Chapter 55
Chapter 55:
Finn pulled a face. “Please don’t remind me that, as a fully grown, gainfully employed adult, my big Friday night plan is sharing reheated lasagna with my judgmental cat p>
He flashed another grin at me. “You’re at least better company. And less judgmental, I hope p>
I laughed. “Alright then. Thanks. You’re a lifesaver p>
We got in the lift.
Seeing a familiar face here felt like a little cosmic pat on the back.
Once we were in a conference room, I handed him my phone. “Someone’s been spreading lies about me. Can I sue p>
Finn scrolled through the screenshots, his jaw tightening. “Jesus, these people are savage. Yeah, if all this is made up, it’s definitely defamation. You can go civil, or even criminal if you want to push it. That kind of shit’s not protected p>
“I’m sure it’s all lies. Every word p>
Finn scrolled again, slower this time, then frowned. “Wait. The guy who sent all this… Rhys Granger p>
I nodded.
His head snapped up. “The same Rhys who p>
Another nod from me. This time with bonus shame.
Back then, I hadn’t exactly been broadcasting my crush on Rhys, but let’s be real, people knew.
Hard not to, especially after Catherine uploaded scans of my diary to the school intranet like it was breaking news.
Boom. Instant humiliation.
Everyone suddenly knew I had a tragic, textbook-case crush on my sister’s boyfriend.
College life could be brutal. Especially when you were the headline.
𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲’𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁: 𝗀⍺𝗅☼𝗇𝗈☼ν𝖊☼𝗅𝘀☼ⅽ𝗈☼𝗆
Still, I had friends. Including Finn.
We were in the same club, and he’d been nice to me from day one.
He never pried.
When everyone else wanted the tea, Finn just quietly made sure I got included in all the club activities and listened whenever I wanted to vent.
If he hadn’t graduated early and bolted off to law school, we probably would’ve stayed close.
Still, all these years later, seeing someone from my “hopelessly simping for Rhys” era made me want to crawl into the nearest bin.
Reluctantly, I elaborated. “We got engaged, then we, uh, broke up. He didn’t take it well. So now he’s playing petty, spreading stuff to make me look bad. But he’s the one who cheated, honest p>
Finn blinked.
I saw it—somewhere behind the professional poker face, a little crack.
“Send me everything,” he said, voice low. “I’ll handle the lawsuit p>
“The comments are ongoing and getting worse. His fanboys are still going off on me. I’ll send you more later p>
“The worse, the better. If he keeps this up, the judge’ll be begging to slap him with charges p>
“Cool. Appreciate it p>
Yvaine was basically living on her phone at this point, refreshing like it was a second job.
Every time Rhys dropped a message in their group chat, one of her friends screenshotted it, sent it to her, and she passed it to me.
I forwarded the mess to Finn.
But lawsuits took time.
Yvaine didn’t have that kind of patience.
Her birthday was coming up, and she was out for blood.
“I invited Rhys and Catherine to my birthday party,” she called and told me. “Watch how I ruin their day for you p>
I tried to be reasonable. “Don’t let those clowns mess up your birthday. It’s not worth it p>
“Making them squirm is the only thing that’ll make it worth it p>
I yielded.
Sunday afternoon, I turned up at her house with a tiny, ribbon-wrapped box.
“Custom-made,” I said, handing it over. “Only one in the world p>
“Shut up. I love it p>
Yvaine was already clasping the necklace around her neck, twirling in front of the mirror, snapping selfies.
Then Cassian Langford walked in.
Yvaine blinked. “Wait, what are you doing here p>
He lifted a sleek black gift bag like it was a peace offering. “Your brother’s stuck overseas. Sent me to play the charming stand-in p>
“Ooh, what did he get me p>
He held up two bags. “One’s from Emmett. The other’s from me. Guess which is better p>
She pointed to her neck. “Neither. This is the best p>
Cassian looked at me and nodded.
While Yvaine greeted the incoming guests, Cassian stood next to me. Several times, he opened his mouth like he wanted to say something, but in the end, decided not to.
I was tempted to ask him to spit it out when the party proper started.
The place was packed.
Yvaine had enough energy to power the city grid, and half of Skyline’s social climbers were here kissing her arse.
The gift pile had mutated into a three-meter-high shrine in the corner. I was halfway through my mocktail when Rhys finally showed up. And, of course, he brought her.
Rhys glanced around the room and stared straight at me.
He knew I’d be here.
Showing up with Catherine was part of his whole pathetic power play.
Message received, loud and clear: You can move on, babe, so can I.
Childish. Predictable. And not even original.
Murmurs rippled through the crowd at the sight of those two, especially Rhys.
He still hadn’t healed completely from the beating Ashton gave him last week. He’d probably snuck out of the hospital with a bruised jaw and stitched-up lip just so he could try and make me jealous.
I squared my shoulders.
Yvaine touched my arm. “Let me have a go first. Come on, I’ve got a whole thing planned. Even did a rehearsal p>
Her smile was feral.
I gave her the floor.
She elbowed one of her friends and flicked her chin in their direction.
That was the signal. Near the door, I caught someone disguised as a party photographer filming Rhys and Catherine.
Probably another part of Yvaine’s plan.
I eased closer for a 100k.
The camera caught them at just the right moment.
One frame even looked like a kiss—pure illusion, but it didn’t matter. A second later, my phone vibrated.