~ đź–¤
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The storm outside had faded, but inside Maya, a darker storm was building. One not made of rain or thunder — but buried memories, half-lies, and guilt that refused to rot quietly.
She sat on the edge of the bed, Mira's diary clutched to her chest. The pages still smelled like her sister's perfume. Jasmine and lies.
She couldn't stop shaking.
> "I need to know the truth," she whispered.
A knock shattered the silence.
When she opened the door, Jax stood there — soaked, breathing hard, eyes wild with something between grief and rage.
> "Let me in," he said. "This won't wait."
Inside, he barely noticed Elias standing nearby, arms crossed, shirtless, watching like a predator. Jax locked eyes with Maya instead.
> "I saw the diary," he said tightly. "But it's not enough. There's something you don't know. Something she kept even from you."
> "From me?" Maya's voice cracked. "She already ruined me, Jax. What more could she—"
> "She didn't just lie to you," he said. "She tried to erase you."
Jax reached into his hoodie and pulled out a folded envelope — faded, torn at the corners. Inside was a single photograph. It showed Mira and Maya as children, smiling with another girl — Serena, their cousin.
But Mira had scribbled over Serena's face in black ink. Over and over and over.
> "Do you remember when Mira stopped talking to Serena last year?"
Maya blinked. "They fought. Something petty. Boys, I think—"
> "No. That's what Mira wanted you to believe. She cut Serena off because Serena found out what she was planning."
> "Planning?"
Jax handed her his phone. On the screen, a text thread:
Mira: She always gets the attention.
Mira: Just once, I want her to break like I did.
Mira: A few pills. Nothing deadly. Just enough. Let her drown a little.
Maya's knees buckled.
Elias moved to catch her, but she waved him off, staring at the messages like they might vanish if she blinked.
> "She tried to… drug me?" Maya choked out. "When?"
> "That night last spring. You thought it was a panic attack. You collapsed in the school bathroom and couldn't remember a thing afterward. Mira said you were just overwhelmed, that she found you and helped. But it was her."
> "Serena found the pills in Mira's purse," Jax continued. "She confronted her. Threatened to tell you. Mira snapped."
Maya looked like she'd been punched. "I don't believe this."
> "She threatened Serena," Jax said. "Told her she'd expose her secrets. Said she'd make it look like she was the one obsessed. And Serena believed her."
Elias cursed under his breath. "Jesus…"
> "She wasn't just jealous," Jax said. "She was vicious. She wanted to destroy you emotionally. Piece by piece. She wanted you to feel as worthless as she did."
Maya dropped to her knees, holding the diary to her chest like it might protect her from the truth.
Elias finally stepped forward, kneeling beside her. He reached for her hand, but she didn't move.
> "She said I was the lucky one," Maya whispered. "That I always got what I didn't deserve. But I never wanted what she had."
> "You were loved without trying," Jax said. "She hated that."
> "And the crash?" Maya's voice was barely audible now.
Jax's voice dropped to something colder. "I think it was always the plan. If she couldn't ruin you while alive, she'd ruin you by dying with you. Only… you survived."
The silence after that was unbearable.
> "I thought I killed her," Maya whispered. "I carried that. I hated myself. And all this time… she was trying to kill me."
Tears streamed down her face — not from guilt this time.
From betrayal.
From grief for a sister she never really knew.
> "Why didn't Serena tell me?" she asked brokenly.
> "She tried," Jax said. "But after the crash, you were drowning. And Serena thought maybe letting you grieve the version of Mira you believed in was kinder than the truth."
> "No," Maya said, finally standing. "I don't want kindness. I want honesty. Even if it hurts."
Elias stood too, watching her like she might shatter — but knowing now, maybe, she wouldn't.
Jax moved to the door. "I just thought you should know. Before I disappear."
> "Jax…"
He looked back.
> "She played us all," he said. "But you… you were her favorite toy. And her final target."
And then he was gone.
Maya stood frozen, the weight of every memory crashing down around her.
And Elias stepped forward, brushing a strand of hair from her face.
> "She didn't deserve you," he murmured.
> "Then why does it still feel like I lost a part of myself with her?"
> "Because you did," he whispered. "But what's left… belongs to you now. Not her."
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