CHAPTER 423
Harmony giggles softly, the sound cruel and hollow.
“And when he was thirteen... some girl—Cindy, or whatever her name was—actually dared to make him laugh. Right there, in front of me. Can you believe that? Mocking me, stealing him with just a stupid smile.
Her voice cracked, trembling with manic emotion.
“His eyes crinkled, that stupid little dimple showed—because of her. Like I wasn’t even there.”
She took a sharp breath, then hissed, low and wild,
“Only I get to make him laugh. Only me. How dare she try to steal that from me—”
Her eyes gleamed with a wild, dangerous fire, lips curled into a smile that never touched the coldness behind them.
“She thought it was just a harmless joke. Cute, even. But not to me. Never to me.”
Her voice softened—poison wrapped in honey.
“So I waited. Patiently. Until the halls emptied. Then I shoved her down the stairs. Poor girl... shattered her spine. Never walked again.”
Xander stood frozen, eyes narrowed, his hand gripping his glass so tight it threatened to shatter.
His mind raced, trying to keep up with what was unfolding before him.
John was standing beside him, stiff, his hands fisted at his sides.
Zach crossed his arms over his chest, his face darkening with disbelief as the seconds ticked by.
This was the real Bunny?
The nickname they’d all given her as children, the one they’d used to protect her, to treat her like she was something too delicate to touch.
But now, that innocent façade was shattered, and Xander could see it—finally see it—through the lens of truth.
John shook his head slowly, his voice rough with disbelief and anger.
“Fucking hell man! That sweet smile was nothing but poison waiting to strike.”
Zach’s jaw clenched, his eyes burning with frustration and betrayal.
“I can’t believe we were so blind—Bunny? That innocent little act? It was all a damn mask. She’s been fooling us this whole time, playing us for fools.”
Harmony steps closer to the camera, her smile wide and manic, her eyes glowing with a sick kind of pride.
And oh—how could I forget Lily?” she sneered, savouring the memory like a twisted delicacy.
“We were only fourteen. Just kids, right? But even then, every girl had those filthy little eyes on him.”
Her gaze drifted, lost in a dark recollection.
“She actually asked him to be her boyfriend. Can you believe it? My Xander. And he—being the sweet, gentle boy he is—let her down so kindly. So polite. Too kind.”
A slow, unsettling smile spread across her face as she leaned closer to the camera, obsession practically dripping from her every word.
“But me? I couldn’t just let it go. No, she had to learn her place. So I followed her after school. Waited until she was alone in the art room, cleaning brushes like the pathetic teacher’s pet she was.”
Harmony’s laughter, soft and chilling, echoes through the room like the final nail in the coffin.
Xander didn’t move at all.
He just stared, mouth slightly open, as the twisted theatre continued to unfold in front of them.
What did you do Bunny?
On-screen, Harmony let out a low chuckle. It was a dry, hollow sound that sent a ripple of dread through the room.
“I grabbed the red paint first, pouring it all over her precious little sketchbook. Told her it looked just like the blood she'd spill if she ever dared talk to him again.”
Xander’s jaw locked with a sharp, painful clench, veins pulsing at his temples. His hands curled into fists so tight his nails bit into his palms.
“She’s fucking twisted,” he hissed through clenched teeth, barely able to keep the rage from exploding.
Harmony’s expression twisted, losing all trace of playfulness or humanity. Her eyes burned with a wild, unhinged pride, as if the memory itself thrilled her.
“Then I took a chunk of her hair—right from the scalp. Still have it, actually. Pressed it into my diary like a trophy. A warning.”
John’s looked toward Xander, horrified.
“Seriously, bro—did we ever really know her?”
Xander couldn’t answer.
His mouth was dry, and his hand tightened around the glass until the sound of the ice shifting inside seemed unnaturally loud.
Harmony leaned in toward the camera—toward Arianna—her voice dropping to a whisper. Almost reverent.
“She transferred schools two weeks later. Never looked back. But me? I still look. Every single time I open that page.”
