Chapter One Broken Hearts and Secrets
Alexis used to believe she and Brandon were unbreakable. People said they were the kind of couple that made sense — the kind that lasted. But lately, something in him felt wrong. Not distant. Not distracted.
Hidden.
She didn’t know it yet, but the truth was already moving toward her like a storm crawling over the horizon.
Bobby had called earlier asking for a ride to Wednesday night Bible study, so Alexis grabbed her keys and headed for the door.
“Babe, are you ready to go?” she asked.
Brandon didn’t look up from his phone. “I can’t. I’ve got homework.”
His tone was flat. Too flat. Like he’d rehearsed it.
“Fine. See you later.”
She shut the door harder than she meant to. The sound echoed through the house — sharp, final — like something cracking.
College was still a bruise she didn’t touch. She’d dropped out to take care of Bobby after the accident, after the amputation, after the night everything changed. She never complained, but sometimes she wondered if life was punishing her for something she didn’t remember doing.
At the YMCA, she parked her VW Bug and stepped into the humid, chlorineheavy air. Bobby was finishing water therapy, and Nico — his therapist — met her with the weekly progress report.
Nico was tall, calm, and quietly handsome. The kind of presence that made the world feel steadier for a moment. Alexis pushed the thought away. She had a boyfriend. A complicated, increasingly unreadable boyfriend.
“I’ll help you get Bobby into the car,” Nico said.
“Thanks. I appreciate it.”
After securing Bobby’s wheelchair, Nico closed the door and opened the passenger side for her — a small gesture, but it hit her like a memory of something she’d forgotten she deserved.
“You doing okay?” he asked, studying her face with a softness that made her chest tighten.
“Yeah… I guess.”
“Alright. Take care.”
As she drove away, Alexis felt a strange pressure in her chest — not sadness, not fear, but something like a warning. She ignored it.
Back at home, Brandon’s phone buzzed.
“Hey, man, you ready for tonight?” Jack asked through the speaker.
“Bro, tonight’s gonna be lit,” Brandon said, already grinning.
He wasn’t thinking about homework. He wasn’t thinking about Alexis.
He was thinking about Knocking Boots — the nightclub where Brianna bartended on Wednesdays.
For two years, Brandon and Brianna had been meeting there.
Two years of secrets.
Two years of slipping away while Alexis sat in a church parking lot, waiting for Bible study to end.
She had no idea she wasn’t losing him — she’d already lost him.
At the bar, Jack’s phone buzzed with a text from an unknown number.
I know you helped Brandon be a cheater…
Jack’s hands went cold. He immediately called Brandon.
“Bro, emergency. Get to the bar. Now.”
When Brandon arrived, Jack shoved the phone at him. Brandon’s face drained of color.
“What the—? Someone’s watching us.”
Jack swallowed hard. “I’m done, man. I’m out.”
Brandon didn’t answer. He was staring at the entrance like he expected someone to walk in — someone who already knew everything.
Someone who wasn’t going to stay silent.
Chapter Two: Thursday Morning
Alexis is up at 6:00 a.m., the house still wrapped in that soft, bluish quiet before sunrise. The coffee maker hums to life, filling the kitchen with the warm, grounding smell of hazelnut roast. She leans against the counter, rubbing sleep from her eyes as the first sip warms her chest.
Down the hall, the guest house door is cracked open, a thin strip of light spilling across the floorboards.
Bobby’s studio apartment—technically the “guest house,” but really just a cozy addition to the main home—always smells faintly of cedar and the vanilla candles he insists on burning.
She heads toward it, ready to help him start his morning.
Her phone dings.
The sound slices through the quiet.
She glances down.
“Your boyfriend is a liar and a cheat. Delete this and I will be in touch later.” — Unknown #
Her stomach drops. What the hell…? Her fingers tighten around the phone. The kitchen suddenly feels colder, the hum of the refrigerator too loud.
I need to call Cindy. Now.
She steps outside onto the small walkway between the main house and the guest suite, the early morning air cool against her skin.
“Hey, Cid. I need to meet up with you but not at my house,” she says, voice low.
Cindy answers immediately, her tone alert. “Hey. Do you want to meet at Dunkin and grab coffee?”
“Sounds good. Meet you at 1:00 p.m.?”
“Perfect.”
Alexis pockets her phone and heads back inside to help Bobby get ready. She wheels his backpack to the door, helps him adjust his jacket, and smooths his hair like she has since they were kids.
“Sis… are you okay?” Bobby asks, studying her face with that uncanny intuition he always has.
“I’m good. Nothing to worry about,” she lies, forcing a smile.
She hates lying to him. But she hates the idea of him worrying even more.
They pull into the YMCA parking lot, sunlight now stretching across the pavement in long golden streaks.
Nicholas—Nico to everyone—steps outside just as she parks.
He’s tall, calm, always composed, and today he moves with that same gentle confidence as he comes over to help her lift Bobby’s wheelchair from the backseat.
“Morning,” he says softly, giving Alexis a quick, searching look. Something in his expression lingers—concern, maybe—but he doesn’t ask. He never pushes.
Something feels off to her, though. A strange heaviness in the air. A prickle at the back of her neck. But she brushes it away.
Once Bobby is safely inside with Nico, she gets back in her car, exhales shakily, and drives to Dunkin. The sky is fully awake now, bright and cloudless, but she feels anything but.
She texts Cindy: I’m here.
Inside, the café smells like sugar and espresso. The low chatter of customers blends with the hiss of steaming milk. Cindy spots her immediately, grabs two coffees, and slides into the seat across from her.
“So… what’s going on?” Cindy asks, eyes wide with curiosity and concern.
Alexis swallows hard. “I got a text from an unknown number saying Brandon’s cheating on me.”
Cindy’s eyebrows shoot up. “Wow. Any clue who texted you? And… is it true? Are there signs?”
Alexis stares into her coffee. “Yes. Every Wednesday he claims to have a lot of homework for college.”
“Every Wednesday?” Cindy repeats. “That’s… weird. What do you plan to do?”
“I think I’m going to track his location. Maybe just confront him.”
“I’m down to come over and confront him,” Cindy says without hesitation.
Meanwhile…
Back in his math class, Brandon sits stiffly at his desk, tapping his pencil against the notebook but not writing a single thing. The classroom buzzes with quiet conversation, the scrape of chairs, the teacher’s voice drifting in and out—but he hears none of it.
His mind is a storm.
His phone vibrates.
Another message.
Ding.
“Should I send the proof to Alexis?” — Unknown number
His heart slams against his ribs.
“Fuck—don’t do that. I’ll pay you. Name a price,” he types back with shaking hands.
The reply is instant.
“You have two choices: come clean or I send the pictures. Or you can end it with Brianna. The girl in the photos goes away.”
Brandon wipes a hand across his face. Brianna means nothing. Just a stupid mistake. A distraction. Alexis is the one I care about.
But the unknown number… They aren’t guessing. They aren’t bluffing. They’ve been watching.
And they have proof.