29. Lilian
Chapter 29
Lilian
I collapse onto my bed.
The night I spent with Sebastian was way better than I could have ever imagined.
It was electric, passionate, everything in between. I giggle burying my face in the pillow. The ghost of his touch is still on my skin.
When will he be back? Is he already on his way?
I can’t wait to see him again tonight. Just the thought of being in his arms, kissing him, and… I’ve never craved or missed someone like this before.
He was tense this morning at breakfast.
Wait. I almost forgot that he wanted to talk to me when we were back. The question is about what? I don’t think he’s gonna break up with me. It is very unlikely after we had… sex.
Maybe about how we’re telling Gem?
My first real boyfriend .
I grab my phone and open up the chat with him, frowning. No new messages.
Lil: When will you be here? I miss you.
Strange. The message doesn’t go out. I stand up, holding my phone up in the air, but nothing happens. I open the girls’ chat with Gemma and Mary.
Lil: Movie night in a few days still stands?
It’s still not sending. Worry gnaws at my insides until I glance at the top of the screen and notice the tiny airplane icon. I forgot to turn off flight mode. Rookie mistake. I deactivate it, and my phone immediately buzzes with a flurry of notifications.
Three missed calls from Jason. One from Ju.
Two from Levi. Four from Landon.
And one from Uncle Marc.
Messages over messages.
Did something happen?
I hit the callback button next to Uncle Marc’s name.
The line rings once. Twice.
On the third ring, he answers in a clipped tone. “Lilian, I’ve been trying to reach you. Why didn’t you answer?”
“I’m sorry I was on the plane and forgot to turn off the flight mode. Is everything okay?” The words tumble out of my mouth as my anxiety builds.
“Nothing is okay. Were you with the Barron’s this weekend? ”
“Uh, yes. Why?” Is it because of the party? That I didn’t inform them? How did he know about that? I clench the phone so tight my knuckles blanch. “I can explain.”
“Explain what?” His voice hardens. “That you betrayed your family to cavort with the enemy?”
Enemy? What the hell is he talking about? “What?”
“The Barrons, Lil. Our families have been at odds for years. It started with your father and John Barron.”
“What—No. Sloan said they were best friends. She asked about you and…”
“John Barron has it out for us and Sloan… That woman is a liar. They’re no good. Why were you there?”
“G-Gemma. She’s a good friend of mine.”
“Not anymore.”
“What?! No.”
“You will end this friendship.”
“But—”
Gemma and Mary are my best friends.
“Lilian?” His tone brokers no argument.
“Why?” I hold back a sob.
“John Barron’s shady business practices have sabotaged our companies for years. He’s ruthless and corrupt. He’s the reason your… There are things you don’t know. Things about your parents. About the Barrons’ role in… everything. They will only use you.”
“Gem would never do that.” Sebastian wouldn’t .
“She’s not your friend, and whatever she and that Barron boy told you are lies.”
“I—”
“How did you meet?”
“I-I was trapped in a closet. She…”
“Helped you out? How convenient. Don’t you think?”
Shock rips through me, rocking my world off its axis. So that means the man I’ve come to care for, his family, they hate us?
Bile rises, and my head spins, thoughts colliding and scattering. Sloan seemed so genuine. “I didn’t know.”
“You should have,” he says. “Landon warned me about not including you in this.” Uncle Marc sighs. “I’m sorry you had to find out this way. I hoped to shield you from all this, but I can see now that was a mistake. You must end it immediately. I can’t have our business or families associate in any way.”
“But Uncle Marc—”
“No arguments, Lilian. The Barrons cannot be trusted.”
My chest constricts, heart breaking at the thought of losing…
Gemma’s been my closest friend since I don’t know. I have never had such good friends with whom I could talk openly. Yes, Jason’s my best friend, but since I found out he’ll tell everything to Uncle Marc or my brothers, I don’t trust him anymore.
Gemma wouldn’t do something like this, right? Did she know? Did she lock me in the room? And Sebastian. It was a coincidence that I rushed into his room. How would he have orchestrated that ?
“If you continue to associate with the Barrons, I will have no choice but to bring you back here,” Uncle Marc says. “There are plenty of other colleges.”
How can he ask me to choose between them and the only family I have left?
“Lilian? Do you understand me?”
I choke down the sob rising in my chest. “Yes, Uncle Marc.”
“Good. I’m glad.”
After a heavy silence, Uncle Marc sighs again. “How’s college?”
“Good.”
“Any other problems I should know of?”
Problems. Sebastian. Gemma. Problems? “No.”
“You’ll find other people. Jason’s there.”
Jason. “Yeah. I have to go. I have a lot of homework to catch up on.”
“Of course. Study hard. And remember what I said.”
“I will.”
“Sleep well.”
“You too.” I end the call, staring at my phone while silent tears escape my eyes.
I want to scream, throw my phone across the room, and watch it shatter into a million pieces, like my heart. But I can’t. I’m frozen, numb, the weight of Uncle Marc’s words crushing me.
The Barrons are the enemy. They hate us. They’ll only use me .
Was it all really a lie? The way he touched me, the things he said—was any of it real?
I sink deeper under the covers. My world has fractured into pieces I don’t know how to reassemble. I don’t know who to trust anymore.
Things about your parents. About the Barrons’ role in… everything. Did they have something to do with the accident?
The memory of my parents’ funeral surfaces unbidden. Ten-year-old me in Uncle Marc’s arms. He promised to take care of me, to keep me safe. I’ve depended on him my whole life.
