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“Safe? You took his place. You lied. To me.” The words hang between us, sharp and accusing. “Taking my virginity is what you call keeping me safe?”

“I know it was wrong. I’m sorry. But after that night… after being close to you, pretending to be him, I couldn’t keep away anymore.” He reaches for me again, but I jerk away.

I can’t—won’t—let him close this distance. Not now.

“I never should have lied to you. I was just scared. Scared you’d never give me a chance if you knew the truth. Over time, the more we were together, the harder it became to hide who I really was. I wanted to tell you so many times, but I couldn’t lose you. I was weak and selfish, and I’m so sorry for betraying your trust,” he says.

“How can I ever trust you again?”

“I love you, Mary.” Connor closes the distance between us and cups my face in his hands. I’m too stunned to break away. “I’ve loved you from the moment I first saw you in college. Afterthat night, I couldn’t stay away. I had to be a part of your life, the real me this time.”

I search for any glimmer of deception in his eyes, any sign that this revelation is just another layer of lies. But how would I even know if he lies? I couldn’t see it before, so why should I see it now?

How could he do this to me? How could he look me in the eye, day after day, and pretend to be someone else? He pretended that we were meeting for the first time, that we didn’t share a history, a connection so profound it left me raw and reeling.

“Everything we were. Everything I felt…” My own voice sounds foreign to me, hollowed out by the emptiness inside. “It was based on a lie, Connor. A lie you crafted.”

“I know. And I’ll regret it every day. But I swear, every moment since has been real. Everything I said to you after we met in person was real. My feelings for you are real. I wanted to confess everything tonight. I swear.”

“Real?” A mirthless laugh escapes me. “How can I believe anything is real when it started with you watching me, stalking me, then deceiving and, worst of all, leaving.”

The silence stretches taut between us, a barrier neither of us can break.

“Was I just another game for you, Connor? Another problem to fix?”

“No, never that. You were… you are more than I ever expected to find.”

“You made me believe I was crazy thinking you’re Chris. I felt so bad.” I wrench myself out of his hold, stumbling back.

I trusted him. I opened up to him, let him into my life, my heart. And all the while, he knew. He knew what we had shared, what he meant to me. And he said nothing.

Anger surges through me, mingling with the pain until I can’t tell where one ends and the other begins. I want to scream, to rage, to make him hurt the way he’s hurt me. But beneath the fury, there’s a part of me that just wants to understand.

I look at him, really look at him.

I thought I knew him so well. But now, it’s like I’m seeing a stranger. The man I loved, the man I thought I knew… he never existed. He was just a mask, a facade hiding the truth.

And the truth is, I don’t know who Connor Milton really is. I don’t know if I ever did.

“Mary, I—”

“Stay away from me.”

His voice is a hoarse whisper. “Please.”

His words should melt my heart, but all I feel is a sharp sting right through my heart. “I can’t do this. Not now. Maybe not ever.”

Just like that morning, my body moves on its own as I gather my belongings and dress myself.

“I never wanted to hurt you.”

“Didn’t you?” I step into my skirt, pulling it up mechanically, before striding to the front door. My hand closes around the doorknob, and I pause.

“I was protecting you.” His words strike a chord in my chest, awakening a faint glimmer of hope I try so hard to smother.

I stare at his anguished profile, wanting nothing more than to believe him.

But I can’t. Not yet.

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