Then again, nervously peeking over her shoulder before locking the door.
Cassian’s face paled.
I, meanwhile, had left the house that day just before noon. I remembered it clearly–I had a date with Kai. It had been one of the
best afternoons in weeks.
After the footage ended, the silence in the room was thick enough to choke on.
Cassian’s face twisted into something strange–confusion, fury, disbelief—as he turned slowly toward Alessia.
“This,” he said, voice low and clipped, “is the death threat you claimed Isadora made against you?”
Alessia flinched, caught completely off–guard. She clearly never expected that we’d have cameras installed. She especially didn’t
count on one in the hallway.
That had been my idea, of course. A hunch. Something about Alessia always screamed performance.
And now the curtain had lifted. She’d been caught red–handed, slicing up her own wardrobe like the star of a daytime soap.
I nearly smiled.
“Cassian, no–please,” Alessia stammered, her voice trembling. “Don’t believe them. Isadora… she could’ve come in through the
balcony–she had done it—”
“Actually,” Damian cut in coolly, “we installed another camera in the garden. Facing directly at your window. If you’d like, we
can check that footage too. See if my sister happened to Spider–Man her way inside.”
Alessia paled. “I…”
“Enough!” Cassian snapped, his fury turning on her like a whip. “Alessia, what the hell is wrong with you?”
She blinked. “Cassian-”
“I thought you were different. Not like those other girls in my circle. Not the scheming, manipulative, always–plotting kind. I
believed you.”
“Please,” she tried, reaching for his hand.
He pulled away from her like her touch burned. “And you told me–swore to me–it was Isadora. That she threatened you. That she cut up your clothes. I nearly had my guard…”
He didn’t finish the sentence.
But we all knew how that sentence ended.
He’d almost had his guard strip me.
The room went dead silent.
2/3
6
+15 Bonus
Alessia burst into tears. “I did it for you, Cassian! You said you loved me. That you wanted to marry me! But you… you kept looking at her–like I wasn’t even in the room! I just wanted you to hate her so we could leave, so you’d forget about her!”
Cassian’s jaw clenched.
From the day they got together, Alessia had played the role of perfect girlfriend. But now the seams were showing. And he wasn’t
falling for it anymore.
“Stop,” he snapped. “Just stop, Alessia.”
She kept going, frantic. “It wasn’t supposed to get this far. I thought if I framed her, you’d finally let go. That you’d hate her.”
“You thought that would work?” Cassian growled. “You thought hurting her–framing her–would somehow make me love you
more?”
His voice dropped to a deadly whisper.
“You’re a liar. A manipulative, scheming, pathetic little liar. And I see you now. For exactly what you are.”
Alessia staggered back like he’d struck her. “Cassian…”
He turned away from her like he couldn’t bear to look.
And for the first time, it was her who was invisible.
Not interesting at all
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