Chapter 28
FAYE
“And you’ve been lying to me this entire time.” The words carve a hole inside my chest. But not as much as the hurt and disappointment behind Ryder’s angry expression.
“I didn’t lie,” I shout again, frustration taking over. “I just—I didn’t tell you everything.”
“That’s the same damn thing, Faye.” He spits my name like it tastes rotten. “You think you’re getting off on a technicality? Even if you weren’t outright lying, you certainly didn’t trust me with that part of your life.”
“It wasn’t about trusting you—”
“Then what was it about?”
The question sizzles between us. I open my mouth. Close it. Because what can I say? That I was scared? That the last person I trusted destroyed me?
None of it will matter. Not now.
“It’s complicated,” I whisper.
He scoffs.
Actually scoffs down at me.
The sound cuts deeper than anything else he’s said.
“Yeah.” His voice turns bitter. “I know how uncomfortable it is to share. I was the one calling you at night, crying. Baring my fucking soul to you. Sharing the darkest, most hurtful parts of my past. Showing you all my open wounds and ugly scars.”
Each truth slaps me in the face, impossible to deny.
“While you comfortably sat on all your secrets.”
My eyes burn. “Ryder—”
“No, too fucking late, princess. I can’t do this now.” He steps back, hands raised like he can’t stand to be near me. “I already have too much on my plate.”
He stalks away, his boots kicking up dust with each heavy step. When he reaches the stables door, he yanks it open and slams it behind him.
I remain rooted to the spot. Pulse galloping in my chest. Lungs working too hard for how little air they’re pulling in.
I’ve lost him.
The thought sits cold and final in my gut.
I’ve lost him, and it’s my fault.
A crow calls from somewhere in the trees. The world keeps moving as if nothing has changed. Like my heart isn’t splintering apart inside my ribs.
The sun is still warm, but I’m sweating cold.
The stable door flies open. I jolt as another bang echoes across the empty field.
Ryder storms out, phone in his hand, jaw set. My heart kicks up for a stupid, hopeful heartbeat—has he come back to forgive me? To tell me we can work through this?
But as he eats up the distance between us in long, angry strides, that hope burns out fast.
“I googled you.” He holds up his phone. “There’s no Faye Rose tech billionaire, only a bunch of Instagram profiles.”
All the blood drains from my face. My hands go numb.
I’m afraid what I tell him next might break us apart for good.
“In the industry”—I push the words through a throat that’s closing—“I’m known as Whitney Rose.”
Ryder stares at me. Then he laughs.
His strained chuckles carry no joy. No warmth. They curl in a harsh, hollow sound that makes my skin crawl.
“Faye isn’t even your real name?”
“It’s my middle name.” I’m shaking, with tremors in my hands and legs.
“Your middle name.” He laughs again—jagged, broken. “So you’ve been using a fake identity?”
“It’s not fake.” I’m begging now. I sound desperate. “Everyone who knows me calls me Faye. I’ve always hated Whitney—”
“But that’s your real name.” His voice is thin, stripped of everything but exhaustion. “Not Faye.”
I nod, unable to speak.
“Well, nice to fucking meet you, Whitney.” He tilts his head in a mock bow. “A rose by any other name smells as sweet and all that poetic bullshit, right?”
“Ryder.” His name breaks in my mouth. “Please—”
“Save it.” He lifts both hands, backing away. “Just save it.”
He turns and marches toward the stables once more. I watch him disappear inside a second time, every muscle in my body locked tight.
Two minutes later, he kicks out on horseback. Ryder’s jaw is set, eyes trained ahead. He doesn’t even glance in my direction as he rides past.
He leans forward and digs his heels into the horse’s sides, prompting his mount to break into a gallop.
They clear the fence in one smooth leap, hooves skirting the top rail, and race across the pasture at a breakneck speed that must be reckless even for an expert rider.
I call after him, but he doesn’t slow down.
Ryder keeps going until he’s nothing but a dark speck against the green.
I stare at that spot in the distance until it fades.
Have I lost him for good?
The first sob catches me by surprise.
It rips out of my chest, raw and ugly, and once I start crying, I can’t stop. Can’t breathe. Can’t do anything but stand in the middle of this field and cry as my heart keeps breaking.
I’ve ruined everything.
I’m still sobbing when I stumble back to the farmhouse.
The guest room looks the same as this morning. Cozy and welcoming. But it feels wrong now. Like I’m trespassing in a space where I no longer belong.
I yank my overnight bag from under the bed and shove the few clothes I brought over into it. My hands are shaking and my vision is blurred. I can barely see what I’m grabbing, but it doesn’t matter.
I need to leave.
Get out before Ryder comes back and tells me again how much he hates me.
A tentative knock sounds on the door.
“Faye?” Mae’s voice drifts through the wood, gentle but concerned. “Sweetheart, are you alright?”
I swipe at my face with the back of my hand, but it’s useless. The tears won’t stop.
“Come in.”
Mae steps inside, takes me in, and her expression crumples.
“Oh, honey.” She crosses the room and wraps me in her arms before I can protest. “What happened?”
“I messed up,” I blubber. “I can’t—I can’t stay with you anymore. I have to go.”
She pulls back, hands on my shoulders, studying my face. “But where will you go?”
“I’ll find a hotel.”
“The only place that will have rooms available in high season is mighty expensive.”
“Money isn’t a problem.” The admission slips out.
Her eyebrows lift in a silent question she has every right to ask, but that I don’t have the strength to explain twice.
“Thank you for letting me stay here last night,” I blurt, stepping out of her arms to zip my bag. “And for being so kind.”
“Faye.” Mae catches my wrist, stopping me mid-motion. “My son can be impulsive, but I’m sure you can patch things up.”
I shake my head, lips wobbling.
“What happened?”
I close my eyes. Force the words out.
“I did the one thing I promised never to do.”
“Which is?”
“I broke his trust.”
The way her face falls tells me she already knows how this ends. That I did the worst possible thing I could have done to Ryder.
A fresh wave of sobs hits me. “He won’t forgive me, will he?”
Mae pulls me back into her arms, one hand stroking my hair. “I don’t know, sweetheart. Ryder is stubborn. But if you care about each other, you can overcome anything.”
I want to believe her, but the look in Ryder’s eyes when he rode away—cold and hurt and done—tells me otherwise.
“Thank you.” I pull back, wiping my face again. “I’d better get going.”
Mae doesn’t stop me as I grab my bag and walk out of the room. Down the stairs. Through the kitchen, where Rhys’s drawings are stuck to the fridge with magnets.
I don’t let myself linger; it’s too painful.
My car is parked in the driveway. We got it this morning when Ryder went to assess the cottage repairs so I could drive to school on my own.
I toss my bag in the back seat and climb behind the wheel. I’m about to turn on the engine when I realize I’ve no idea where I’m going. My house is uninhabitable, and I’m no longer welcome at Hollow Creek.
I pull out my phone and open a booking app.
The only hotel in town with available rooms is the new luxury Rockwood Resort on the lake.
My finger hovers over the screen.
They are Ryder’s enemies. The family trying to take his land.
I don’t want to give them money or do anything that might hurt him more than I already have.
But all my things are in Blue Crescent Harbor, and I have more mandatory professional development days tomorrow through Friday. I can’t leave. And even if I could, this town is where I want to be.
I have no choice.
I book a room for a week. The confirmation email pings through a second later.
I set the phone down and grip the steering wheel, staring at the farmhouse through the windshield.
This morning I woke up in a home safe and wanted. Part of a family.
Now I’m leaving as an outsider again.
And I don’t know if I’ll ever be back.