Page 56 of Boards & Betrayal

I slid into my car and started the engine, the familiar rumble doing little to calm my nerves. As I drove towards Nick's neighborhood, I couldn’t help but feel a mix of frustration and disbelief. His neighborhood was lined with sprawling mansions, each one more ostentatious than the last. The manicured lawns and towering gates screamed wealth and excess.

Why would someone so young invest in such a massive house? It felt like a waste of money, especially when it was just him living there. Plus, playing a professional sport didn't guarantee he would have money coming in. I frowned at the thought, but tried not to judge him too harshly. Nick had always been driven by appearances, wanting to project success at any cost.

I pulled up to his place and typed in the gate keycode. The black iron gates creaked open slowly, revealing a long driveway that wound through perfectly trimmed hedges and blooming flower beds. The grandeur of it all was almost suffocating.

Driving up the driveway, I took in the sight of Nick’s mansion. It was an imposing structure, with tall columns flanking the entrance and large windows that gleamed in thesunlight. The exterior was a mix of stone and brick, giving it a stately yet cold appearance. It looked more like a museum or a showpiece than a home.

The front yard stretched out expansively, with a pristine fountain in the center surrounded by meticulously arranged roses. As I parked my car near the entrance, I couldn't shake the feeling of being out of place here. This wasn’t where real life happened; it was a carefully curated façade meant to impress.

I took a deep breath, trying to steady myself before stepping out of the car. Whatever awaited inside, I had to face it head-on. There was no turning back now.

I knocked on the massive wooden door, my knuckles barely making a sound against its solid surface. A moment later, the door swung open, and there stood Nick, a grin plastered on his face. Before I could react, he pulled me into a hug, his arms tight around me.

"Hey," he murmured into my hair. "I take it you'll agree to the shoot?"

I blinked, momentarily confused. The shoot? Right, the favor he needed. But that wasn't why I was here.

"No," I said, stepping back and putting some distance between us. "I'm actually here to talk to you about your mom."

His grin faltered slightly. "My mom? What about her?"

"She knows, Nick. She said you told her." My voice trembled with anger and hurt. "How could you?"

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, looking exasperated. "What do you want from me, Ally? She was going to find out, eventually."

"Find out?" My voice rose. "How? How could she possibly find out about something that doesn't involve either of you? And anyway, that wasn't your decision to make! You had no right."

Nick's eyes hardened. "And what was I supposed to do? Keep lying to her? She's my mom."

"Your mom?" I scoffed. "This is about more than just her knowing! It's about you betraying my trust."

"Betraying your trust?" He laughed bitterly. "You're overreacting. It's not that big of a deal."

"Not that big of a deal?" My fists clenched at my sides. "You know how much this means to me, how much I've been struggling."

He shook his head, a mocking smile playing on his lips. "Oh please, Ally. You're always so dramatic about everything."

I stared at him in disbelief. My anger flared hotter.

"You don't get to minimize my feelings," I snapped. "You don't get to decide what's important or not. You couldn't possibly know what it feels like —"

Nick shrugged nonchalantly. "Maybe if you'd been honest from the start, we wouldn't be having this conversation." He glared. "And I may not know about that, but I certainly know what it feels like to know my dad has been fucking my girlfriend!"

"Ex," I snapped. "We weren't together."

"Like that makes it better," he said. "See? You're not being honest."

"Honest?" I echoed, incredulous. "You think this is about honesty? This is about you violating my privacy and using it against me."

He leaned against the doorframe, looking bored. "Honestly, Ally, you're blowing this way out of proportion."

My vision blurred with unshed tears of frustration and betrayal. How had it come to this? How had the boy I'd once loved turned into someone so callous and manipulative?

I took a step back, needing space to breathe and think clearly.

"We're done here," I said quietly but firmly.

Nick's eyes narrowed slightly, as if calculating his next move, but said nothing as I turned on my heel and walked away from the mansion that now felt more like a prison than ever before.

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