THE REVENGE

Chapter 3

"Speaker phone." I order when the call goes through, and Brent hesitates before he presses the button on the steering wheel. He holds his face between his hands and lets out a desperate sigh.

Seeing him on the verge of a mental breakdown gives me more joy than it should. I mean, I've been there, and it sucked, so I feel good seeing Brent go through the same s**t he put me through. He appears to be so f****d.

And that's exactly how I want him.

Fucked.

A moment later, Clay's voice comes through.

"Brent?"

Brent glances at me, and when I raise an eyebrow, he clears his throat.

"We're done."

"Excuse me?"

"Clay, I'm sorry. I can't see you anymore."

"Why, what? Are you kidding me? Is this about Camille?"

"Clay-"

"Don't Clay me. Just tell me what the f**k is going on!!"

"I...I can't keep doing this."

"What does that mean? What are you doing to us?"

Brent scratches his head.

"There's no us anymore. There's you, then there's me. We're not together. We can't be together."

"You're scared that Camille will tell everyone about us, right? Brent, you don't have to do this. I can go away if you want. You can come over to see me over the weekends. I swear no one will find out. Just....just don't do this to me."

The raw heartbreak in his voice catches me by surprise. He sounds desperate, broken, and hurt.

I focus on Brent's face, and I almost wince when a tear rolls down his left cheek. His pain is almost physical.

"I'm so sorry." Brent half whispers. "I'm sorry. Just stay away from me."

"Do you still have a crush on Max? Is this about him?"

What?

"Yeah. This is about Max." He deadpans, his fingers reaching to wipe the lone tear rolling it's way to the bridge of his nose.

"But... You told me that it was a stupid crush and that it's long gone."

"I lied."

"Max is straight, Brent. He is never going to like you back."

"And you think I need a reminder?"

"What did I do wrong? What makes me deserve this?"

"It's not you. It's me."

"You're seriously going to use that stupid, cliché line on me?"

"I don't love you. I never did."

"You're a piece of s**t, Brent."

Brent glances at me before he shakes his head.

"Camille wasn't supposed to find out about us. It's your fault that she did, and now my life is turning into a literal s**t show because of you. Party is over, Clay. Get over it."

He hangs up, then he holds his hands over his eyes with a sigh.

He's literally tearing apart.

And I don't know what to feel.

I know nothing about his relationship with Clay, but it appears to be more passionate than I thought. They sound like they genuinely care about each other.

How did I not figure this out in the past?

The pain that I'm bringing to them is probably well deserved, but I can't deny the fact that I feel like the outsider here. I feel like I'm the third party; like I'm the one on the wrong.

I invaded their love story, not the other way round.

The only thing they did wrong was hiding their affair and making me look like a total dumbass.

"What was the Max thing all about?"

Brent tosses his hand dismissively.

"I had a crush on him for like a month when I was sixteen. I probably shouldn't have mentioned that to Clay."

"Clay never mentioned that he was gay. I never even imagined it. Everyone thought that he was in love with me." I say quietly.

"I'm sorry you had to find out this way." Brent replies without looking up.

"A simple sorry won't suffice."

"What do you want? The damage is already done."

"And you think that makes it okay? You think I'm overreacting?"

"No. I think you're hurting the wrong person. Clay didn't do anything wrong. Everything that happened was my fault. I persuaded him to be with me, and I asked him to keep it a secret. If he came out of the closet, then everyone would soon figure out that I was gay too because we were literally together all the time. I couldn't risk that."

"He stood there at the church that day and watched me walk down the aisle for you."

"He tried to talk you out of the deal before the wedding happened. You wouldn't budge."

"If he had mentioned that the man I had a crush on was gay, then we wouldn't be having this conversation right now because I wouldn't have married you. He should have said something!"

"I don't get why he has to suffer for that. Why can't you just punish me and leave him out of it? This is our marriage, our story, and we can fix it without hurting Clay for the hell of it."

"For the hell of it? You think Clay doesn't deserve getting hurt after all the s**t he's done to me?"

"He's a good person."

"I was a good person but he hurt me anyway. Karma is a b***h. We should go inside before my parents get tired of waiting."

He places his hand on mine.

"Cami?"

"What."

"Clay loves you. You're a sister to him, and there's literally nothing he can't do for you. Believe me."

"I believe you. He was having an affair with his sister's husband. That makes a lot of sense."

"He wanted to tell you but I stopped him. He tried to resist me when he realised that I was set to get married to you. I swear to God he tried."

