Revenge and deceits
RYAN
I should have known Jack would crack the case in no time. Tracking the number was child’s play for him. Within hours, he had it traced, pinpointing the sender. Now, all that remained was for me to make the call.
And that’s exactly what I was doing.
I wasn’t stupid enough to use my own number, of course. The burner phone’s screen glowed faintly as I held it to my ear, the ringing on the other end grating on my nerves, each second making my patience wear thinner.
A part of me—hell, most of me—was sure this was Amelia’s doing. Every piece of this puzzle pointed to her.
Then, the ringing stopped.
“Hello?” A female voice answered.
I froze for a split second, my grip on the phone tightening. It wasn’t Amelia’s voice, but it was familiar. I didn't even recognize her voice.
“Who is this?” I asked, my voice low, sharp, and controlled.
The voice on the other end faltered. “Who’s asking?”
“Don’t play games with me,” I said coldly. “You know who this is. I’m giving you one chance to explain why you sent that picture.”
There was silence—a hesitation that only confirmed my suspicion.
Then came a shaky laugh. “Ryan… I didn’t think you’d actually call.”
It was Amelia.
I felt a surge of anger rise in my chest, but I kept my voice steady. “So it was you.”
“And what if it was?” she replied, her tone shifting to something smug. “What are you going to do about it?”
My grip tightened on the ohone. “You have some nerve, Amelia. What the hell are you playing at?”
“Playing?” she repeated, her tone mocking. “I’m not playing, Ryan. I’m just showing you the truth. You think Violet’s so perfect, so untouchable, but guess what? She’s not. She’s no better than the rest of us.”
“This isn’t about Violet,” I snapped. “This is about you. What do you want?”
She laughed again, the sound grating. “What do I want? For you to feel what I felt, Ryan. Abandoned. Betrayed. Worthless and ohh, don’t pretend you don’t remember,” she hissed. “It wasn’t that long ago. You, me, that summer—you were so charming, so careless. And then, when I needed you most, you vanished.”
“You think this is a joke?” I snapped. “Dragging Violet into whatever twisted game you’re playing?”
Her tone sharpened. “Oh, don’t act like I’m the villain here. You brought this on yourself.”
I gritted my teeth, gripping the phone tightly. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“It means,” she hissed, “you can’t run from your past forever.”
My chest tightened. I knew exactly what she was referring to, but I wasn’t about to let her see me crack. “So this is about that? After all these years, you’re still holding on to it?”
“Oh, I’ll never forget it,” she said bitterly. “But clearly, you already did. Or maybe you just pretended it never happened. That’s what you’re good at, right? Pretending.”
“Don’t,” I warned, my voice low. “Don’t twist this around. You and I both know how things ended between us.”
She scoffed. “How things ended? You mean how you abandoned me the second I told you I was pregnant?”
I clenched my jaw, flashes of the past surfacing in my mind. The day she came to me, tears streaming down her face as she uttered the words “I’m pregnant”. I’d dismissed her then, chalking it up to another one of those desperate ploys I’d grown used to from ladies who wanted more than I was willing to give.
“You think I didn’t know what you were doing?” I said coldly. “You wanted to trap me. Tie me down. I wasn’t stupid, Amelia.”
Her voice cracked with fury. “Trap you? Are you serious? Do you have any idea how hard it was for me to come to you that day ? How much courage it took to even tell you? And you threw it back in my face like I was nothing!”
“You weren’t exactly trustworthy,” I shot back. “We both know what kind of person you were back then. You think I was going to let myself get caught up in your games?”
“My games?” she repeated, her voice trembling with rage. “I wasn’t playing any games, Ryan. I was terrified, alone, and looking for the father of my child to take some responsibility. But instead, you looked me in the eye and told me to leave. That I was lying. That you wanted nothing to do with me or the baby.”
A lump formed in my throat, but I forced it down. “You don’t even know if there was a baby. For all I know, you made it up just to—”
“I was pregnant, Ryan!” she yelled, her voice breaking. “And I had to deal with it alone. I got rid of it. Of course, you wouldn’t care. Why would you? It’s not like you were ever going to stick around.”
Her words hit me like a punch to the gut.
“I...” I started, but the words wouldn’t come.
“Save it,” she said coldly. “I don’t want your apologies. They mean nothing to me now. You moved on, Ryan. You always do. But I didn’t. I can’t. And seeing you now, playing house with someone else, pretending you’re some new man—it makes me sick.”
“Then what do you want?” I demanded, my voice rising. “Revenge? Is that what this is? Some twisted way to make me pay for what happened?”
She laughed bitterly. “You think this is revenge? No, Ryan. This is justice. You got to walk away, scot-free, while I had to pick up the pieces of my life. And now, you’re playing house with Violet, pretending to be some knight in shining armor. But you’re not. You’re the same selfish, reckless bastard you always were.”
“Leave Violet out of this,” I growled, my voice hard.
“Or what?” she challenged. “What are you going to do, Ryan? Hurt me? Destroy me? Face it—you already did. I’m just returning the favor. Flash news? She's already deep in it Ryan” she said, her voice dripping with malice. “And I’ll make sure she sees you for who you really are. You don’t deserve her, Ryan. You don’t deserve happiness after what you did to me.”
The line went dead before I could respond.
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