His face goes pale.
“I lost my career. My future. My dream. My confidence. Everything I worked for since I was old enough to sit on a saddle. And you know what I did?” I choke out. “I forgave you. Instantly. I forgave you so fast I didn’t even allow myself to be angry.”
Beck’s eyes shine, jaw trembling. “Ellie—“
“No,” I say, tears burning behind my eyes. “You don’t get to call me that right now.”
He flinches.
“Do you know why I forgave you so easily?” I continue, voice cracking. “Because you were already drowning. Because you were high, broken, and I loved you too much to add to your pain. So I pushed mine down and buried it. And I never brought it up again.”
A tear slips down Beck’s cheek.
Zane shifts, but I whirl on him next. “And you.”
Zane stiffens like he knows what’s coming, and he’s right.
“You got to walk away from your accident and somehow build a whole new life. A wife. A daughter. A future. You got to heal.”
“That’s not fair—“ he starts.
“No,” I bite out, “what’s not fair is that you think I did, too.”
That shuts him up.
“I was the one who begged you to take me to Ava’s concert that night. You didn’t want to go. You said no. I begged until you changed your mind, and because of that, you went, and you got hurt. Because of me, you lost your career.”
Zane’s face twists, tormented. “Ella, that’s not on you.”
“But it feels like it is!” I scream, voice breaking. “I’ve carried that guilt for years, but you never asked about it. Never checked. You assumed I was fine. That the smile on my face meant nothing was wrong.”
He opens his mouth, but I’m already turning to Jace.
“And you,” I whisper.
Jace straightens like someone slapped him.
“When those thugs broke into the house, they weren’t looking for me. They were looking for Tessa.”
Jace’s face goes white.
“They grabbed me, held a gun to my face, and tied me up. They threatened to take me God-knows-where, and all I could think was that I was going to die because of someone else’s choices.”
Jace’s chest rises and falls too quickly, breath sharp. “Ella… I’m so sorry. But I made them pay.”
“I know,” I whisper. “I know you did. And I’m grateful. But the fear didn’t disappear just because you saved me. I still felt it, lived through it, and had to pretend I was okay afterward because I didn’t want you to feel guilty.”
Silence swallows the room, thick and suffocating. All three stare at me like they’re seeing me—the real me—for the first time.
“And you have the nerve to act like Cole is the one ruining my life?”
Zane drags a hand over his face. “We were protecting you.”
“No, you were controlling me. Policing me. Acting like I’m too young or too naive to know what I’m doing.”
Jace looks down. Beck presses his palms to his eyes. Zane’s jaw ticks hard.
“You think Cole seduced me into giving him the contract?” I demand. “That he manipulated me? That he tricked me?”