He’s the one I should trust.
My phone buzzes, startling me from my thoughts. It’s the girls chat.
I can’t do it. I can’t cut them out of my life. Sebastian. The way he looks at me, the tenderness in his touch, the vulnerability he’s shown… It can’t all be a lie. And Gemma, she’s done nothing to deserve that. It can’t be true, can it?
Everything hurts.
I hurl the phone across the room, and it smashes into the wall, shattering into pieces that clatter to the floor. The violence of the act shocks me, but there’s a bitter satisfaction too. Now I don’t have to talk to anyone.
Ignorance is bliss.
I hug my knees to my chest, feeling… nothing.
Silence blankets the room for minutes or hours. I can’t tell. Time loses all meaning when your world is crumbling around you .
A sharp knock rattles my door, startling me.
“Lil?”
Go away, please.
“It’s Jason.”
Did Uncle Marc tell him to check on me?
I squeeze my eyes shut, willing him to go away. I can’t face him now, can’t pretend to be the Lil they want me to be.
“We’re worried,” Jason says. “Your uncle called. Open the door, please.”
“Go away.” The words scrape my throat, jagged and harsh.
“Please, Lil,” Jason says softly from outside my door, his voice laced with worry.
“Leave me alone!” I scream, my voice cracking.
The door swings open, and Jason steps into my room uninvited. Damn me, I forgot to lock it.
His gaze darts to the shattered remains of my phone on the floor before landing on me huddled on the bed. “What happened?”
I turn away, hugging my knees tighter. “Nothing. Leave me alone.”
The bed dips as he sits beside me. “This isn’t nothing. Talk to me.”
“What do you care? You’re only here because Uncle Marc told you to check on me.”
“That’s not true. I care about you. We all do.”
I scoff. “Right. That’s why everyone’s been lying to me my whole life. ”
“What are you talking about?”
“The Barrons. Uncle Marc said they hate us. But Gemma and Seb—” My voice cracks. “I thought… No. They wouldn’t do this.”
His hand rests on my shoulder, and I flinch but don’t shrug him off. “I know it’s hard, but your uncle’s right. I tried to warn you.”
I whirl to face him, anger flaring. “How would you know? You don’t know them like I do!”
“Don’t be naive. Sebastian’s a player. He’ll use you like a whore, and the second he gets what he wants, he’s going to toss you aside.”
My body goes rigid.
Jason’s gaze narrows. “Something happened between you two, didn’t it? Did you sleep with him?”
Tears gather in my eyes, threatening to spill over. I can’t find the words to respond.
“Fucking hell, Lil. How could you be so stupid? Falling for his lies, letting him use you like that?”
A sob escapes me. “Stop. Please, stop.”
“No, you need to hear this. Sebastian Barron is bad news. He doesn’t care about you. He never did.”
I shake my head vehemently. “You’re wrong.”
“Oh, I know his type all too well. Rich, entitled, thinks he can have whatever—or whoever—he wants. And you fell right into his trap. ”
He’s wrong. What Sebastian and I have is real. But doubt creeps in, insidious and suffocating.
“Please, Jay,” I say. “Leave me alone.”
“I’m trying to protect you. Someone has to since you clearly can’t do it yourself.”
He doesn’t know the first thing about our relationship. I wipe my tears with the back of my hand. “Get out.”
Jason blinks, taken aback. “What?”
“You heard me. Get the fuck out of my room. Now.”
“Lil, I’m looking out for you.”
I burrow myself back into the covers, hiding my face. “I don’t need you to look out for me. I can take care of myself.”
“Clearly, you can’t. But fine, have it your way. Don’t come crying to me when your uncle gets into problems because of you. Because the second it gets out that you two are together, he will lose business partners.”
I don’t respond.
The door slams shut, and I’m hopefully left alone in my shattered world. I curl into myself again, silent sobs wracking my body.
How dare he judge me? Judge Sebastian? He doesn’t know a damn thing about what we have. He would’ve told me if he knew.
But Uncle Marc’s words echo in my mind, taunting me. The Barrons are the enemy. They’ll only use you.
No. I refuse to believe it. Sebastian wouldn’t do that to me. He couldn’t fake the way he looked at me, touched me… Could he?
My chest constricts, doubt and fear suffocating me. I need to talk to Sebastian. I need to hear the truth from him.
I glance at the remnants of my phone on the floor. Fantastic. In a fit of rage, I destroyed my only lifeline to him.
I’m too tired anyway.
Exhaustion consumes me, dragging me into a fitful slumber. I drift in and out of it, the lines between reality and nightmare blurring. The red room haunts me, the sewing machine’s relentless hum echoing in my mind. Shadows dance on the walls, morphing into grotesque shapes.
I toss and turn, tangling myself in the sheets. Sweat beads on my forehead as I mumble incoherently, pleading for the torment to end. But there’s no escape. The darkness drags me under again and again, each time more suffocating than the last.
A noise pierces through the haze, startling me awake, and I bolt upright, gasping for air. The room is shrouded in shadows, but something is different. Wrong.
A dark figure sits at the edge of my bed, unmoving. Fear grips my throat, rendering me mute. I blink rapidly, trying to clear my vision. Is this another nightmare?
The figure shifts slightly, and a glint of metal catches the faint moonlight filtering through the curtains. A knife ?
I scramble backward, pressing myself against the headboard. My pulse pounds in my ears as I open my mouth to scream, but no sound comes out.
The figure inclines forward, face still obscured by darkness.
“You little brat.”