“Marta!” I protested, heat flooding my face.
“What? I’m just saying what we’re both thinking.”
“How do you know Tashi?” asked Leo.
“Oh, our mothers were friends, so naturally we were too. It wasn’t until I turned seven that I understood that Tashi wasn’t my biological sister. But she is my heart anyway.” She turned back to me, lowering her voice to what she probably thought was a whisper. “Triplets.” Marta fanned herself. “Lord have mercy.”
“Marta, I swear to God?—”
“Tashi,” Leo interrupted gently, his eyes meeting mine with that understanding that made my chest ache. “I’ll leave you with your friend. If you need anything—anything at all—call one of us.”
“Same,” said Orion.
They left before I could respond, closing the door quietly behind them.
The silence that followed was deafening.
Marta waited exactly three seconds before rounding on me. “Okay. Spill. Everything. And I mean everything, because what I saw online was—” She stopped, her expression softening. “Tashi. Honey. Are you okay?”
And just like that, the dam broke.
I sank back onto the sofa, and Marta sat beside me, pulling my head onto her shoulder like she’d done a thousand times before. When we were broke college students. When my mom died. When Daniel cheated. When life felt too big, too hard, and too much.
“I’m so tired, Marta,” I whispered. “I’m so tired of being strong and making the right choices and trying to do everything perfectly. And now everyone thinks I’m a slut who slept her way into a job.”
“Everyone doesn’t matter,” Marta said firmly. “The people who love you know better.”
“Do they? My mom’s friends have been calling, and I can hear the judgment in their voices. ‘Oh, Tashi, we’re so concerned.’ ‘Is this really you?’ Like I’m some stranger who replaced their sweet little girl.”
“Your mom’s friends are old church ladies who think sex outside marriage is scandalous,” Marta pointed out. “Of course they’re clutching their pearls. But that doesn’t mean you did anything wrong.”
“I’m sleeping with three brothers, Marta. My bosses. All three of them.” I pulled back to look at her. “How is that not wrong?”
“Were you coerced?”
“No.”
“Were they abusive?”
“God, no. The opposite.”
“Did you want to be with them?”
I thought about Orion’s intensity. Leo’s warmth. Ares’s protectiveness. The way they made me feel seen, valued, and desired in a way I’d never experienced before.
“Yes,” I admitted quietly.
“Then where’s the wrong?” Marta spread her hands. “You’re all adults. You’re all consenting. You’re not hurting anyone. Some people think it’s weird? Let them think it’s weird. That’s their problem, not yours.”
“It’s not that simple?—”
“It is exactly that simple. You’re just making it complicated because you’ve spent your whole life trying to be what other people expect.” Her voice turned gentle. “Tash. I’ve known you since we shared a crib together. And you know what I’ve learned? You’re happiest when you stop caring about what other people think and simply live your life.”
“Easy to say when your sex life isn’t viral content.”
“True.” Marta pulled out her phone. “But speaking of viral content—have you seen the support?”
“What support?”
