Chapter 2
Maybe it was because I couldn’t let go of our childhood friendship, or maybe I wanted to give us one last chance to be honest with each other.
After we’d been drinking for a while, I looked at him through bleary, tear-filled eyes.
“Adrian, do you really think Matt was a criminal?”
Under the dim lighting, his brow furrowed unconsciously. “People change, Riley. The law is about truth, not feelings.”
It’s all over now. Yeah, Matt’s gone, but at least the cyberbullying stopped too. That’s a good thing, isn’t it?”
He didn’t answer directly, but sometimes silence is all the answer you need.
lowered my eyes and quietly slipped the powder from my hand into his wine glass.
me drink later, and he never opened his eyes again.
pushed open his study door. His half-closed drawer revealed the corner of a photograph-it was an elementary school photo of Sophie and me together.
had been cut out, leaving only Sophie.
Then I pulled it out, there was a photo album underneath.
was filled with thousands of photos, every single one mutilated the same way.
1 a daze, I remembered seeing another version of this album before.
xcept in that one, Sophie had been the one cut out.
nd Adrian had used those photos to confess his feelings to me.
e’d told me he’d been in love with me for years, that it had taken him forever to collect photos of me.
e said he was afraid I’d reject him, too scared to reveal his feelings, but the longer he waited, the harder it became to control his racing heart.
i cried tears of joy and said yes.
ut I never imagined there was another version of that album.
he cabinet below was dominated by a safe. I remembered Sophie’s birthday and tentatively entered the code.
ick
he door opened. Inside was just a single file folder containing a USB drive.
plugged it into the computer and hit play.
he familiar voices made my blood run cold instantly.
ophie’s voice erupted in furious screams:
Let go of me! I said let go! Don’t you understand? Get away from me or I’m calling security! What the hell do you want?!”
Sophie, please, you can’t do this. Riley told me to protect you. Come with me, let’s get out of here.”
ven then, Matt still considered Sophie his sister, speaking to her with nothing but respect.
ut Sophie wasn’t having it.
Get away from me! Don’t touch me with your filthy hands! Go where? You think I’d marry a loser like you? In your dreams! I’d rather die than ever look at you hat way. Get lost!”
Help! Someone help me! This guy’s trying to rape me! Call the police!”
Matt immediately panicked.
“Sophie, that’s not what I meant, I wasn’t-it’s just that old man, he-” The audio cut off abruptly.
The bloody truth was finally surfacing.
Anyone listening would know this wasn’t a conversation between a criminal and his victim.
Adrian had been practicing law for years-how could he not understand? But he’d still chosen to take sides, using Matt’s life to clear his beloved’s name.
My heart felt like it was being torn apart by invisible hands.
The pain spread through every fiber of my being.
With trembling fingers, I hit record, preserving all the evidence.
As I was leaving. Adrian’s phone buzzed twice on the desk.
The screen lit up with a message from Sophie.
“How did it go? Riley’s not having a breakdown, is she?”
This is all my fault. Matt didn’t mean to do anything wrong. If I’d just given him a chance, maybe he wouldn’t have died. ”
‘Adrian, thank you so much. Without you, I really don’t know what I would have done…”
I couldn’t read any more.
turned and went back to the bedroom.
Then I booked a flight out of the country for three days later.
Adrian was already a top-tier lawyer-a normal lawsuit wouldn’t stand a chance.
There was only one path left: mutually assured destruction.
