Days of Revelations (Night of Secrets #2)

Chapter 47 - A Loving Revelation

Adeline

When I step outside, I take a deep breath of the cool autumn air. The slight breeze makes the dead leaves scrape across the ground and the leaves clinging to the trees rustle. The waning sunlight bathes everything in a pink glow, including the guys. It makes their smiles seem more inviting and puts me at ease as I shut the door behind me. It helps that Santos pulls me into a hug, lifting me off my feet.

"Missed you, stupid," he smiles, setting me down.

I lightly punch him in the arm. "Missed you, too, stupid." I tug on my bandage. "So what are you guys doing here?"

"We came to see you, duh," Ty laughs. His smile sobers, and he holds up his camera. "We also wanted to show you something."

I glance from Ty's camera to him and the others. "What is it?"

They have me sit on the porch bench with Santos and Ty on either side of me. Aart leans against the porch railing, his arms crossed over his chest. They watch me as I watch the video Ty pulls up. When I see Cyril, I glance at Ty, thinking it's a joke. Ty would never film Cyril or anyone he doesn't like. But he gives me a grim smile and nods back towards the camera.

I watch Jax, the guys, and Mira question Cyril about why he's been talking to me and what he's been saying and doing. I feel my heart constrict and crack when he admits to sending Dean and Faye to harass me just so it would look like he saved me. It's harder to breathe when I realize he's not remorseful about any of it. He's just scared of what my friends might do to him.

He really thinks he's not in the wrong for doing all this to "humble" me.

But something about hearing him admit it to other people makes me feel...lighter... Like he confirmed something I've known this entire time but never really thought to look closely at, the murky image becoming clearer. At the same time, realizing I was right to be wary around him makes my heart sever in half. It's like confiding in Mom and Dad: it's good to get rid of the what-if but to have the what-if confirmed... It makes me yearn for the murky image, but everything is already clear.

Maybe there isn't a good way to look at any of this. It'll hurt either way, so it's better to know for sure.

I try to hand the camera back to Ty. I get the gist. I don't need to see the rest of it. But he pushes it back to me. "No. Keep watching. There's one more thing you need to see."

I look back right when Jax slams his hand on the table. My eyes widen when I hear the anger in his voice and see how intense he looks as he tells Cyril, "I'm saying this because I've known Adeline my entire life. You've only known her for a little more than three years, and you already know how sweet and compassionate she is. You know how much she cares about people and what she'll do for someone when she decides they're worth protecting. And you took advantage of that.

"So you might know how sweet and compassionate Adeline is, but you don't fucking deserve to have her be half as sweet and compassionate as she is to you. You don't fucking deserve to have her cry over the things you made her believe about herself or wonder when things would be okay for her again or feel like she has no control over anything in her life or think she deserved less than she did or run off because she couldn't handle anything anymore. You don't fucking deserve to have any type of impact on her—good or bad.

"Yeah, she broke up with me because of what you said to her. But I wish it was because she came to her senses and hated me instead of herself. I'd rather have her want nothing to do with me than have her think the worst of herself. And the only reason why she thinks the worst of herself is because of you. And I'm not going to sit here and let you act like what you did wasn't fucked up."