“Naomi, I’m sorry,” he started, his voice breaking. “I didn’t know what to do. Tiana threatened me…”
“Threatened you?” I scoffed, the bitterness spilling out before I could stop it. “You chose her over me. You didn’t think about me when you were building a life with her.”
He shifted uncomfortably, eyes darting around as if searching for an escape. “I thought—she made me feel alive again, after everything that happened. I thought I could save both of us.”
“Save you? Or save yourself from the mess you created?” The fire in my chest blazed hotter. I leaned in closer, my voice low and steady. “What don’t I know, Alvin?”
“Tiana was working with someone,” he finally admitted, his voice barely above a whisper. “She helped set you up. They promised me—”
I felt the room spin. “What?” The words barely escaped my lips. The implications crashed over me, a wave of nausea washing through me. I had thought Tiana was merely a pawn in Alvin’s betrayal, but she was the queen, orchestrating my downfall.
“I didn’t have a choice,” he pleaded, “They had dirt on me. I thought I could protect us both.”
Protect us? The phrase twisted inside me, mingling with the remnants of love I had for him. The truth hit me like a freight train. Everything had been a lie. Every moment of anguish I endured—not just an accident but a meticulously crafted betrayal.
