Something loosens in my chest at that.
“Thanks, Nick.”I hug him, and he hugs me back without hesitation.
I’m almost out the door when he calls my name.
“Nora?”
I turn.
“Sometimes the people we’re trying to protect are stronger than we think,” he says.“And sometimes we’re not protecting them—we’re protecting ourselves from the fallout of what comes next.You should think about telling Nate what you just told me.”
His words echo in my chest like an ache.
I nod.Not a promise.Just acknowledgement.
I’m halfway down the steps when I remember something.
“Gardenia,” I say, turning back.
Nick waits.
“The perfume she was wearing.It was gardenia.I remember because it didn’t belong there.”
He absorbs that, filing it away with quiet understanding—like someone who knows even small truths can crack open bigger ones.
As I walk away, Dr.Henshaw’s voice rises in my mind:When someone refuses to talk about who hurt them, it’s usually because they’re protecting someone else.
That’s exactly what I’m doing.
But what’s the alternative?
Tell Nate and watch him implode?
Tell Mom and darken her engagement with my shit storm?
No.Some secrets feel worth protecting.
Even if they eat you alive from the inside.
But the thing about secrets is the longer you carry them, the heavier they get.
And the truth?
The truth is stubborn.
It always finds a way to crack through whatever walls you build.
And I’m starting to feel the cracks forming.
CHAPTER16
BREAKING POINT
NATE
Ollie stepsout of the dressing room like he’s been waiting all damn year for the chance to show off.
“Gentlemen, prepare yourselves,” he announces, arms spread, doing a spin that makes the overhead lights catch on the navy of his suit.