I eye him up and down.

"He should have tried harder."

I get out of the car, then I slam the door shut behind me.

**

Sam opens the door.

He's not Brent's biggest fan if the frown on his face is anything to go by. He pulls me in to a one armed hug, then he steps aside to let us in.

Brandon is seated on the loveseat while Noah is lying on one of the couches, minding his own business as he scrolls through his phone.

Bran's eyes light up when he sees Brent, and before I blink, he rushes to us and throws his arms around him.

"You came!" He yells almost hysterically.

"Of course I did." Brent laughs.

"Any comic books for me?"

He shakes his head.

"It's not Saturday yet, Champ."

I simply shake my head. I remember Bran telling me that he's been friends with Brent since they met at my wedding, and that he sends him expensive gifts on weekends.

Thing is, I'm bound to leave Brent someday, so I don't appreciate him being friends with my brothers. Such ties will lead to heartaches and questions when we finally part.

I'd rather have a clean breakup; no family attachments, no nothing.

"Where is Mom?" I ask Noah, who hasn't said a word to me yet. He's rather introverted so keeping to himself is his full time job.

"In the kitchen. She's with Victoria."

"And Ryder?"

"In the study with Dad."

"Victoria is so so so nice!" Bran squeals.

Brent raises an eyebrow at me.

"Will you explain what the f**k is going on?"

"Show him to the study." I tell Bran, perfectly ignoring Brent, then I turn on my heel and walk to the kitchen.

I feel nauseous when I hear Victoria's sick laugh before I even walk in. I can't stand that woman. In fact, I can't think of a single person who actually likes her.

Apart from my dad.

And probably my mom now.

And my brother.

Ugh!

I'm not so sure if I love this family anymore.

"Cami!" Mom smiles when I walk in. "You're finally here!"

"Sorry we're late. We ran into some complications."

"You're right on time." She beams, pulling me into a tight hug. "Where is your husband?"

"In the study with Dad and Ryder."

"Good. Your sister is helping me set the table."

"She's not my sister!" I hiss between gritted teeth.

"I'm sure your DNA would beg to disagree. Aren't you going to say hi to her?"

I force a smile.

"Hi?"

"Hey." Tori smiles back. "Um, I was just about to take these dishes to the table. Do you mind helping out?"

"Yeah, I mind. I want to talk to my Mom. Alone."

"Cami, she's just being nice. Help her set the table." Mom insists with half narrowed eyes.

I know that look all too well, so I roll my eyes before I grab a stash of dishes. I'm aware of Tori behind me as I walk to the dining area.

"Your Mom is a nice woman." She starts once we're out of earshot.

"So I've heard."

"I heard Brent's parents are on their way here."

"Yeah, me too."

"Your mom said that you insisted on having them invited over."

"You have a problem with that?"

"No. I'm just trying to start a conversation."

"I see."

She eyes me calmly as I arrange the cutlery on the big dinner table.

"Camille, I've been a total b***h to you in the past and I know there's nothing I can do to change that. I can only promise that it won't happen again."

I stay quiet, busying myself with the knives and forks.

She looks me over before she continues.

"I would never have done that to you if I had known that you were my sister. I've always wanted to meet my family. You're the only sister I have, and I feel like hell for giving you such a hard time in and out of work."

I slowly raise my eyes to look at her.

"I'm not your sister."

"I don't expect you to accept me that easily. You have all the time in the world to get used to me and know me."

"Know you? I know you as the psycho who kills people and does her nails right after. I know you as the woman who is forcing her way into our family. What else is there to know?"

"Every villain is a victim whose story hasn't been told yet."

"I'm not interested in your story, Victoria."

"I'll do anything you want. Whatever it takes to give me a chance to show you that I'm not half as awful as you think."

"Anything I want?"

She nods.

"Anything."

I toss one of the knives at her.

"There. Stab yourself in the heart for me."

"Camille-"

"There's only one thing I want from you. Stay the hell away from my Mom and my brothers."

She smiles.

"That will be hard, seeing as to that they already like me. Just let me be your big sister. We'll have so much fun together."

"Define fun?"

"For starters, I need a small favour."

I c**k an eyebrow.

"Yeah?"

"My wedding is coming up in a week or two. I want you, my only sister, to be my maid of honour."

I shake my head, confused.

"What?"

She smirks as she lifts her hand. My eyes land on the sparkling diamond ring on her finger, and I feel my mouth going dry as I take in the smile on her face.

"You're getting married?"

She nods, excited.

"Yes. To Max."