Chapter 26
?? Content Warning
This chapter contains emotional manipulation, obsessive behaviour, physical aggression, and an attempted sexual assault. It may be triggering for some readers. Please take care of yourself and skip this chapter if needed.
I woke before my alarm, the weight of everything from the last few days already pressing down on my chest. I didn’t want to think about yesterday, Abby’s suspicion, the way she hadn’t even asked before assuming, the whispers that followed me everywhere now, but it clung to me like smoke.
Today wasn’t about that. Today was about leaving this place behind.
I wanted distance. Space. Silence.
By the time I’d finished my first cup of coffee, Chase called, his voice groggy but steady.
“Hey, I’m grabbing breakfast sandwiches and coffee. I’ll be there soon. Need me to bring anything else?”
I swallowed hard, glancing around at the mess of half-packed boxes, bags scattered across the floor, and piles of my life stacked in uneven towers. “No,” I said, forcing brightness I didn’t feel. “Just you.”
“You got it, Cass,” he said softly.
I hung up and went back to packing, folding sweaters into boxes, breaking down shelves, my mind ping-ponging between memories. This apartment had been mine, my little sanctuary, but now all I saw were ghosts.
Andrew laughing on the couch, sprawled out like he owned the place.
Andrew cooking breakfast barefoot, pretending this was our life.
Andrew’s hands, his promises, his lies.
My chest tightened, but I kept moving. I couldn't stop now. I needed out..
A buzz broke the silence. My phone lit up with Reggie’s name.
Reggie: I’m so sorry, Cassidy. About yesterday. About Abby. I didn’t know she felt that way. It has never been a problem before. Can you please stop by so we can all talk this out?
My fingers hovered over the screen before I finally typed back:
You didn’t do anything wrong. You are not the one who should be reaching out to fix this. I am going home. I only stayed because Abby asked for a favour, as a friend. And that is no longer true.
I set the phone face down and went back to work, shoving memories into boxes as if I could pack them away too.
I was barefoot, hair in a messy bun, moving between stacks of my life when the knock came.
I didn’t think. Didn’t even glance through the peephole. I smiled faintly, expecting Chase, and pulled the door open.
And froze.
Andrew.
Every inch of me went cold.
“What are you doing here?” My voice came out sharp, too sharp, cracking halfway through.
He looked wild. His hair was messed like he’d been dragging his hands through it for hours, his clothes rumpled, his jaw shadowed with days of stubble. But it was his eyes that made my stomach drop, too bright, too wide, too much.
Before I could slam the door, his hand was there, shoving it open, stepping into my space like he belonged.
“Cassidy, what the fuck is going on?” he demanded, his voice low, clipped, almost shaking. “You’re moving? You didn’t even tell me? After everything?”
I stumbled back a step, clutching the edge of a box to keep myself upright. “Get out. Right now.”
His laugh was broken and hollow. “No. No, we’re not doing this. You can’t just leave. You cannot leave me. We are not over, Cassidy. Do you hear me?”
My chest heaved, heart pounding so loud I could barely hear myself speak.
“Are you fucking kidding me? After everything... how could you think this could still happen, Andrew? I don't trust you... I don't want this anymore.” I snapped. “Your wife is pregnant, Andrew. She has your son. You stood there while she...” My throat tightened, hot tears threatening. “She called me a whore. And maybe she’s right. Maybe that’s all I’ve been to you.
But that doesn't matter anymore because I’m done. ”
He flinched at that but shook his head violently, stepping closer.
“No. God, no, Cassidy, you’re not listening to me.
She doesn’t matter. I told you that.” His hands flexed at his sides, restless, twitching.
“Victoria and I, that’s been dead for our whole relationship. It’s you. It’s always been you.”
“You lied,” I cried out. My voice shook, but I forced the words past the lump in my throat.
His stare was too much, too intense... almost manic.
I tried to step back, but he matched it.
“You told me there was no one else. No one before. No one during. And then I find out there were others, Andrew. There was always someone else. Fuck... I was the someone else.”
His face twisted, like I’d slapped him. “They didn’t matter,” he ground out. “Not until you. And no one since you.” He reached for me suddenly, fingers curling around my wrist, pulling me toward him. “You’re it for me, baby. You’re all I think about. You’re all I want.”
I yanked hard, trying to break free, but his grip only tightened. Panic exploded in my chest like shrapnel. I had never seen him like this before, and I had never been more afraid.
“Let go of me.” My voice was sharper now, higher, the edges frayed with fear. “Andrew, let me go, or I swear to God I’ll scream.”
“You wouldn’t,” he growled, his gaze dark and intense, like he couldn’t even fathom a world where I’d choose anyone but him, choose anything but this. “You love me. I know you do. Don’t pretend you don’t. I miss you. I miss your mouth. Your laugh. Your body. Jesus, Cass, I need you.”
