Chapter 19 #2
The morning at the office started like any other—a flurry of emails, meetings to prepare for, and the ever-present tension gnawing at the back of my mind.
Colson had kissed me goodbye before leaving for Boston, a quick trip for a business meeting.
He’d be back by the evening, but his absence left me feeling more vulnerable than I cared to admit.
As I settled into the rhythm of the day, my thoughts drifted back to my conversation with Logan and Simone.
The knock on my office door startled me.
I looked up, expecting to see my assistant, but instead, Simone stepped in without waiting for an invitation.
My heart lurched, and for a split second, I felt trapped.
The memory of what she’d done to me still haunted me—how she’d tried to hurt me, how close I’d come to falling down those stairs.
I forced myself to stay calm, to not let her see the fear that spiked through me.
And Logan, I felt betrayed by my own brother. He knew what she did to me yet he dated her behind my back.
“Simone,” I greeted, my voice steady despite the turmoil churning inside. “Can I help you with something?”
She closed the door behind her, leaning against it with an air of casual confidence that made my skin crawl. “Relax, Joey. I’m not here to fight.”
I didn’t move from my desk, keeping it between us like a barrier. “Then why are you here?”
She walked over to the chair across from me and sat down, crossing her legs with an elegance that seemed almost practiced. “I wanted to talk. There’s something you need to know.”
My pulse quickened, suspicion creeping in. “And what would that be?”
She let out a small sigh, as if what she was about to say was some great burden. “I’m in love with Logan. We’re serious, and we we’re planning to tell the family at Christmas.”
For a moment, I was too stunned to respond. The words hung in the air between us, heavy with implications I hadn’t anticipated. “You’re… in love with Logan?”
Simone nodded, her gaze steady. “Yes. We’ve been seeing each other for a while now, and it’s getting serious.”
My mind raced, trying to reconcile this revelation with everything I knew about Simone, about Logan, about our tangled family history. “How long?”
“For a long time on and off, high school, college and now,” she said, her tone surprisingly gentle. “I know our history is… complicated. But this is real, Joey. I love him.”
How could I have been so blind. My mind went back to the times he intervened and Simone and her friends laid off me for a while. It was because they were messing around and he lied to me.
I couldn’t help the bitter laugh that escaped my lips. “High school? When you were torturing me? You love him? After everything you’ve done? You tried to kill me?”
She nodded slightly. “It wasn’t my intention to push you. I meant to grab you, and it didn’t turn out the way I expected.”
My eyebrows knitted. “Are you serious? You meant to grab me?”
“Yes. I wanted to confront you in private.”
I ran my fingers over my chin, a move I was picking up from Colson. “And the Molly?”
She looked at me with a sheepish expression. “It was mine. It was never meant for you.”
I placed my hand over my mouth. “Jesus Christ, Simone. Do you realize either one of your stupid moves could’ve killed me. Why would you take that garbage?”
She shrugged. “I have before. It makes you feel euphoric.”
I narrowed my eyes, leaning forward slightly. “Why did you hate me so much? What did I ever do to you?”
She hesitated, and for a moment, I thought she wouldn’t answer.
But then she spoke, her voice low and filled with a bitterness I hadn’t known she harbored.
“You were everything my parents wanted me to be, and I could never measure up. No matter how hard I tried, I could never satisfy Colson, could never be the daughter they wanted. But you—you were perfect. They were always talking about how studious you were, how sweet you were.”
I blinked, taken aback. “That’s why you hated me? Because I was smart? Because I did well in school? Because I cared about people? You had so much more than me.”
Her jaw tightened, and she looked away, unable to meet my gaze. “It wasn’t just that. It was everything. You were always one step ahead, always better. And I resented you for it. I hated you for it. And after my mother died, I saw how wonderful your mother was. You’re so lucky to have her.”
I sat back, the weight of her words sinking in.
All this time, I had never truly understood the depth of Simone’s animosity, the twisted envy that had fueled her actions.
“Simone, that’s not my fault. I never asked to be compared to you, and I would certainly never ask that your mother be taken away. ”
“I know,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper. “But it didn’t matter. I couldn’t help how I felt.”
For a moment, we just sat there, the silence thick between us.
I didn’t know what to say, how to process this sudden, unexpected confession.
Simone, the girl who had tormented me, who had tried to destroy me, was sitting here, telling me she’d been driven by jealousy all along.
But I also felt sad for her. She was robbed of her mother when she needed her most and it made her bitter and evil.
“I’m not going to pretend this makes everything okay,” I finally said, my voice steady. “But if you really do love Logan, and if he feels the same… I won’t stand in your way. But you have to understand, I’m not going to let my guard down around you. Not after everything.”
She nodded, her expression unreadable. “I wouldn’t expect you to.”
With that, she stood up, smoothing down her skirt as if nothing had happened. “I just wanted you to know. Logan means a lot to me, Joey. I don’t want to fight anymore.”
As she turned to leave, I couldn’t help but wonder if this was truly the end of our rivalry, or just another phase in the twisted game Simone had been playing all along.
But one thing was certain—I would be watching her closely, waiting to see if this love for Logan was real, or just another way to get back at me.