Chapter 4.
He realized his slip of the tongue but stayed calm. “My brother always calls you that, so I just picked it up.”
I smiled. “You’re so considerate.”
Kellan shot Rylan a warning glance.
I ignored it and put a shrimp into my mouth.
After just a couple of chews, a wave of fishy stench hit my throat.
Uh–oh.
I covered my mouth and rushed to the bathroom.
After I threw up, Vina gave me a teasing look. “Don’t tell me… pregnant?”
Two sharp gazes landed on me instantly
you’re
I waved my hands. “No, just ate something bad. Throwing up is good, it helps me lose weight.”
Kellan set down his fork, voice unreadable. “Any skinnier and you’d be
all bones.”
After dinner, Kellan and Rylan sent Vina home.
He came back very late.
The person who came back went straight into the bathroom.
I couldn’t tell who it was.
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My eyes landed on the phone he’d left on the nightstand.
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Vina’s birthday was a high–profile event throughout the school every year.
I quickly entered “0101.”
The screen unlocked.
I opened WhatsApp and found the chat between the two brothers.
Kellan said, “Switch back next week.”
Rylan replied, “What’s the rush?”
Kellan continued, “She said you’ve been really good to her this past year.
“Did you catch feelings?”
Rylan took a long time to respond. “No way.
“Didn’t you say the higher the pedestal, the harder the fall?
“Most of this past year, I was just acting. It’s the last few days, I can’t blow it now.”
Kellan said, “Okay.
“Are you sure you didn’t touch her?”
Rylan answered, “I didn’t. What, do you care?”
Kellan said coldly, “She’s dirty. Rules are rules.”
It seemed Rylan was the one who came back.
Ten minutes later, he walked in, still damp from the shower.
I was leaning against the headboard, playing Candy Crush.
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He gently picked up my wrist, his fingers brushing my nails. “Keeping your nails this long? My back’s covered in your handiwork.”
I pulled my hand back. “Then go to the cops.”
Rylan was taken aback, then chuckled and leaned in to kiss me. “Alyssa,
you’re so…”
I turned my head away. “Not feeling well today.”
He frowned. “Your stomach hurts again?” He instinctively reached for my lower abdomen.
I slapped his hand away. “No need.”
His hand hung in the air for a moment before he snorted.
“Fine, then you can just deal with it.”
Silence filled the room.
That night, my lower abdomen was cramped with sharp pains.
I curled into a ball, covered in cold sweat.
I didn’t know how much time had passed when Rylan let out a quiet sigh and pulled me into his arms. His warm hand rested on my cold stomach, and in a sleepy, husky voice, he murmured, “Shh… I’ll rub it, it’ll stop hurting…”
A long, long time ago, my mom used to rub my belly this way.
The memory felt like it belonged to another lifetime.
Rylan’s warmth and tenderness now only felt incredibly ironic to me.
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