Chapter Six The Photos
Nico unlocks his phone, his thumb hovering for a moment as if he’s giving her one last chance to brace herself. Alexis sits rigidly across from him, her French vanilla coffee untouched, her pulse thudding in her ears.
“Are you sure?” he asks quietly.
She nods once. Sharp. Final. “I’m done being lied to.”
Nico turns the screen toward her.
The first photo hits like a punch.
Brandon. At Knocking Boots. Leaning against the bar. Brianna’s hand on his chest, her body pressed close, his head bent toward her like they’re sharing a secret.
Alexis’s breath catches. Her fingers curl into fists on the table.
Nico swipes.
Another photo. Different night. Different outfit. Same woman. Same closeness.
Her stomach twists.
Swipe.
Brandon outside the club, Brianna’s arms around his neck. His hands on her waist. His smile — the one he used to give Alexis — aimed at someone else.
Her throat tightens painfully.
Swipe.
A timestamp. Wednesday. 11:42 p.m. The same night he told her he had “a ton of homework.”
Her vision blurs for a moment. She blinks hard, jaw trembling.
Nico watches her carefully, not touching her, not speaking — just being there, steady and solid, the way she didn’t realize she needed.
Alexis inhales shakily. “Two years,” she whispers. “Two fucking years.”
Her voice cracks on the last word.
She presses her hand to her mouth, trying to hold herself together, but the betrayal hits in waves — hot, sharp, humiliating. She feels it in her chest, her ribs, her spine. Like something is splintering inside her.
Nico’s voice is low, steady. “I’m sorry, Alexis. You didn’t deserve this.”
She shakes her head, tears burning but refusing to fall. “No. I didn’t. And he thought I’d never find out.”
Her phone buzzes on the table.
She flinches.
A new message. From the unknown number.
Nico sees it too.
Alexis picks it up with trembling hands.
“Now you know the truth.”
And the moment of truth is no longer coming.
It’s here.