Alicia squeezed my hand. “You couldn’t have known, Lex. I’ve been hiding this part of my life for so long I didn’t even know how to be honest with myself, let alone with you.”

“Well, I’m glad you told me. Please don’t think you have to hide anything from me. No matter what it is, I’m in… Even if we have to plan the homicide of a very famous public figure who is evil and deserves it."

Alicia snickered. “Wow, down, tiger. No one is killing anyone.”

I hummed. “We really do have terrible taste in men, don’t we?”

“Mum got the last good one.”

I agreed as our thoughts turned to our father.

Alicia sighed. “It’s been a week, and my work has been calling, asking for a return date.”

She was in the middle of some major case at work which could quite literally make or break her career. Alicia had worked so hard the past couple months to make sure everything was perfect. I knew that opportunity was important, and I didn’t want her to lose it for circumstances out of her control.

“What do you want to do?” I asked.

“Dad… I can’t leave him.”

“Yes, you can. I will move back temporarily with Austin. Having him around will help with Dad’s recovery while also keeping Mum busy.”

“Alexis, you don’t have to—”

“I want to,” I interrupted. “You know I’ve been contemplating moving Austin out of the city for a while. I can also help Dad if I stay here with them, use my presence as an excuse to bully him into listening to the doctors instead of ignoring them.”

Alicia fell quiet, contemplating. I didn’t want her to feel guilty. “Are you going to be okay, though, Ali? Coming back there, I mean… If you see him? I don’t want you to be alone if that happens.”

She scoffed, suddenly angry. “Fuck him. He will not run me out just because of his fucked up actions. I have nothing to be ashamed of. And, oh”—she checked the video on her phone again—“three million random people on the internet agree with me so far.”

And with that realisation, a lot of the tension seemed to slowly melt away. We talked for hours into the night, and when we finally gave in to sleep, we had a plan.

Chapter 17

OWEN

I had just finished another session with Phil, Alexis chattering away with her sister in the corner, acting like I wasn’t there.

Over the past week or so, we had ignored our previous interactions and settled into a strained truce, Alexis detaching herself. We were civil—extra polite, even. As if we were strangers, as if my heart wasn’t being ripped out of my chest every time she didn’t meet my eyes, every time she didn’t address me directly.