“That’s no longer true.” She flashes me a cruel smile. “Let’s get real, babe. Someone like you was never going to hold on to a guy like him.”
“Whatever sick game you’re playing, it ends here.” Paige was right. Paige was so fucking right, and I’m the idiot who didn’t see it. “Did you sabotage my college applications?”
“What? Someone sabotaged your college applications? Oh no. I’m so sorry. Guess things really aren’t going your way right now, huh?” Her pitying look enrages me.
“You did it! You did this on purpose.”
“It’s understandable you’re stressed, Azzie, but I really wouldn’t start throwing accusations around, especially when you don’t have proof.”
Oh my god. She did it. I just know she did. I trawl quickly through my mind, and it comes to me. “My laptop was open that day you were at my dorm when I dropped down to Neve’s room to discuss our project. You went into my inbox and sent those emails, deleting them after they’d been processed.”
“If I did, it’d be quite clever, wouldn’t it, Azzie?”
Her smug grin ramps my rage up another notch. “You fucking bitch! And stop calling me Azzie,” I yell. “Get Callan. I want to speak to him now.”
“What the fu—” Callan comes racing out of the en suite bathroom, wearing a towel around his waist with water sluicing down his muscular torso. His face pales when he sees me, and I stop breathing as I watch the naked terror in his eyes.
Gwen turns to face him, giving me her back and blocking my view of them. “Lover, you need to explain things to Azzie. She won’t believe me.”
A strangled sound rips from my mouth.Lover?No. No. What is going on? This can’t be happening. This can’t be real. It isn’t. Callan hates her, and he loves me. He’d never be with her. I just need to keep my cool until Callan explains. Paige is right. This is all Gwen’s doing. She’s set this up to make it look like he’s cheating on me, but he would never. Especially not with Gwen. He might not have said it outright, but I know he hates her.
“Astrid.”
Looking at Callan on the screen is like looking at a stranger. His face is devoid of the terror I saw a minute ago, his features wiped clear of all emotion. “I’m sorry to do this to you over the phone, but we’re over. I’m with Gwen now.” He jerks a little. “I love Gwen.”
“What? What are you saying? You can’t… No. No. I don’t believe you.”
“It wasn’t planned. It just happened, but she’s who I want. I’m sorry, but it’s over between us for good.”
I examine his face for something, anything, but it’s like he’s a robot. “Stop lying! You can’t stand her! Is she making you say this? What has she done?”
“Gwen’s pregnant,” he blurts, and if I weren’t sitting down, I’d have fallen over. “We’re having a baby, and you and I are done. My future is with her.”
Tears spill down my cheeks of their own volition. My mouth opens and closes. The pain in my chest is so severe it feels like I’m dying. “You’re having a baby with her?” The words are barely a whisper as I feel my soul shattering. “No. No. This isn’t real.”
“It’s real. I’m sorry, Astrid. We didn’t mean to hurt you, but we can’t help how we feel.”
I stare at him through blurry vision as my heart ruptures in my chest. My hands are shaking. My entire body is trembling, and I feel cold. I’m struggling to draw enough oxygen into my lungs when Gwen’s gloating face reappears. “It’s best for everyone if we cut all ties. Don’t contact my man again.”
The screen turns black when she hangs up, and the phone slips from my hand as I collapse on the floor, curl into the fetal position, and break apart.
50
ASTRID
In the initial aftermath of the call, I lie on the floor, curled into a ball, in a state of numbed shock. It feels surreal. Like I’m floating overhead, watching someone else’s life detonate. My stomach churns, and my hands are shaking. I just keep thinking, “No, no, please no.” My brain is struggling to comprehend it. Why? How? Why, why, why?
I knew something was off these past few weeks, but I ignored my gut instinct, telling myself Callan was just stressed and busy as the season draws to a close.
My mind churns, revisiting memories with Gwen, seeing everything in a very different light. It continues to feel like a living nightmare until Paige comes home the following morning, and I have to tell her.
I shatter.
My knees give out.
I’m gasping for breath, choking as I try to force the words from my mouth.
A tearing sensation rips my chest apart, and the tears won’t stop flowing.
