Page 111 of Noctis

“It was an accident.”

“You killed my mother. You didn’t call an ambulance. You didn’t report what happened. Instead, you threw her into the river like she was nothing so you could cover your own arse.”

“It wasn’t like that. I was scared. I didn’t know what to do. I panicked.”

“And then…” My voice grew louder. Tears streamed down my face, and I dashed them away, hating that he got to see them. “And then you came home to me, and you acted like nothing had happened. You smiled. You asked me how my day had been. You had sex with me. Later, you held me while I cried and told me you were there for me. For months, you watched me go through hell without saying a word.”

“Don’t make it sound like it was easy.”

“Do you think it was easy for me?”

“I didn’t say that. You’re putting words in my mouth. What happened to your mother was terrible, but it was an accident.”

“So you keep saying.”

“It was.”

I tried to think logically over the roar of white noise in my head. “I don’t understand why you had her ring.”

Tyler stayed silent.

The truth hit me with an almost physical force. “You were going to sell it.”

“Of course not.”

“There was no other reason to take it off her finger. You’d just watched her die, and you stole from her. You were going to sell it, but once the police announced it was missing, you realized it was too risky, so you held on to it until you thought it was safe.”

“You’re putting two and two together and getting a completely different number.”

I stared at Tyler, at this man I’d once been extremely fond of. It was like looking at a complete stranger. Worse, perhaps, because betrayal only hurt this much when it came from someone you’d once trusted. “No wonder you wanted me in rehab. I assumed it was about Remy, but it wasn’t at all. It was about not being able to look me in the eye every day while refusing to give up your free ride. It must have been quite the quandary for you. You probably needed a break.”

“It wasn’t like that.”

“No? How was it?”

“I was worried about you. You weren’t coping well, and you wouldn’t talk to anyone about it. You just kept it all bottled up inside.”

“Well, thank God I didn’t talk to you. Seeking support from the man who killed her would have been the ultimate irony, wouldn’t it?”

“I didn’t kill her.” Frustration had crept into his voice. “I need you to stop saying that. Anyway, she had no right sticking her nose in our business.”

I blinked. “Are you saying it was her fault?”

“She asked to meet me. She harangued me for no other reason than that she thought her precious baby boy might have to give away some of his money.”

“I can’t listen to any more of this.” I punctuated my declaration with a step backward, and then another.

Tyler came after me. “You know no one’s going to believe you if you tell them any of this, right?”

“We’ll see.”

It was the wrong thing to say. Tyler’s eyes narrowed with suspicion. “Why are you so confident?”

Before I could react, he shoved me against the wall and went for my pocket. I tried to twist away, but he drove his forearm across my chest, pinning me in place while his other hand found my phone.

He pulled it out and stared at the screen.

The recording app was still open, the timer continuing to count upward beneath the pulsing red line.