Chapter 30
The bell rang, an unwelcome interruption slicing through the middle of their conversation.
Cadi barely managed to suppress a groan. They had just started—only scratched the surface of everything that needed to be said—and now this.
Gray stiffened beside her, tension rippling through his frame. He didn't even glance toward the door, his breathing uneven.
Cadi turned to him, taking in the tight set of his jaw, the way his hands curled into fists at his sides. He was in no shape to face anyone.
She softened, lowering her voice. "Go upstairs, Gray."
His gaze flicked to hers, uncertain.
"I'll be up in a few," she promised.
He hesitated for just a second before nodding stiffly. Then, without another word, he turned and took the stairs, his shoulders hunched like Atlas, bearing the unbearable weight of a world that was never meant to be his alone.
Cadi exhaled and turned toward the door, her stomach twisting as she looked through the peephole.
Mom.
Regan stood behind her, shifting on her feet, her shoulders hunched like she was bracing for something.
Cadi hesitated. Her mother's presence wasn't a surprise, but Regan?
Regan, who hadn't called.
Regan, who hadn't reached out—not since everything imploded.
Something hot and bitter rose in her chest.
Still, she unlocked the door and stepped back.
Eila entered first, moving with practiced ease despite the macular degeneration in one eye making her vision uneven. She carried a dish in both hands, the smell of baked lasagne wafting into the room. Without a word, she walked into the kitchen and set it down on the table.
Regan hesitated on the threshold, then stepped inside, her fingers curling around the strap of her bag. She was restless, uncomfortable. Her gaze flicked toward the stairs—toward where Gray had disappeared—and she swallowed hard.
Cadi stood as still as pebble in a stream.. She didn't hug them like she usually did. She didn't ask why they were here. She didn't even ask Regan to come in.
She let the silence press down on them, let it stretch long enough that Regan started to shift on her feet.
Finally, her stepsister broke. "Where's Gray?" she asked, her voice too high, too thin.
Her expression hardened into something Regan had never seen before—a flicker of rage that settled into ice. "Where do you think he is?" she bit out. "Maybe with Vanessa?"
Regan exhaled sharply, flinching like she'd been slapped. But Cadi wasn't done.
Regan still didn't seem to realize how furious she was. She sighed and muttered, "I asked you to confront him."
Cadi's temper snapped. Her mouth twisted into something cruel before she could stop it. "Oh, you asked me to confront him? How generous of you. After the damage was already done." she repeated, voice thick with sarcasm. "Like I owed you that? Like it was your place to throw a bomb into my life?"
She took a step closer, her gaze searing. "You didn't just throw a bomb, Regan. You lit the spark that made my marriage implode."
Regan blinked, stunned. But Eila was watching Cadi with confusion, sensing the undercurrents shifting, thickening.
"What is going on?" Eila asked her gaze shifting between her daughters.
"Oh, I don't know, Mom," Cadi said, laughing bitterly. "Maybe I'm just upset that the people I trusted and loved betrayed me this way."
Eila's eyes widened slightly at the sharp edge in Cadi's voice. "Betrayed?" she echoed, frowning. "Cadi, what are you talking about?"
Regan finally seemed to register the sheer weight of Cadi's rage. "I didn't mean to—"
Cadi cut her off. "You didn't mean to what, Regan? Did you think stirring the pot would somehow help? That running to Gray and twisting my words would do anything but tear us apart?"
Regan opened her mouth, but Cadi wasn't done.
"Or was that the plan all along? Did you think he'd come running to you on the rebound, heartbroken and needing comfort?"
Regan's face drained of colour. "That's not—"
Cadi let out a sharp, humourless laugh. "And while we're at it, why were you always implying that something was going on between Gray and Vanessa?"
Regan stiffened, her fingers curling into fists. "I wasn't—"
Cadi scoffed. "Don't lie to me, Regan. Every time you mentioned her, it was with that little tone, that little suggestion that there was more to it. You planted the idea, fed it with just enough hints and pauses to make me doubt. And now here we are."
Regan swallowed hard, her shoulders hunching. "I didn't mean—"
"Oh, don't bother," Cadi snapped, her voice raw. "You know what you did. And now you want to act like you were just an innocent bystander?"
Regan recoiled, but her shock was laced with something else. A shadow of defensiveness.
"You think I was the only one keeping secrets?" Regan shot back, her anger rising to the surface. "You were the one sneaking around! Cheating on Gray with Callum—"
A sharp, scornful laugh ripped from Cadi's throat before she could stop it. "Oh, you idiot," she spat. "Callum isn't Tomos' father. He's his uncle. Callum is Gray's half-brother."
