My phone rang.
Ryan.
I almost dropped it.
Megan grabbed my wrist. “Don’t answer emotionally.”
I let it ring once more, then picked up.
“Hey,” I said, forcing my voice flat.
“Where are you?” Ryan asked.
“At my mom’s.”
A pause.
“No, you’re not.”
My blood went cold.
He knew.
“I stopped by,” he said. “Your car isn’t there.”
I looked at Megan.
She mouthed: Police.
Ryan’s voice softened. “Alice, listen to me. Your sister was sick. Whatever Megan showed you, it’s not real. Claire was obsessed with ruining us.”
There it was again.
The lie dressed as concern.
For one second, I wanted to scream. To ask him if he chased her in the rain. If he knew she drove off terrified. If he slept beside me while my family mourned the woman he helped destroy.
Instead, I said, “Come to Claire’s office. We’ll talk.”
He exhaled. Relieved.
“Good girl,” he said.
And that was the last time I ever let those words touch me.
