Intrigue

Chapter 116

Sophie's POV

I spent the rest of the day in a daze, trying to connect the missing puzzle pieces. I put a cloth to my forehead, and went to bed early, telling Jeremy that I was going to be meeting Cole.

Instead, my mind went over the past few years, over everything, all the possibilities. I drove myself mad with the thoughts, and hardly slept a wink.

The next morning there were visiting hours again. I visited Sean. I felt devastated, but I had to at least attempt to pretend to be okay. I needed answers, and I didn't think Sean or Jeremy would be giving them to me, unless I pretended that I already knew.

"Hello, Sean," I said, forcing a smile.

"It's surprising to see you again, Soph, I'm so glad you're here." He beamed at me. His face fell when he saw the tears in my eyes. "What's wrong?" he asked.

I exhaled sharply before speaking. "I spoke to Jeremy," I lied. "We had another fight. And then he told me what happened when you were a teenager. With Cole."

I waited to see what his expression would be like. He looked extremely uncomfortable. He exhaled before he spoke. "I should have been the one telling you what happened," he muttered. "But I've always chickened out."

My heart sank. "Jeremy says that you didn't want to taint my image of our father," I improvised. I watched him nod. More tears streamed down my cheeks. "I'm so sorry, Sean." My hand gripped his. I saw the guard glance at us, but he didn't intervene.

Sean squeezed my hand, and I saw tears make their way out of his eyes too. He sniffled. "Me too."

I burst out crying now. Because with the way Sean was acting, I knew the truth. I knew that he had had a crush on Cole when he was fifteen, and Cole realised it and had used it to his advantage. It hadn't been Sean who had made a pass at Cole. It had been Cole who punished Sean for making it obvious that he'd been mesmerised by him. And he'd fallen right into the trap, like he'd said.

"I can't believe I worked with him. I can't believe..." I trailed off, not wanting to say the words 'dated' or slept with'. "Somehow, I always blamed you for the way you acted. I didn't want to think of the possibility that you may have really gone through something."

Sean watched me quietly. "I couldn't say much, he threatened me with you," he mumbled. "Asked me if I'd rather it was me or you."

I felt my head spin round, but held my composure in front of him. I nodded. "Jeremy told me."

He hadn't, but he was going to.

Sean closed his eyes. When he reopened them, tears trailed down his cheeks. He wiped them away, staring at the table that separated us. I wished I could hug him. I wished I could hold him close and never let go.

He'd done this for me. No wonder he'd pushed me out, no wonder he didn't come back home. I squeezed his hand, drawing his attention.

"Why did you never tell me?" I whimpered. "After you left home and got away, why didn't you?"

Sean appeared uncomfortable. "It's not something you go around saying, Soph. By the time I came back home I was bitter. I... sort of blamed you. I'd told Dad, he hadn't believed me, so I wasn't going to tell anyone else." He looked extremely pained.

I blinked back tears. I suddenly understood why Sean had wanted nothing to do with Dad, and why he'd shut me out when we were teenagers and at university. "You told Jeremy," I mumbled.

"After six years, yeah. I knew he'd believe me." Sean took off his glasses and wiped his face from tears. "I told Malcolm, too," he mumbled.

And right then I realised how what Jeremy had said was true, how Sean had truly loved Malcolm, and confirmed that yes, my brother had been convicted on false evidence. Because he wasn't evil. He'd just been unlucky.