The room fell into stunned silence.
Regan's mouth opened, then closed. She stammered, unable to form a sentence. "I... I didn't know."
Cadi felt hollow. "No. You didn't. And yet, you still ran to Gray with your half-baked conclusions, didn't you? Why didn't you come to me? Why didn't you ask me?"
Eila turned sharply to Regan, her expression shifting from confusion to something more serious. "Regan," she said, her voice tinged with disbelief. "Is this true?"
Regan swallowed hard, unable to meet her mother's eyes.
Eila's face paled. "How could you do this?" she asked, her voice quiet but heavy with disappointment. "Cadi is your sister."
Regan looked like she'd been hit. She pressed her lips together, and when she finally spoke, her voice was small. "I wasn't thinking straight."
Eila sat down heavily in a chair, shaking her head. "Why?"
Regan swallowed. "I was... I was in a bad place," she admitted finally, her voice cracking. "I was off my meds. Jon had cheated on me, and Gray—he was kind to me. He was understanding. And I just... I couldn't keep the secret anymore."
Cadi stared at her. "So instead of talking to me, you just blurted it out to Gray?"
Regan swallowed. Her fingers trembled as she tucked her hair behind her ear. "I told myself I was helping him," she admitted. "I—I didn't think I was betraying you. Not at first."
Cadi frowned, her fury momentarily cooled by confusion.
Regan let out a shaky breath. "He looked so... lost that day. I don't even remember what we were talking about before, but he said something about how he was afraid he'd never been enough for you." Her voice wavered. "And I—I wanted to make it better. I wanted to fix it. And I was angry with you at that moment for not being honest with him. Here he was ,the most wonderful man in the world and he was insecure. I thought telling him the truth was the right thing to do."
Cadi inhaled sharply, her chest tight.
Regan gave a weak, humourless laugh. "But the second I said it, I knew I'd made everything worse." She rubbed at her temples, as if trying to physically erase the memory. "I regretted it immediately. But then... I thought maybe it was for the best. Maybe the truth needed to come out. Tomos needed to know who his real father was."
Eila still looked stunned, her gaze flicking between them. Finally, she sighed and ran a hand over her face. "I should have known something was wrong when you called me and asked me to come," she said quietly to Cadi. "I thought... I don't know what I thought." She looked at Regan again, her expression no longer just disappointed but pained. "Regan, you should have spoken to Cadi first. You had no right."
Regan swallowed, nodding slightly, unable to look her mother in the eye.
Regan's lips trembled as she struggled for words, but Cadi suddenly felt too drained to keep fighting. The rage was still there, burning deep, but exhaustion was creeping in, weighing down her limbs, pressing against her chest.
Her voice was quieter now, stripped of fury, raw with heartbreak.
"What happened to you, Regan?" she whispered. "Why didn't you come to me first? What have I ever done to you to deserve this?"
Regan's breath hitched.
"We were sisters," Cadi said, shaking her head. Her voice cracked on the last word. "And you— you did this to me."
A lump formed in her throat as memories surfaced—memories of all the times she had been there for Regan. The late-night calls when another boyfriend had let her down. The endless hours spent listening, reassuring, picking up the pieces. The times she had driven across town just to hold Regan while she cried.
She had never questioned it. Never once turned Regan away.
But now, ironically, the one time Cadi had needed Regan to have her back—to stand beside her instead of behind her, whispering doubt—she had failed her.
And that hurt more than anything.
Eila sighed heavily, rubbing her temples. She looked at Regan, disappointment etched deep into her features. "Come on," she murmured. "Let's go."
Regan hesitated, glancing back at Cadi, her expression pleading. "Cadi, I—"
Cadi didn't move, her body rigid, but when she spoke again, her voice was barely more than a whisper.
"I can never forgive you for this," she said, her tone devoid of anger now, just hollow. "You have ground my trust into the mud beneath your feet."
Regan's face crumpled.
Cadi swallowed against the lump in her throat and turned away, her hands trembling at her sides.
"No," Cadi cut in, too tired to hear whatever excuse was coming next. "Not right now."
Regan swallowed hard but nodded, her eyes glassy.
Eila gave Cadi a long, sad look before guiding Regan out the door.
As soon as they left, the house felt too big, too empty.
Cadi exhaled sharply, pressing the heels of her hands to her eyes.
Gray was still upstairs.
They had a lot of work ahead.