Chapter 16
SIXTEEN
Grayson
My eyes fluttered open, but everything in front of me was still a blur.
I blinked a few times, slowly trying to focus.
“Gray? Thank fuck. I was just about to call an ambulance.”
I turned my head toward him, flinching as a brutal headache slammed into me.
When I saw Christian’s face, I realized—I was still at his place.
“Did I pass out?”
“Yeah,” Christian said, letting out a breath. “For two or three minutes. I was starting to lose my shit.”
I looked around. I was lying on the floor.
Grunting, I pushed myself up to sit, holding my head—it felt like it was about to fall off.
“Hey, maybe not so fast,” he said, his voice laced with panic. “Seriously, I don’t know what the fuck I’m supposed to do, but I do know I need to stop you from standing up right now.”
But I still pushed myself to stand, groaning through the pain that pulsed through every inch of my body.
“Grayson,” Christian called out, trying to stop me.
“I have to go,” I said, my voice low and weak. “I don’t want to be here. I can’t be here.”
I straightened slowly and turned to face him, my vision still hazy but my anger crystal clear.
“You fucked up my life, Christian. I’ll never forgive you for this.”
Without waiting for a response, I dragged my feet toward the door and stepped out.
He followed me. “Let me drive you, Gray. You can’t drive like this.”
“No.” I didn’t even look back. I didn’t need his help. I didn’t need anyone’s help. Not now, not ever.
There wasn’t a single person in this world I could trust anymore. Not my parents. Not my sister. Not my best friend. And probably not even Lila.
I kept walking.
When I opened the car door, Christian was still standing there, that guilt-ridden expression etched deep into his face. But I didn’t give a damn. What he did to Ariana—what he did to me—was beyond forgiveness.
Still, I couldn’t ignore the truth clawing at the back of my mind. What I did to Ariana wasn’t exactly forgivable either.
I sank into the driver’s seat, gripping the wheel, forcing myself to breathe, to push the guilt down, bury the regret just long enough to get through this.
Right now, I needed to focus.
I had somewhere to be.
I parked in my parents’ driveway and immediately spotted Lila’s car in front of mine.
What the hell was she doing here?
If this was about the loan again, I swear to God I was going to lose it. I was already hanging by a thread, and one more hit might break me completely.
I opened the door and stepped out, my legs unsteady beneath me. The world tilted for a second, and I had to pause to keep from stumbling.
The fact that I made it here in one piece was nothing short of a miracle. I couldn’t even remember the drive—just white-knuckling the wheel, eyes locked ahead, running on fumes and anger.
I walked into the house, expecting to find my parents’ home.
Taylor too. Since her apartment was being renovated, she’d moved back in temporarily, which was just another expense we couldn’t afford.
But she didn’t care. She didn’t even bother to discuss it with me, just handed me the invoice as if it were nothing. Forty thousand dollars.
And that wasn’t even the worst of it.
My parents hadn’t cut back on anything, not one thing. Despite knowing exactly how bad things were, they still maintained their country club memberships, continued to throw pointless parties, went on holidays, and shopped as if nothing had changed.
Every bit of it, every unnecessary cost and overpriced luxury, landed squarely on my shoulders. I was the one who had to figure it out. I was the one left to fucking pay for everything.
As I expected, everyone was home. They were gathered in the living room, surrounding my fiancée, who was crying.
God, I was already breaking apart. I seriously couldn’t handle anything more.
The sound of my footsteps drew their attention, and they all turned to look at me, surprise written across their faces.
“Grayson!” my mother squealed. “I didn’t know you were coming. Why aren’t you at work?”
I didn’t respond to that. I just kept walking and took a seat. My eyes went straight to Lila.
“Why are you crying?” I asked. “And why are you even here?”
She looked up at me, her face red and streaked with tears. For a moment, she hesitated before finally saying, “I came because I wanted to ask your parents to help me talk to you.”
“About what?” I growled, even though deep down I already knew.
