Chapter 98: Sadie: Evil Trey

SADIE

"Lola, let me in!" I bang on the door, struggling to get enough air to call her again. "It’s Sadie. Please...let me in."

I wait for footsteps, for her to ask why I’m trying to break down her door, but nothing comes from inside.

Another knock gets me nothing, even with my ear pressed closer to the door. Is she seriously not back yet? My spare key is in my room at Trey’s apartment, and right now, I’d rather take my chances with a dragon than go anywhere near him.

My legs decide they’ve done enough, and I slide down against the door, bringing my knees up so I can hide my face.

I try to breathe, but a sob comes out instead, followed by another that leaves my throat aching. I press my mouth against my knees, hoping I can get through one breath without crying, and somehow, that only makes it worse.

Everything in my chest hurts, and I don’t know how I’m supposed to sit here with it until Lola comes back.

I didn’t have a backup plan when I left him because coming here was the plan. She was supposed to open the door, and I was supposed to be with someone whose kindness I didn’t have to go back and question.

But she isn’t here, and with nothing to distract me, I keep hearing what Trey said.

"And while we’re being honest, I was at the hotel because of Paige. I asked her to come between you and Ezra."

My fingers dig into my arm as I hear it again. I remember every word, even though I’d give anything to have heard him wrong.

By the time my hands find my hair, I’ve heard his voice enough times to want to scream. How could he do that and then be so good to me? Did he think the nice parts would cancel everything else out?

I’m not crazy for feeling betrayed, am I? Because I’m starting to question everything, including whatever made me think the Goddess sent him when he hired me.

He let me thank him. I told him how much tutoring him meant, how badly I needed the job, and he didn’t once feel the urge to mention that he’d helped make me desperate. Did he want a longer speech? Should I have thanked him for being thorough?

And how on earth did he sleep at night? I’ll lie awake wondering if my thank you sounded sarcastic to a cashier. He ruined everything for me and still had enough peace of mind to flirt with me.

The jingle of keys breaks into my thoughts. I barely turn my head before the door opens behind me, taking my back’s support with it.

"Sadie, oh my gosh!" Lola crouches beside me as I land, her eyes wide. "I didn’t know you were there. Are you okay?"

I stare up at her for a moment, too miserable to do much about the fact that I’m lying on the floor. I was hoping to fall into her bed when I got here, but apparently, even that was asking too much.

I hate everything right now, and having to get off the floor isn’t helping.

"What happened?" Lola helps me sit up when I make no attempt to do it myself. She studies my face. "You’ve been crying. Are you hurt?"

She pulls me to my feet, but I can’t seem to make myself answer. "Sadie, talk to me," she says, squeezing my hands.

"Trey." My lips quiver, and I swallow, annoyed that even saying his name is enough to start this again. "I hate him so much."

She puts an arm around me and guides me inside, closing the door before taking me toward my old room. I follow until we’re almost at the doorway, then stop.

I left this room because that was the condition Trey gave me. Now even looking inside makes me think about the job advert, the money, all the things he arranged while I thought I was finally figuring my life out.

"Don’t want to go in there." I pull back a little. "Take me to your room."

Lola bites her lip, her face flushing as she hesitates. I know that look, and she holds it long enough for me to notice her robe, messy hair, and the hickeys on her neck.

Wait. Was she having sex while everything was falling apart for me? I know she wasn’t getting live updates, but still.

"Wow," I whisper. "Good to know one of us is living the good life."

"Okay, let’s go in here." Lola steers me through my doorway before I can ask anything else. "I didn’t know you were coming. Especially not..." She shuts the door and gestures helplessly at me. "In this state."

She takes me to the bed, and I sit on the edge, looking down at the mattress.

"Talk to me." She bends a little to see my face. "What did Trey do? Did he fire you, or did you two fight? You told me you went to his house." Her voice softens. "What happened there?"

I need a moment to get my thoughts together. I feel like someone gave me tangerines after promising me apples, then got confused when I wasn’t happy because, in his opinion, tangerines are clearly better.

"I..." I stare at the mattress. There’s so much to tell her that struggling to find something to say feels ridiculous. "You know how I thought Ezra got me fired? It was Trey."

"What the hell?" Lola leans toward me, her eyes widening. "Wait. Trey?"

A laugh slips out, and I take a breath before it turns into another sob.

"I need to laugh right now, because otherwise I’m going to cry again, then call him and say things I’ll stand by for the rest of my life." I rub at my face. "But yeah. It was him, and that’s not even all of it."

"What do you mean, that’s not all of it?" Her expression darkens. "Sadie, tell me what happened."

The rest follows once I’ve got the first part out.

After all, my best friend should know that while we were cursing Ezra for getting Howard to fire me, it was Trey all along. The same guy whose apartment she’d happily wandered around. The same guy she’d fawned over when he came to help me move.

Telling her about Paige is worse. She’s a horrible person who deserved what she got, but what about me? Did Trey forget our history, or did getting what he wanted matter more?

I tell her he was in the next room at the hotel to make sure things went his way. How he manipulated everyone until going to him seemed like the best choice I had.

"The more I say this out loud, the more he freaks me out." I finally look at Lola. "I wouldn’t be able to sleep if I did that to someone, but he was fine. He saw me every day. He knew how much I was..."

I swallow, wishing I could explain this without feeling stupid for not knowing sooner.

"He kept telling me he cared about me, and I believed him, Lola. I thought, after everything with Ezra, at least I’d got it right this time."