Chapter 306
When I pulled back, I scanned the bleachers smug and proud and that’s when I saw Sierra sitting there, frozen.
Lilly’s hand wrapped tightly around hers as tears slid down her cheeks silently as she watched me celebrate with someone else.
I remember that look. The look of someone who had been broken, shattered into pieces. Like someone had reached inside her chest and carved a knife into her heart and soul.
Her eyes looked empty and soulless, as if the light inside her had been snuffed out.
I went to the afterparty as if nothing had happened, but her face still lingered in my head.
When Chloe slid next to me on the couch, wrapping her arms around my neck, I pushed Sierra from my mind.
I forced myself to believe she was acting. Forced myself to believe her tears were manipulation. That she was only hurt because she’d lost access to the wealth she thought would be hers. That she’d never loved me. That I’d never mattered to her.
I swallow hard, bile rising in my throat. Swallowing the truth that I had failed to see back then.
That she wasn’t the one acting, and because of that, I destroyed the one person who had ever truly loved me, choosing instead to believe a lie.
From that day on, Sierra did everything she could to avoid me and Chloe.
If I walked into a room, she walked out. If she saw me coming down a hallway, she turned around. If Mom or my aunts invited her to a family gathering and she knew I’d be there, she didn’t show up.
Back then, I told myself she was being dramatic. I called it manipulation. I called it pride. Anything but what it really was… Pain.
It continued like that until university, until Chloe broke up with me and called off the engagement.
Looking back now… knowing the truth… I see it clearly. I didn’t just hurt Sierra that day on the field. I broke her and then I kept breaking her.
“Hey.” Gunner’s hand grips my shoulder, giving me a small shake. “You okay p>
I don’t answer; I just keep my eyes locked on Sierra across the yard.
She pulls her phone from her pocket, reads something, and then smiles so bright it’s almost blinding
I don’t need to ask to know who that message is from. I know it’s from her new boyfriend.
“Yeah,” I mutter, the lie tasting like acid in my mouth.
“You do realize you can’t lie to me, right?” Gunner says quietly. “I’ve known you since we were ten p>
“It’s nothing.” My jaw tightens, forcing steadiness into my voice.
“Come on,” he presses gently. “It hasn’t escaped me that you’ve been staring at Si since this party started p>
I ignore him because what am I supposed to say? That every time she laughs, it feels like something is slipping further out of my reach?
Nolan walks up to her then, saying something I can’t hear. She bends down immediately, pulls him into her arms, and kisses his forehead like it’s the most natural thing in the world. Then she settles him beside her, guiding him until he’s lying across her lap.
Her fingers start moving through his hair slowly and soothingly, and within seconds, his eyes drift closed. Even from here, I can see the small, contented smile on his face.
“She’ll make a great mother,” Gunner murmurs beside me.
I don’t say it out loud, but I couldn’t agree more. She’ll make a great mom because she’s a great woman.
If only I’d seen it sooner. If only I’d treated her like the treasure she was instead of tearing her apart because I was too blind to see the truth.