Page 83 of Dreams and Desires

But even seeing Brian on the ground, clutching his face in agony, isn’t enough to calm the storm inside me. I lungeat him again, my fists pounding against him. “You think you could just get away with it? It’s your turn to suffer now! Karma’s finally caught up with you!”

“Juniper, stop!” someone yells.

But I don’t. I can’t. It’s all just coming out now—years of crap I shoved down because I had to. I’ve been holding this stuff in so long it’s basically breaking loose on its own. I keep hitting him.

Suddenly, arms wrap around me, pulling me away from Brian. I struggle against them, but they hold me firmly, turning me around to face the crowd. It’s Dominique, her eyes filled with tears. “Juniper, please!” she begs, her voice breaking with emotion.

“Let me go!” I scream, but she only holds me tighter, her own tears spilling over now.

“Please, Juniper, listen to me!” The desperation in her voice cuts through the haze of my anger, and I stop struggling, my chest heaving with sobs. Dominique’s grip on me loosens, and she steps back, her eyes red and swollen. “It was me, Juniper!” she shouts, and I freeze.

“What do you mean?” My voice is shaky, not wanting to understand, but needing to know.

Dominique’s face goes pale, her hands trembling. “It was me. I was the one who sent out those pictures of you in high school.”

“WHAT? You’re lying.” The words tumble out. I can’t… I can’t believe what she’s saying.

“No,” she chokes out, her voice breaking. “I did it because… because I was in love with Brian. I was jealous, and I wanted to hurt you. I wanted you out of the picture, so I could have Brian for myself… I’m so, so sorry.”

The room falls deathly silent. I stare at her, my mind reeling. All these years, I thought it was Brian. I thought… I don’t even know what I thought anymore.

“When you sent him those pictures, he forwarded them to me to mock how desperate you were for him, but I was the one who spread them,” she confesses, her voice shaky. “I made sure everyone in Cody knew what you did.”

Tears blur my vision as I take a step back, the ground feeling unsteady beneath me. The betrayal cuts deep, but there’s something else there too—relief. Finally, after all these years, I know the truth.

But it doesn’t make the pain go away.

“Why?” I whisper. “Why would you do that to me? For this… this piece of filth?” I say, my gaze locking on Brian, knowing all along what a disgusting creep he really is.

Dominique collapses to her knees, her sobs wracking her body, shoulders trembling uncontrollably. “I was stupid, Juniper. I was young and insecure, and I let myjealousy consume me,” she cries, her voice breaking under the load of her confession. “The guilt... It's like cancer, eating me alive every single day. I can’t escape it. I’ve regretted it every moment since. Please, Juniper, I’m begging you! Please forgive me.”

And then I see Jacob, who has been standing quietly among the crowd, coming forward. Every eye in the room follows him as he makes his way to the front, where Dominique is breaking down. His steps are slow, deliberate, like he’s carrying the stress of the world on his shoulders.

Dominique’s tears are flowing freely now, her face crumpling under the pressure of her guilt. But Jacob’s expression doesn’t change. It’s like he’s looking at a complete stranger, not the woman he once loved. He stops just a few feet from her, and the distance between them feels impossibly wide.

“I trusted you,” Jacob says, shakily. “I loved you. And all this time… you were lying to me? You were hurting my sister?”

Dominique reaches out, her hands trembling as she tries to touch him. “No, Jacob, it wasn’t like that,” she begs, but he takes a step back, and it’s clear he doesn’t believe her.

“Then what was it like?” Jacob’s voice rises, cracking with the pain of betrayal. “You knew what those pictures did to her! You saw how much it hurt her! And you… you’re the one who did it? How could you?”

Dominique’s whole body shakes as she steps closer, reaching for him.“Jacob, I made a huge mistake. But I love you, Jacob. I love you so much.”

Jacob’s face shows nothing but hurt and disbelief, his eyes locked on Dominique’s, searching for the woman he thought he knew.

Jacob’s face twists with pain, and he shakes his head slowly, as if trying to wake up from a bad dream. “I don’t know who you are anymore, Dominique. The woman I love… she wouldn’t do something like this.”

Dominique takes another step towards him, desperation in every movement. “Please, Jacob, don’t say that. Don’t push me away. We can work through this. We can fix this.”

But Jacob takes another step back, putting more distance between them, and the heartbreak on his face is almost too much to bear. “I can’t. I can’t even look at you right now.”

I watch as Dominique’s face drops, her tears falling faster now. “Jacob, please…”

But Jacob doesn’t move closer. He doesn’t say anything. He just stands there, his chest heaving with the effort to hold back his own tears, his eyes filled with pain and confusion.

Finally, Dominique seems to realize that there’s nothing more she can say, nothing more she can do to undo the damage. She takes a step back, her hands falling to her sides, defeated. “I’m so sorry,” she whispers, but the words seem hollow, empty.

Jacob doesn’t respond. He just turns away from her, his shoulders slumped, and I can see the weight of the world pressing down on him. He’s been through so much already, and now this...it’s too much.

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