“About helping you, Grayson!” Her voice cracked as it rose. “I don’t know how else to get through to you, so I’m asking them.”
“I’ve already said no. Again and again. How many times do I need to say it?”
“She’s right, Grayson,” my mother chimed in.
I turned to her, frowning, trying to keep my anger in check.
“We need help,” she continued. “We have to expand, renovate, hire professionals, and we need money to do that.”
God, I loved my mother, but at this moment, I couldn’t stand her.
And then my father added, “Yes, Grayson. We’re earning less and less, and we can’t afford things anymore.”
Fucking hell. As if he’d already forgotten that it was his debt that dragged us into this mess in the first place, the reason we were plummeting like this.
“Why do we need her help?” I said through clenched teeth.
“Look around us. We can sell this house, and the holiday cabin, and the cars, and Taylor’s apartment, and every goddamn piece of your pointless, meaningless, fucking jewelry.
We can sell all of those and use the money for everything you just said. ”
I stood up, my voice rising, fury spilling out of me, and I couldn’t hold myself anymore. “I can’t sell those things because none of them are under my name. So tell me, why the fuck do we need to take a loan from her?”
Everybody was quiet now, all looking at me, knowing that I was losing my composure. They looked at me with worry and fear.
“You know,” I went on, my voice cold, “I was already disappointed in all of you. I kept digging you out of your mess, didn’t have the heart to turn away and let you deal with it yourselves.
We’re drowning in debt, and I had to cut back on everything.
I sold my own house, moved into Lila’s, when I should be the one taking care of her. But none of you gave a damn.”
I paused, taking a breath, feeling my entire body shake from the pressure boiling inside me.
“I was already disappointed, but I could never bring myself to hate my own family. Until now.”
I turned my eyes to Taylor. Her brows lifted, confused, not understanding yet why I was looking at her like that. “I just came from Christian,” I ground the words out, barely keeping it together. “And he told me everything. Every single fucking thing. Want to explain that, Taylor?”
Her face drained of color. She immediately looked at our parents, as if silently begging them to step in.
“Oh, fuck,” I exhaled as it dawned on me. “You’re all in on it, aren’t you?”
None of them said a word. They just sat there, pale and stunned, like deer caught in headlights.
“Christian had no reason to lie,” I said, trembling now. “But I was still hoping it wasn’t true.”
I stared at them, waiting, daring them to say something. To deny it. But they just sat there, wide-eyed, too panicked to come up with an excuse fast enough.
My eyes burned, my chest ached, and from the corner of my eye, I saw Lila stand and start walking toward me. I held out a hand.
“No. Just stay there,” I said, my voice coming out in a whisper. I couldn’t speak any louder without completely losing it.
“Grayson,” my mother pleaded, “she’s not right for you. We tried to talk to you, but you wouldn’t listen.”
“Fuck, Mother! I love her. I fucking love her!”
It just came out, and I heard Lila’s sharp inhale behind me, but I couldn’t stop. My mind wasn’t in the right place. I was hurting too much.
“I know what’s right for me. She’s the one I want. She’s the one I love. And you all took her away from me. I tried to ignore every bad thing you said about her. I really did, but you got into my head. That part’s on me. That’s my fault. I shouldn’t have let it happen… but I did. And then I… I…”
I stopped, the words catching in my throat, sharp like glass. Something clawed at my chest, tightening with every breath until it felt like my ribs might crack. My lungs burned. My vision blurred. I couldn’t fucking speak anymore.
“Gray,” Taylor began, her voice tight. “I’m sorry. But I had to do it. She wasn’t right for you. She was beneath our social standing and—”
She stopped abruptly when Lila let out a sharp gasp beside her.
“No, Lila, listen,” Taylor tried again. “You have to understand. Ariana wasn’t like you. Her parents weren’t even middle class. They were—”
She cut off when Lila moved, stepping across the room to stand next to me.
“So you approved of me because my parents have money?” Lila asked, her voice cutting. “What did you do to her?”