Zach exhaled sharply through his nose, shaking his head.
“She’s sick, man. Like—this isn’t just love or jealousy. This is psychotic.”
For the first time in his life, Zach looked completely unmoored—like the ground had been ripped out from beneath him.
He had always despised Arianna, convinced she was nothing more than a gold-digging barrier standing between Xander and Harmony.
He’d bought into the perfect “Bunny” image so deeply that he’d come to see her almost like a sister—and treated her accordingly.
But now, all of that was crumbling. Everything he thought he knew was unravelling right before his eyes, and with it came a crushing realization: he’d been nothing but cruel to Arianna.
Xander’s chest tightens, his breathing shallow as he tries to fight the rising panic within him. His past, everything he thought he knew, is unravelling in front of his eyes.
Harmony steps closer to the camera, her smile wide and manic, her eyes glowing with a sick kind of pride.
Then came the words that made all three men flinch.
“I did it, because I love him,” Harmony spat, her sneer twisting into something almost feral.
Xander took a staggering step back, his face drained of colour, eyes wide with disbelief. It was like watching a nightmare unfold in slow motion—one he’d never wanted to see, yet somehow had always been there, lurking beneath the surface.
She’d hurt them. Tormented them. All for one reason.
Me!
A beat passed.
Then Arianna’s voice rang out. Cool. Controlled. Cutting through the madness like a blade.
“You call that love? No, that’s obsession—pure, twisted obsession. You don’t need love... you need help. Real help. You’re darker and more unhinged than I ever imagined.”
John ran a hand over his face, muttering under his breath,
“God, Arianna… she knew. She knew and none of us—”
“She told me,” Xander said hoarsely, barely above a whisper. His throat felt tight.
“She told me Harmony wasn’t what she seemed. I didn’t believe her.”
Zach looked at him, eyes still wide, voice low with disbelief.
“And all this time… we treated Bunny like she was breakable. Like she needed protecting.”
Xander didn’t answer. He just stared at the screen, as if willing it to rewind, to erase, to give him a version of reality he could stomach.
The silence in the room was deafening.
All three men stood rooted to the spot, faces pale and drawn, as the screen flickered—casting warped shadows across the walls.
The celebration, the laughter, the photos from earlier... all of it felt like it belonged to another lifetime.
Harmony’s head snapped on screen, jerking like a puppet yanked too hard on its string.
“Shut up,” Harmony hissed, her voice shaking with rage.
Xander flinched.
“Don’t you dare stand there pretending you understand love,” Harmony spat, her voice cracking like a knife edge, raw and unhinged.
“You’ve never loved Xander the way I do. You can’t. You’re soft. Weak. You’d never do half the things I’ve done for him—and I’d do anything to have him!”
“Jesus Christ,” John breathed.
Xander didn’t move. His jaw clenched so hard the muscle twitched under his skin.
Then came Arianna’s voice, clear and unshaken.
“You mean the girls you tortured? The lives you destroyed in his name?”
On-screen, Harmony’s eyes twitched wide. Arianna kept going.
“That wasn’t love, Harmony. That was madness.”
Xander’s hands curled into fists at his sides. His heart was pounding so loud he could barely hear.
“That wasn’t devotion—that was a delusion. Twisted. Vile. Pathetic.”
“You didn’t protect him. You poisoned everything around him.”
Arianna wasn't one to take things lying down and Xander was proud of her
No one in the room spoke. The air was electric—heavy with shock, with a growing awareness of something irreversible.
John turned slowly toward Xander, his voice hushed.
“Did you… did you know she loved you?”
Xander shook his head...
Because the truth was—he didn’t.
Not like this.
He had always known Harmony was fragile, weak. And a little possessive of him.
But this?
This level of madness, the confessions, the violence—none of it had ever crossed his mind.
“I should’ve believed Arianna,” he muttered under his breath, more to himself than anyone else.
They all stood there, the screen still glowing, Harmony’s expression darkening, her fury simmering—
Log in with Google Account
Chapters
Favorite
Settings
