54 Chapter 54 FUCKING SHITSHOW
54 Chapter 54 FUCKING SHITSHOW
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He shook his head. “Think carefully about where this conversation is going, Maya.”
I stood.
“And you thought ambushing Sera and accusing her of chasing after Kieran was going to
fix that?”
“I think saving my sister’s life is more important than anything else.”
Ethan continued, tone deliberately measured. “She drank bleach. Thankfully, she was already in the hospital and was quickly stabilized, but the doctors say her wolf is rapidly deteriorating. She’s in an extremely fragile state right now.”
Like his ‘being a bad brother’ hadn’t been pivotal in ruining my life.
“Maya,” he ground out, “stop this.”
“This is why you brought me here?” I said, eyes burning. “So your mate could guilt-trip
me?”
Maya shifted, suddenly uncharacteristically nervous. “Because he has regrets, Sera. He wants to apologize to you, make things right.” She leaned in. “I don’t want my mate and my best friend at loggerheads.”
“I’m not asking you to care about her,” Ethan said. “But I am asking you to stop.”
Like we weren’t estranged, and he wasn’t one of the chief orchestrators of my misery.
Then Ethan said quietly, “You’re angry.”
I turned my head slowly. “Stop what, exactly?”
The silence between us was sharp. Final.
My fork clanged against my plate, and I felt Maya wince. “Speculation?” I said incredulously.
“Hey,” he repeated.
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I straightened and crossed my arms. “Like what? That I should’ve walked away the moment I realized you were Sera’s asshole brother?”
“Celeste thinks he loves you, or at least that you two still have some kind of connection. It tears her apart, and she’s slowly unraveling every day.”
I blinked, waiting for the right emotions to spread through me-shock, guilt, panic, grief, even. But all I could feel was a distant, surreal numbness. Like I was finding out news
about someone I didn’t know.
His jaw ticked. “I came here in good faith. I thought maybe-”
When they were done, they laid out grilled salmon, sweet potatoes, and a tossed salad,
and we settled to eat.
“I” He shook his head. “You don’t understand.”
We stared at each other. Unmoving. Unflinching. Both of us breathing too hard in the
too-quiet room.
“Did it?”
The silence in the kitchen felt like broken glass. I stared at Ethan for a long time, struggling to arrange my tumbling thoughts and emotions.
“Sera is your sister, too!”
Maya reached for my hand under the table, but I didn’t squeeze back.
I arched an eyebrow. “For what?”
She only ever knew the extent of what I told her; she could never know how it truly felt to have your big brother, who was supposed to be a protector, stand with the rest of the world against you.
They teased each other relentlessly, working seamlessly together. So while I still felt uncomfortable and there was an ache in my chest I couldn’t explain, I was at least happy for my friend that she’d found what I’d spent most of my life-especially the last ten years
-missing.
“Sera-” Maya reached for me, but I yanked my arm from her grasp and strode out of the
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kitchen.
“Update your family tree,” I hissed. “You have only one sister.”
Ethan sighed. “Speculation aside-”
While they cooked, I watched Maya and Ethan from the corner of my eye. They’d only been mates for a short while, but they had a dynamic that was kind of sweet to watch.
Maya stood too. “Sera, please.”
A muscle in his jaw ticked. “I didn’t expect it to go like this.”
I snorted into my glass of wine.
MAYA’S POV
Maya went still beside me. My stomach bottomed out. That was why Kieran had run out like his ass was on fire.
“No,” I said, my voice clipped. “You think very carefully. Think about your actions and who you really are. Because I am not going to choose you over what’s right.” (1)
I blinked away treacherous tears that threatened to spill out of my eyes. “And the fact that you gave that half-assed apology, went through this entire fucking ruse just so you could once again plead Celeste’s case, once again prove that you have and will always be on her side, is the reason why I will never forgive you, Ethan.”
“That’s not my fault,” I said. “She should talk to Kieran about it. There’s nothing going on between us, and he should do a better job of assuring her.”
The tension in the kitchen had teeth.
A long silence followed.
I shook my head. “I should have ended this the moment I realized who you are.”
“Of course you didn’t. You thought she’d cry and give in and play the part you all need her to play again.”
“I can’t fucking believe this,” I whispered.
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I lifted my chin. “And what about me? What about what I’m willing to accept?”
Ethan didn’t flinch. “I’m not asking for much, Sera. I know the rift between you two won’t be so easily sealed, just…stop feeding it. Don’t hurt her any more than she already is. Don’t be the reason she attempts to give up again.”
“Do you forgive me?”
And then, without another word, I turned my back on him, heart hammering, chest burning as I drew the line.
He met my eyes. “She needed to hear it. Celeste’s on the edge, Maya. She could’ve died.”
“Good,” I muttered.
