31. Chapter 31 #2
“I’m listening,” Ody said. The calmness in his voice made Kash flinch harder than if he’d yelled.
He swallowed, gathering the pieces of whatever courage he had left. “Stella… She has history with Mano. They went out for a while. Then he dumped her out of nowhere.” He chose his words carefully. “She kept messaging him, trying to understand why. He was very harsh with her.”
Ody didn’t blink.
Kash kept going. “She later found out he slept with her best friend. It destroyed her. Their friendship ended, and she never stopped blaming Mano for it.”
He paused, and Ody could tell he wasn’t lying. He’d seen how Mano talked to girls before, the cold tone, the sharp replies.
Kash dragged a hand through his hair. “She wanted to make him pay. She couldn’t let it go.
She told me she was gonna get close to him again.
Pretend she was over him. Make him think he was in control.
” He looked down. “She said she needed me to act like I was her ex, just to have an excuse to hurt him.”
Ody exhaled, but it wasn’t relief. It was exhaustion mixed with disbelief.
“She showed me pictures of him. Told me everything.” Kash’s voice weakened. “I knew he was studying at NKUA, but I never ran into him. The first time I did… I recognized him instantly.”
Kash fell silent for a moment, lost in the memory.
“Everything alright?”
All three turned.
Mano stood there, hands in his pockets.
Ody blinked. But Kash… Kash went still.
His gaze snapped to Mano, sweeping from his hair to his shoes in one sharp, tense second. Recognition hit him like a punch. This was him. The guy from Stella’s photos. The guy she had cried over for months. The guy she wanted destroyed.
Kash blinked and looked up at Ody, his eyes full of regret.
“Then everything got worse.” He rubbed his face.
“She wanted revenge. Real revenge. She wanted him embarrassed, humiliated, scared… She kept pushing me. Telling me Mano deserved whatever happened to him. That I shouldn’t let it go.
That he needed to pay for what he’d done to her. ”
Ody’s jaw tightened.
“And then the coffee thing happened,” Kash continued.
“I wasn’t even thinking straight that day.
I threw it on you so I could take you home, so I could finally tell you the truth, I’ve told you that.
” His voice cracked under the weight of the admission.
“And then Mano showed up out of nowhere. The second I saw him, everything in me snapped. I already hated him for how he treated Stella, and now I felt like he was ruining everything again. So yeah… I blew up. I handled it like an idiot.”
Ody stayed silent, but the anger behind his eyes was clear.
“She wanted him broken. I just… went along with it,” he admitted quietly. “I let her pull me into everything.” He looked directly at Ody now. “That’s the truth. All of it.”
Silence filled the room.
Ody finally spoke, each word measured. “You two pretended to be exes. You let Mano believe that. You let me believe that. And all this time, you were siblings.”
Kash shut his eyes in guilt.
“And you still went after him. Beat him. Threatened him. Made his life hell.” Ody leaned back, disgust and disbelief tightening his chest. “All for her.”
Kash shook his head. “No. Not just for her.” He hesitated. “For you.”
Ody’s eyes snapped to his.
“You think we dragged him to that school and beat him because he stepped in for you. But that wasn’t why I did it.
I did it because of how he treated my sister.
” He swallowed hard, eyes fixed on the floor.
“But even then… I saw the way you looked at him. The way he tried to protect you.” His breath shook.
“And I couldn’t take it. I hated that you noticed him when you’d never even seen me. ”
He rubbed a hand over his face, guilt and jealousy twisting together.
“I didn’t want Stella dragging you into her plans.
I thought I could protect you from the worst parts of what we were doing.
I thought only Mano would get hurt.” He met Ody’s eyes.
“But you care about him. And that changes everything.”
Ody stared at him, stunned, before the shock burned into anger. “She told us you hit her.” He shook his head, still trying to process it. “She sent Mano a voice message. Crying. Saying you hurt her.”
Kash’s breath caught. The realization hit him. Ody had been with Mano when that message arrived. Jealousy flickered in his chest, sharp and ugly.
“She lied about you hitting her. Lied to get Mano to feel guilty. To pull him back to her only to hurt him. And you just… let it happen.” His jaw clenched, fury rising through him.
“All that crying. All that panic. And it was nothing but a performance.” Disgust etched across his features.
“Everyone knew what you were doing and played along.”
Kash’s head jerked up. “No. No one knows Stella is my sister.”
Ody’s stare sharpened. “Not even Pablo and Brandon?”
Kash swallowed hard. “I didn’t want them involved with her. I didn’t trust them around her.”
Ody’s voice dropped, cold and precise. “But you trusted them around Mano. And you trusted them around me.”
The silence after that was suffocating.
Ody pushed his chair back and stood. His movements were slow, controlled. When he spoke, he was frighteningly calm. “Leave. We’re done.”
Kash flinched. “Ody, please. Listen to me.”
“I said leave.”
Kash stepped forward, eyes desperate. “Please. I’m trying to fix this. I don’t want to lose you.”
Ody didn’t waver. He spoke quietly, every word deadly clear. “I was stupid enough to give you a chance. To believe you.” He shook his head, a bitter laugh slipping out. “I let you touch me. I let you kiss me.”
He took one slow step back, like distance could keep the anger from spilling over. His jaw flexed, eyes burning with hurt he refused to show fully. “And the whole time, you and your sister were destroying someone’s life for fun.” He swallowed hard.
For a moment, he looked away, like the realization physically stung him. Then he turned back, eyes sharp. “I felt sorry for you.” He let out a breath. “I actually felt sorry for you!”
“Ody, please.” Kash’s words cracked with desperation. “I’m trying to stop everything. I swear I am.”
Ody cut him off, sharp as a knife. “We’re done. From now on, we go back to what we were this entire year.” He met Kash’s eyes without a flicker of mercy. “Nothing more.”
Kash’s breath left him with a broken exhale, but Ody didn’t soften. He simply stepped back and gave him space to leave.
Kash’s face crumpled. “Please, don’t do this…” he whispered.
Ody didn’t blink. His stare was cold. “You did it. You and your sister.”
“She can’t hurt him without my help, and I’m not going to help her,” Kash said quickly, trying to sound reassuring, but he couldn't quite hide the tremor.
Ody shrugged, unimpressed. “I don’t trust you, Kash.”
Kash’s gaze dropped to the floor, shame tightening his posture.
“If the professor hadn’t shown up this morning… what would you have done?”
Kash lifted his eyes slowly. “What do you mean?”
Ody held his stare, refusing to soften. “You know exactly what I mean. Would you have told Brandon and Pablo to stop, or would you have hit me too, just to keep up the act?” He stared at him like he already knew the answer.
Kash’s chest tightened. He looked away, jaw clenching. He hated the truth.
Ody nodded slowly, biting his lip. “I honestly have nothing else to say to you. Just go.”
Kash’s eyes searched his face, hoping for a crack, a softness, anything. There was nothing.
Ody turned away from him. “Come on, Kash. Leave.” His tone was calm, but empty, stripped bare of patience.
Kash swallowed and walked toward the door. He placed his hand on the handle, but Ody stopped him. “You promised you wouldn’t hurt Mano again.” It came out like a warning, almost like he needed to hear it again. He was afraid that once Kash walked out, that promise would vanish with him.
“I won’t. I gave you my word.”
Ody studied him closely, searching for even the smallest lie. Then he nodded once, slow and thoughtful.
Kash watched him, hoping that meant something. It didn’t.
He opened the door and stepped outside.
Ody didn’t say another word.
The door clicked shut between them.