My breath stuttered, coming too fast, the room spinning, like the panic was about to take over. “You need to leave. Right now.”
He didn’t move. Instead, his hand came up, rough against my jaw, tilting my face toward his. “Tell me you don’t want me,” he said softly, dangerously soft. “Tell me, and I’ll walk out that door.”
For a second, I froze, my lungs locked, my heart hammering hard enough to hurt.
Then I found my voice. “I don’t want you.”
Something shattered in his expression, hurt, anger, obsession, all tangled into something sharp and unsteady. And then he lunged.
His mouth crashed against mine, and his other hand squeezed my hip. Bruising, punishing. I shoved at his chest, twisting, kicking, but he was stronger.
“Stop! Andrew, stop!” I gasped, panic clawing up my throat.
“You don’t mean that, you are lying,” he yelled, his breath hot against my cheek, his belt buckle scraping against my hip. “You’re mine. You’ve always been mine. You want to play, baby. We can play.”
When I screamed, his palm clamped over my mouth, cutting the sound off. All I could smell was him and the salt and sweat from his hand, pressing into me until it felt like I couldn’t breathe at all.
I thought, in some small, detached corner of my mind, this can’t be happening.
I heard something rip, but I couldn't figure out what it was. Then cool air hit my chest.
I tried to beg him to stop, scream... but his hand was muffling me, and instead it felt like I was choking on my tears and screams.
"You want to play this game with me, baby, play the part. You want to be my whore?"
I felt him struggling with my pants... then I felt them sliding down my hips.
For a moment, it was like I wasn’t even in my body anymore, watching it happen to someone else. And then the bite of something hard behind me, as I was pushed back, brought me back into myself.
I couldn't understand what Andrew was saying... it didn't make sense. I tried to push back, but he was so much stronger than me, and I was pinned. I tried to make eye contact with him, plead with my eyes, through my muffled screams.
"I fucking missed my pussy, baby. Stop fighting and give it to me."
I tried to raise my knee, but my pants were partly down, restricting my movement.
Please.. please... don't let this happen.
I felt Andrew lick my cheek.
I felt his hand pushing past the elastic of my panties.
And then a roar split the air.
Andrew was ripped off me so violently I hit the floor, gasping, my vision swimming.
Brody.
His fist twisted in Andrew’s shirt, slamming him into the edge of the table so hard it splintered, sending shards skittering across the floor.
My vision cleared for a moment, and all I could see was Brody standing over Andrew, boxes everywhere, wood splintered on the floor and Brody's arm swinging back.
It felt like the room was tilting. I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to fight back the dizzy spell. I heard crashing and a crunching sound, shouting and then...
“You touch her again,” Brody snarled, his voice a guttural growl, “and I swear to God, I’ll kill you.”
I opened my eyes, but I couldn’t move. It felt like I couldn’t breathe.
Everything blurred around me.
Mason came into view, his face pale, his fists clenched. Chase’s voice cut through the chaos, sharp and panicked.
I tried to stand but couldn't, so I pulled my knees to my chest, shaking so hard I couldn’t stop. I didn’t realize until I looked down that my shirt was torn, my pants still halfway down my legs. I curled in tighter, tears streaking down my cheeks.
Someone yelled, “Call the cops!”
"I am going to kill him."
Chase was at my side then, dropping to his knees, his face pale and tight. “Shit. Oh my God, Cass...” His voice broke. “Are you okay? Did he...”
A sob ripped out of me before I could answer, shaking my whole body. He swore under his breath, grabbing his sweater and wrapping me in it, tucking me against his chest like he could shield me from all of it.
When everything stopped spinning, I could see Brody standing between me and Andrew, his chest heaving, his fists curled at his sides like he was one breath away from breaking him in half. Mason had Andrew pinned against the wall, yelling something I couldn’t hear through the ringing in my ears.
Then the sirens.
Flashing lights washed against the walls as the cops poured in. Andrew was dragged out, yelling about love, about us, about how this wasn’t over.
I couldn’t process any of it.
Then Mom was there, her arms around me, her voice soft and shaking. Dad’s voice was harder, clipped as he told someone we had a lawyer on the way. Clara wasn’t there; she’d stayed with Jackson, but I heard her name over and over again in broken fragments of conversation.
It all blurred.
The questions I barely understood. Hands passing me water, I couldn’t drink. Words I couldn’t absorb. Something about consent to be photographed, my mom helping me.
Something smashed again.
I heard someone crying, but I didn't think it was me this time.
By the time the apartment finally fell quiet, I felt hollowed out. Empty.
Everyone kept saying we’d get through this. That I wasn’t alone. That they’d take care of me.
But I didn’t feel any of it.
I felt broken.
Like I wasn’t even inside myself anymore.