He studied me for a beat. Then, his next words cut through the remaining warmth in the
room.
I shrugged in reply. I couldn’t return his sentiment just yet. They should’ve been glad I didn’t immediately race for the door.
“Stop going after Kieran.” (1
The slamming door echoed through my ribcage.
“And what about me, Ethan?” I hissed. “Did you think for a second how it would feel to sit between my best friend and my mate and listen to that fucking shitshow?”
“Why should I?”
His eyes narrowed. “I didn’t use you.”
I inhaled through my nose and forced my limbs to move, to sit at the modest kitchen table from where I could watch Maya set to work on making dinner.
“You wanted to talk?” I said coolly, folding my napkin into a tighter and tighter square in my lap.
I turned to her slowly and tried to keep the accusation out of my voice, but I couldn’t help feeling ambushed. “Why?”
He blanched. “Sera-”
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I turned to Ethan, who had his jaw clenched. “Celeste made her choices. She tried to end her life because she lost control of a narrative she manipulated ten years ago. That’s not my fault. That’s not on me. I will not shoulder the blame for her unraveling.”
Maya shifted beside me. “Sera-”
“Bullshit. You knew she wouldn’t come if you asked her. You asked me to do it because
you knew she trusted me.”
He stood now too, towering slightly over me. “And was that so wrong, helping me?”
“No,” I snapped. “He said his piece. And so will I.”
Ethan stiffened. “Don’t.”
His face hardened. “Maya, watch what you say.”
SERAPHINA’S POV
Maya still had her arm looped through mine, her body warm and grounding. But every inch of me had gone cold as I stared at my brother, his shirt sleeves rolled to the elbows, oozing polished calm as he set down silverware like this was any normal night.
I turned to him. “Don’t what?”
“Oh, spare me!” I snapped. “You came to make Sera the villain, something your entire fucking family loves to do. You didn’t even have the decency to mean that weak-ass apology.”
There was no tremor in his voice. No guilt. Just calm, measured speech, like this was everyday conversation.
“Here,” Ethan said quietly, pushing a glass of red wine towards me. I accepted it without looking up at him.
“How am I supposed to trust your fucking loyalty when I’ve watched you hurt the girl you call sister? It doesn’t paint you in a favorable light, Ethan.”
His voice dropped an octave. “I can deal with your temper, Maya. I can deal with your sarcasm, your fire, your dramatics-hell, I fucking love it all. But don’t challenge my loyalty to this relationship. Not like this.”
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“She’s been tethering over the fucking edge for decades, and you never once noticed!”
Ethan cleared his throat and nodded once. “I wanted to apologize.”
“I’m glad we’re doing this.”
His eyes flickered. “She’s not the one tethering over the edge.”
“Right,” I mumbled, turning back to my plate.
“Or what?” I challenged, rising to match him, our gazes locked in a fiery tango. “You’ll do to me what you did to her? Torture me? Silence me? Gaslight me? Make me feel like I’m worthless?”
I pressed my lips tightly, looking away. It was hard not to feel like Maya had overstepped, but I guess if I squinted and turned my head to the side, I could see where she was coming from.
He sighed heavily. “Everything. For shunning you all these years, treating you as less than. For being a bad brother.”
I stared at the dark red liquid. “Hmm?”
He sighed. “It needed to be said.”
“It’s not like that—”
“Don’t say things you don’t mean, things you’ll regret later.”
I laughed. Bitter and low. “You think I went after him, that I’m going after him?”
“Sera?”
“No, it’s okay,” Ethan cut in. “She deserves to feel as wronged as she wants. I didn’t come here expecting forgiveness so quickly.”
I nodded, stepping around the table, eyes burning. “Maybe I don’t get the full extent of your relationship, but I understand that tonight, you used me to get to her.”
Ethan stayed sitting, his expression unreadable.
I blinked. My throat felt suddenly too tight. “You…you live here now?”
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I scoffed. “Damn right I am. You had the gall to bring up Celeste’s suicide attempt as if it was somehow Sera’s fault, as if she hadn’t already been wrongfully blamed for everything
else that has ever gone wrong.”
I waited for ten minutes to pass, for our plates to be filled and the first couple of forkfuls to be consumed before I spoke.
“Celeste tried to kill herself earlier today.”
“But can you blame her?” Ethan said softly. “You and Kieran hurt her all those years ago
and-”
I turned away and braced my hands on the counter.
Maya nudged me lightly. “I invited him for dinner. He wanted to see you. Talk.”
I turned to him slowly. “What the hell was that, Ethan?”
I stared, shocked at how…easy the apology had come.
“I seem to recall you being at the garden the night of the gala.” My voice was tight. “Are you not curious about the message she sent me? About the possibility that Celeste had something to do with my being in that hotel room that night?”
He stepped closer. “Because I won’t accept it.”
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