Chapter 161
RAINA
It had been a few days since the incident with Eliza, and Faith was a mess. Her usual radiance was dulled by the appearance of a lost and broken person. I did what I could; I tried to be there for her, holding her hand through the storm. But I could see in her eyes that she was losing hersell.
I sat down next to her on the couch and listened as she let out a trembling breath. “I believe him,” she whispered, voice cracking under the weight of her doubt. “At least, I want to. But why did it have to be her, Raina? Why Eliza, out of all people?”
That question hit me hard too. Why Eliza? What could she possibly went with Dominic when Alex had always been the one she chased after? It didn’t make sense, and the thought gnawed at the back of my mind.
Faith dug a spoon into a tub of ice cream, shoveling another bite into her mouth before I snatched it away.
“Faith, enough,” Ichided her gently. “You have a newborn to think about. Caleb doesn’t need his mother pumping herself full of sugar like this.”
She reached for it again, and I held the tub out of her reach. “Let it go,” I said firmly. “Think of Caleb. He needs you–healthy, strong, and focused.”
Faith collapsed back against the pillows, her arms dropping as if in defeat to her sides. “I’m trying, Raina. I really am. But every time I close my eyes, I see them together.” Her voice cracked then, and tears streamed down her already red, puffy cheeks.
Before I could say a word to comfort her, Dominie walked into the room. The minute Faith saw him, she tensed up, her entire body rigid
“Faith,” he whispered, and his eyes flooded with regret and longing
Her face burning with shame, she turned hastily to leave, but just as she turned, Dominic took her wrist, his voice cracking in a whispered beg. “Please, don’t walk away.”
Faith froze, her back to him. Her shoulders shook, and I could tell she was fighting the urge to break down completely. Seeing them like this, two prople who loved each other so much yet were so hurt, it broke something inside of me too.
de on the edge,
They had always been the strongest couple she knew, the kind of love story people wrote books about. Now, though, they were standing on both of them teetering on the verge of shattering without the other.
“I miss you,” Dominic said, his tone tender and raw. “More than anything. Please, Faith, just talk to me.”
I knew I needed to give them space. Whatever was going to be said between them, it wasn’t my place to hear. I slipped out of the room and pulled out my phone, dialing Alex. He picked up on the first ring, as if he’d been waiting for my call,
“Is everything okay?” he asked, his voice laced with concern.
“No,” I admitted, ralding a hand through my hair. “Nothing’s changed. They’re still suffering, and I don’t know how much more they can take.”
t need time.”
Alex let out a heavy sigh. “They’ll be okay, Haina. They just n
“Perhaps,” I muttered, pacing the hallway. “But I am not going to sit back and watch Eliza win. We need to do something, Alex We cannot let her break them.”
He was sent a moment before answering. “What do you suggest? It’s not like we can wave a magic wand and fix this.”
I recalled what Alex told me when we broke up, how things were with Eliza, how hard she had tried to get together with him. She had connived and Involved even his sister in some sick play to make him bers, but it did not work–not even when she falsely claimed he came on to her.
I could still hear the bitterness in his voice as he told me how he’d shut her down. “I told her I was too heartbroken to get my cock up for anyone else,” he’d said, his voice alive with dry, scorful irony. “And I had proof,”
D
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