymore. Whatever place I had, it’s gone.

I’m too wild now, unwilling to conform to what society expects.

The adrenaline is still there, humming through me… a reminder of what I’ve done.

There could be consequences. How will the guys react when they find out?

Maybe mad. Disappointed. Scared for me.

But I’m not.

For too long, others have been pulling the strings, choosing for us, keeping us apart.

What other choice is there, except to fight back?

My fingers twitch, remembering the zip ties. The way those leeches looked at me when they realized they didn’t have the upper hand. They weren’t going to walk away without some form of punishment.

Afterwards, I went to my parents’ house and stood under the shower until the water ran cold. I scrubbed until my skin turned red, but nothing could erase the feel of it… what I did. What it meant. At least the blood’s gone from under my nails.

Although my knuckles are raw.

The dress I’m wearing used to be my favorite. Soft blue cotton, fitted at the waist. Now it just feels like a costume. Like I’m pretending to be someone who no longer exists. The one who kept her voice down and tried to be a people pleaser. The one who always said sorry. The one who would’ve never done what I did today.

I remove the hat and shake my hair loose.

The door opens, and just like that, there they are. All of them.

Their eyes find me, and I feel the air leave my lungs. My body won’t let me forget that these men are mine.

They look different tonight. A little looser around the edges, a little less guarded. Their hair is damp from recent showers, and they’re dressed casually.

More like the men I knew before everything went sideways.

It’s the first time since I’ve been back that they feel familiar… not just in the shape of them, but in the way they carry it. Like maybe the weight we’ve all been dragging is starting to lift, just enough to let a little light back in.

And maybe they see it too… the way we’re all slowly stepping out of the cells we’ve been locked away in. Not all the way. But enough to change everything.

“Hi.” I tuck my hair behind my ear, fingers brushing skin that feels too warm under their eyes.

Freddie’s grin spreads the second he sees me, all warmth and open relief. Like just standing in front of him makes the air easier to breathe. “You came,” he says, voice low and a little breathless, like he’s been waiting for hours.

“Of course I did.” I twist my fingers together, trying not to pick at the skin along my thumb.

His smile falters as his eyes drop to my hands. “What happened?”

I glance down, as if I’ve just remembered. The knuckles are raw, scraped open from when my fist met Rebecca’s face.

Too late, I try to hide them, folding my hands behind my back.

“Nothing,” I say too fast. “I slipped in the hospital lot.”

Owen pushes off the wall, crossing the distance between us. He reaches for my wrist, and I reluctantly extend my hand. His thumb brushes over the broken skin, gentle despite the suspicion darkening his face… like he’s already confirmed for himself I’m lying.