My heart started pounding so loudly I was sure they could hear it through the door.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For a second, I froze in the hallway, barefoot, still in yesterday\u2019s clothes, trying to make sense of what I\u2019d just heard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She has no clue.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Those words echoed in my head like a warning siren.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I stepped back silently, pressing myself against the wall just as the door handle clicked. The door opened a crack. I held my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Continue reading on next page\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n Eric peeked out, scanning the hallway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I don\u2019t know how I did it, but I managed to stay perfectly still. After a moment, he shut the door again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I didn\u2019t wait.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I rushed back to my room, hands shaking so badly I could barely hold my phone. My laptop was gone. My novel\u2014three years of my life\u2014gone with it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But now I knew something worse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This wasn\u2019t random.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This was planned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I sat on the edge of the bed, forcing myself to think. Panic wouldn\u2019t help me. Not now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lana.<\/p>\n\n\n\n My best friend of twenty years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The one who dragged me here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The one who knew exactly how much that novel meant to me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And Eric\u2026 Eric wasn\u2019t some charming stranger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He was part of this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I wiped my tears, stood up, and did the only thing I could think of:<\/p>\n\n\n\n I went back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But this time, I didn\u2019t hesitate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I knocked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Silence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Then Lana\u2019s voice, overly sweet: \u201cJust a second!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The door opened, and there she was\u2014smiling like nothing was wrong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOh! You\u2019re up early\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhere is it?\u201d I cut in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Her smile faltered. \u201cWhere is what?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMy laptop.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Eric stepped into view behind her, calm as ever. Too calm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI think you\u2019re confused,\u201d he said smoothly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That\u2019s when something inside me snapped.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNo,\u201d I said, my voice steady now. \u201cI\u2019m not confused. I heard you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Silence fell like a dropped curtain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lana\u2019s expression changed first. The softness disappeared. What replaced it\u2026 I didn\u2019t recognize.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou weren\u2019t supposed to hear that,\u201d she said quietly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhy?\u201d I whispered. \u201cWhy would you do this to me?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n She exhaled slowly, like she\u2019d been holding it in for a long time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBecause you were going to throw it all away,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYour book,\u201d she continued. \u201cYou were this close<\/em> to finishing it, and instead you were spiraling. Hiding. Giving up.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Eric crossed his arms but didn\u2019t interrupt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSo you stole<\/em> it?\u201d I shot back. \u201cYou hired him to distract me?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lana hesitated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201c\u2026Yes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The word hit harder than anything else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou don\u2019t get it,\u201d she said, stepping closer. \u201cI sent your manuscript.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n My breath caught.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cTo who?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n She swallowed. \u201cTo a publisher.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The room spun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat?!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou wouldn\u2019t do it,\u201d she said. \u201cYou kept saying it wasn\u2019t ready, that no one would care. But I read it. It\u2019s incredible.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I looked at Eric. \u201cAnd you?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He sighed. \u201cI was supposed to keep you busy. That\u2019s it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBusy?\u201d I laughed bitterly. \u201cThat\u2019s what you call it?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He looked away. For the first time, he actually seemed uncomfortable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI didn\u2019t expect\u2026\u201d he started, then stopped.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDidn\u2019t expect what?\u201d I demanded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201c\u2026to actually like you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n That only made it worse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I turned back to Lana. \u201cGive it back. Now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n She nodded toward the dresser. My laptop sat there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I rushed to it, opening it with trembling hands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Everything was still there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Every word.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Every chapter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Every piece of me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A notification popped up on the screen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n An email.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Unread.<\/p>\n\n\n\n From a publishing house.<\/p>\n\n\n\n My fingers hovered before I clicked it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Then I opened it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We would like to discuss your manuscript\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n I couldn\u2019t breathe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They wanted it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They actually wanted it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tears filled my eyes, but this time, they weren\u2019t from heartbreak.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They were from something else entirely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I looked up at Lana.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou should\u2019ve trusted me,\u201d I said quietly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI know,\u201d she whispered. \u201cBut I needed you to believe in yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I grabbed my laptop and walked toward the door.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAnd him?\u201d I asked, glancing at Eric.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lana didn\u2019t answer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019m sorry,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I paused\u2026 just for a second.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Then I kept walking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some betrayals break you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Others\u2026 force you to finally see your own worth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And as I stepped out into the sunlight, one thing became clear:<\/p>\n\n\n\n I didn\u2019t lose everything on that island.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I found the one thing I had forgotten\u2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n Myself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" My heart started pounding so loudly I was sure they could hear it through the door. For a second, I…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":18077,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18076","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tbdig.com\/sirbenet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18076","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tbdig.com\/sirbenet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tbdig.com\/sirbenet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tbdig.com\/sirbenet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tbdig.com\/sirbenet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18076"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tbdig.com\/sirbenet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18076\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18078,"href":"https:\/\/tbdig.com\/sirbenet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18076\/revisions\/18078"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tbdig.com\/sirbenet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18077"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tbdig.com\/sirbenet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18076"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tbdig.com\/sirbenet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18076"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tbdig.com\/sirbenet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18076"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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