Sophie and Claire exchanged a quick, loaded look.
Olivia stopped talking. She noticed the glance. "What is it?"
Sophie set her fork down. She looked uncomfortable, her eyes full of pity. "James contacted yesterday."
Olivia went perfectly still. The blood roared in her ears.
Claire reached out, placing a hand over Olivia's. She tried to soften the blow. "He's just worried about you, Liv. He said things have gotten out of hand between you two. He told us you left after a misunderstanding about some finances. He said you were really upset, not thinking clearly, and that you're staying at Leo's house."
Olivia felt the hope drain out of the room, replaced by a suffocating, icy dread.
"We are not judging you," Sophie said quickly, her voice laced with concern. "But we really think you should go back home and talk to James properly."
"Marriages go through hard moments," Claire added, squeezing her hand. "Maybe this is something you guys can work through, before it becomes bigger than it needs to be."
Claire and Sophie were not trying to be cruel. They honestly believed they were helping. James had framed the situation perfectly. He had made himself sound like the concerned, reasonable, heartbroken husband. He had painted Olivia as emotional, reactive, and confused.
That made the betrayal infinitely worse.
She felt stunned, humiliated, and deeply, terribly alone. The people she was so relieved to see had unknowingly walked in carrying her husband's lies.
Chapter 13
Olivia
Olivia looked across the small desk at Claire and Sophie. The slice of Hannah’s favorite blueberry crumb pie sat between them, untouched. The warm, comforting ease that had filled the office just minutes ago was gone, replaced by a suffocating chill.
She understood exactly what James was doing.
He had reached her friends first, carefully selecting what to say and what to omit. He was building a narrative. He was making her sound emotional and erratic. He was making himself sound heartbroken and deeply reasonable. Worst of all, James was turning the women she loved into messengers for his version of the truth.
"You don't know everything that happened," Olivia said, fighting to keep her voice steady. "Even I don't know everything yet."
Sophie leaned forward, her expression full of gentle, misplaced pity. "I know there are two sides to every story, Liv. But James told us Leo is actively trying to keep you from coming home to talk to him. You have to consider that Leo isn't exactly impartial in this situation."
Olivia froze. A cold prickle washed over the back of her neck. "What do you mean by that?"
Sophie and Claire exchanged a brief, loaded look. The glance hurt Olivia before either of them even opened their mouths.
"Liv," Sophie started softly, "it's kind of obvious that Leo still has feelings for you."
Olivia stared at them in absolute disbelief. "That sounds exactly like something James invented to deflect attention from what he actually did."
"No, that part isn't James's invention," Claire said gently. "We've noticed it for years, Olivia. Since college, really."
Sophie nodded in agreement. "It was always obvious. But because Leo never crossed a line, and because he always respected your marriage and stayed a good friend to both of us, we just never felt the need to bring it up beyond a passing comment in the past."
The revelation threw Olivia completely off balance. The idea disrupted the one relationship she thought she understood perfectly. Leo had always just been Leo. Her anchor. Her safe place. The person who showed up, brought fresh herbs to her kitchen, made her laugh, and stayed constant. The suggestion that everyone else saw a deeper, unspoken layer that she had been completely blind to unsettled her to her core.
But as the shock rippled through her, a fiercer, sharper instinct took over. She refused to let James turn the conversation away from his own actions.
"Even if that were true," Olivia said, her voice dropping into a hard, uncompromising tone, "it has nothing to do with what James did."
"We aren't excusing James," Claire said quickly.
"We just want you to be careful," Sophie added.
"James wants you to focus on Leo," Olivia countered, looking them both in the eyes, "because Leo is a lot easier to question than a folder full of proof."
