Chapter 13

• OLIVIA
• Watching Jessie interact with Tamara, their laughter echoing through the house, their easy camaraderie a familiar backdrop to our lives, stirred a complex mix of emotions within me. It was a poignant reminder of their history, their deep-rooted friendship that predated our entanglement. Before Cal and I, before the stolen moments and shared intimacies, there was just Jessie and Tamara, two best friends navigating life together.
• Seeing them together now, so carefree and comfortable in each other's company, brought a pang of guilt. The weight of our secret, the deception we were perpetrating, pressed down on me, a heavy burden on my heart. We were weaving a tangled web of lies, a delicate dance on the precipice of disaster. One wrong step, one careless word, and the fragile balance we had created could shatter, leaving behind a wreckage of broken trust and shattered friendships.