58. Tyler
CHAPTER FIFTY-EIGHT
TYLER
In the distance, Felix emerges from the maze alone, his steps heavy and his expression hollow.
I don’t know what I’d been hoping for—that Harper would be alongside him with their fingers laced and their pain healed by each other. That the three of us could somehow make this work. It was wishful thinking, but I’m so desperate I clung to even the thinnest thread of hope.
I had no idea Felix was returning from Westbridge today.
By now, I’m sure Harper has told him she’s pregnant.
The pregnancy and engagement weren’t supposed to be dumped on him with no warning.
I planned to sit with Felix and explain everything, hoping he’d understand all the decisions I had to make.
I hoped we’d come up with a plan on how to keep Harper innocent from knowledge of the murder.
Now that marriage and a child are part of the equation, Harper is convinced she can only be with me, but I’d hoped the three of us could have found a way to still be together.
I kick the side of the house with rage. This is all a fucking shitshow.
From the moment Felix was taken to Westbridge, my life has been hurdling out of control.
I feel like I’ve constantly been placed in impossible positions.
All I wanted was to keep everyone safe and provide stability for Harper.
But no matter what I do, someone ends up bleeding for it.
I watch Felix walk toward the front of the property, never having seen him so devastated. Not even when Clara died. Not the night he was dragged off to Westbridge.
It kills me to see him like this.
“Felix,” I call out.
“Fuck off, Tyler!”
“We need to talk.”
“All I need is for you to get the fuck away from me.”
His anger feels like a knife twisting in my chest. I’m desperate to run after my brother and say something, anything to make this right. I want to tell him I’m sorry and beg him to believe me. Beg him not to leave so we can work this out because I need him. I need the three of us to exist.
But I know anything I say right now will push him further away.
With my brother out of sight, I wait by the maze entrance for Harper. All of my muscles clench with dread. Will she hate me? What if she never looks at me the same way again? I can’t bear the thought. I have so much explaining to do.
When twenty minutes pass and Harper still hasn’t exited the maze, I go in to find her. After countless minutes of running the pathways, panicking as I call her name only to be met with silence, I find her in a heap on the ground, staring at the sky with tears rolling down her face.
My eyes sting as I drop to my knees at her side. “I’m beside myself with guilt, Harper. I was trying to protect you. I didn’t want you covering up a murder. I thought I could hold all three of us together until Felix returned. Please, baby. Please , don’t hate me.”
Her head tilts in my direction. I take her hands in mine, helping her sit up. “I’m angry at you but I don’t hate you,” she murmurs lifelessly. “I understand why you didn’t tell me.”
She may not hate me, but something’s changed. There’s a massive crack in the foundation of what we had.
Resentment.
Her face crumbles. “He was so upset, Tyler. Heartbroken. I don’t think he’ll speak to me ever again.”
I want to comfort Harper and tell her she’s wrong. That Felix just needs time. But I’m not sure it’s the truth.
I fear I’ve lost Felix for good. I’m afraid Harper has too.
She sniffles. “Felix said he wrote me letters when he was at Westbridge. I never received them. Please tell me you didn’t keep them from me?—”
“Harper, no, of course I didn’t.”
She’s trusted me forever. Now she doubts me and it tears me to pieces.
“Maybe my father—” Harper stops herself, shaking her head. “No, he wouldn’t keep the letters from me. He doesn’t like Felix but he wouldn’t—” She goes silent, her brows drawing together with anger. “Tyler, take me home, please. I need to find those letters.”