Page 10 of Until the End

“The beginning…right.” I blow out a long breath. “Cecelia set up the meeting. She told me Wesley was a fan of my music and wanted to chat after a show. It wasn’t the first time she asked me to meet a celebrity backstage, so I agreed. We hit it off that night. He was charming, funny, and humble about his career. He was just starting out and quickly growing in popularity. From there, we met up a few more times, getting lunch or coffee when we were in the same city. It was laid-back. Simple. Looking back, I can see how easily he fooled me.”

“Fooled you?”

I play with my napkin, twirling it around my fingers to get my thoughts in order. “After we started dating, he gradually began to show his true personality. It started with little things. He’d tell me my outfit wasn’t quite right and I should change, or I should work out a little longer to stay in shape for the tour. I thought he was my partner, that he was looking out for my best interests. His requests eventually turned into demands, and then they became bold and degrading. I pushed back on some, but then it turned into fights. He had an incredible ability to turn my words into weapons. It took too much out of me to battle him every day, so in the end, I would do what he asked. I thought the more I followed his lead, the better things would get.”

A self-deprecating snort comes out, and I finally make eye contact with Carson. He’s trying to keep his expression neutral, but there’s murder in his eyes. “You know, he never actually asked me to marry him. He told me it would play well in the press if we got married and said we might as well since we were already living together. That should’ve been my warning. It should have told me this wasn’t the right move, but he’d been making choices for me for so long it felt normal.”

“God, Ginny. How did we let you suffer for so long? How’d we not see it?”

“I didn’t let you. No one in a healthy relationship hides their life from their family. Another warning I should have paid attention to but ignored for peace instead.”

“We were all worried about you when the wedding planning started. You weren’t yourself, but I never would have guessed it’d gotten this bad.”

“Cecelia took over the wedding plans. I’d turned so far inward, I couldn’t see past getting through each day.”

“What happened yesterday?”

“I walked in on Wesley having sex with one of my bridesmaids.”

“That motherfucker.”

I smirk. “Accurate. Seeing his betrayal broke the wall I’d built in my mind to deal with the abuse. Between the drive here and our day yesterday, I can finally see my situation for what it was. I was in an abusive relationship.”

I pause as that sinks in. It hits differently, saying it out loud. It makes it real instead of something I can shove to the back of my mind. But I can’t ignore the truth anymore. “I’ve been manipulated for years. Cecelia’s part in it is almost worse than Wesley’s betrayal. I thought she had my best interests at heart, but she was just as bad. She pressed me to follow Wesley’s lead when I would question his choices. I can’t quite understand her motive—a kickback, probably, for the different events we attended together. There has to be more to it, but I don’t know what it is.” Her texts after I ran from the wedding made me realize she was just as culpable as Wesley in all of this. I’m not sure how they’re connected, but I’ll figure it out eventually.

“How are we going to handle this?”

A small smile ticks up the corner of my mouth at his use ofwe. “I don’t know yet. Fire Cecelia for a start, go home to Sonoma to lay low from the paps. My label wants another album, but I have some time to deal with that later.”

“That’s a good plan. Maybe coming home will give you a chance to focus on writing instead of everything else that’s going on.”

“That would be nice for a change.”

“Then we’ll make it happen.”

If only things in my life were that easy.

Chapter 6

Carson

Aspread of food is laid out across Ginny’s giant kitchen island. Everything from jalapeño poppers to spinach artichoke dip gleams under the warm lights. My stomach grumbles at the competing smells, and I steal a chip loaded with cowboy caviar.

“You feeding an army?” I ask around my bite.

Ginny glares. “No, but I don’t want anyone to be hungry.” She fiddles with a platter, nudging it a quarter of an inch to the left before pushing it back where it was.

I step up next to her side and grab her hand. “Why are you nervous?”

Her head whips up. “I’m not nervous.”

I raise an eyebrow to call her on her shit.

She deflates in half a second, her gaze falling to the countertop. “I don’t want them to hate me.”

“What the fuck?” I grab her chin and pull her face back up. “We’re your best friends, Goose. Why the fuck would we ever be mad at you?”

“I ruined everything. I ran away from my wedding, creating a massive shitstorm in the wake of my decision. I wasa coward, pushing you guys away instead of running to you when I needed help. The list is endless.”

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