“They…” I tried to speak, but the words caught in my throat. I had to force them out, no matter how much it hurt. “They planned it. Set the whole thing up. Blackmailed Christian. She was being forced. She…”
I looked at them, and I couldn’t fucking believe that these people were my family. “She didn’t betray me.”
My voice dropped, raw and full of pain. “She never fucking betrayed me.”
My breathing turned ragged, like the air was too thick to swallow. “She… God. Fuck!”
“Grayson,” Lila whispered beside me, her voice soft, but it didn’t reach me. Nothing could, not right now.
“I despise every one of you,” I said quietly, my gaze cutting across each face—these people I once called family. “I want you to understand that. There’s no forgiveness coming from me.”
“You cannot say that!” my mother snapped, standing with her finger pointed at me like I was a disobedient child. “We’re your parents. Your family. We only ever wanted what’s best for you!”
“No,” I said, shaking my head, my temples throbbing with every heartbeat.
“Family wants you to be happy. Family protects you, and protects the one you love. I was going to marry her. I was going to spend the rest of my life with her. She loved me. God, she loved me more than I ever deserved, and all she ever gave to me and all of you was love and kindness.”
“Don’t forget she came back to ruin us,” my father said. “She built that thing right across from us, right in our face.”
“You know what?” I turned to him, eyes sharp. “If we were strong to begin with, if we weren’t already sinking, she wouldn’t have been able to do a damn thing to us. But we weren’t. We were drowning, trying to patch up holes from your debt, Father. This… all of this? It’s on us. Not her.”
“Grayson,” Taylor said quietly, “Lila’s here. Think about how she feels, hearing all of this.”
I lowered my head, rubbing the bridge of my nose, my eyes burning. “I know,” I muttered. “And I’m sorry you had to hear that, Lila. I really am. But…” I shook my head. “I can’t be here. I can’t even look at any of you.”
I turned and walked away, ignoring Lila as she called my name. I didn’t stop. Didn’t look back. I just kept going out the door, across the front steps, and into my car. I got in, turned the engine on, and drove off.
I drove for hours, ignoring the calls that kept coming in, trying to think straight and find the right words to say to her. But I couldn’t. Not a single damn thing. Because deep down, I knew nothing I said would ever make it right. Nothing.
That night kept replaying in my head—the photos Taylor showed me. Those four fucking photos. How did I let them get to me like that?
Christian had been flirting with her. Everyone saw it.
But Ariana had brushed it off as if it were nothing, just him being his usual self, she said. I knew that. I knew she didn’t take him seriously.
I had decided to trust her. I didn’t even tell her about those photos. I didn’t want to worry her. I chose to believe in her.
So why did I snap? Why did I let it in? Why did I let anger win?
Finally, I decided to drive over to her, even though I still had no idea what the hell I was going to say.
My hands stayed steady on the wheel, my focus locked on one destination.
I wasn’t even fully aware of the drive, but somehow I ended up there.
My car rolled to a stop in front of Ariana’s building.
I shut off the engine and stepped out, my eyes finding her window almost instinctively.
I just stood there, staring up at it, trying to will her to appear.
I wanted to go up.
But what the hell would I even say?
Sorry?
I knew I would apologize. That part was clear. But I didn’t have any excuses. No explanation that could make any of this right.
In my head, it was like a broken prayer playing on loop.
“God, Ari. Please forgive me.
I still love you. I never stopped—not even when I thought I hated you.
I didn’t know how to deal with it. With any of it.
I broke us. I let them get in my head, and I pushed you away in the worst way possible.
How the fuck do I make you believe me now?
Please forgive me.
Just give me a chance to fix it.
Please.”
I rubbed my face hard with both hands, trying to get a grip, but they were trembling, and I couldn’t stop it.
Letting out a shaky breath, I leaned back against my car, resigning myself to the fact that I still didn’t know what the fuck I was going to say to her.
And then I heard her voice.
“Grayson? What are you doing here?”