Chapter 6 - The Storm BreaksWe planned to tell Ryan on Sunday afternoon. But fate had a far more brutal timeline in store for us.
On Friday night, Ryan came home early from his shift. I was at the house, sitting at the kitchen island with Julia. We were looking at laptop screens, pretending to go over budget plans for a small consulting business Julia wanted to launch, but our hands were linked beneath the counter.
Ryan walked in through the garage door, looking exhausted and frustrated.
"Hey," he said, dropping his keys on the entryway table. "Work was a nightmare. Chad broke two screen replacement kits and tried to blame it on—"
He stopped mid-sentence.
His eyes fell to the kitchen island. Julia had instinctively pulled her hand away, but she hadn't been fast enough. Ryan's gaze shifted from her flushed face to my guilty, rigid posture.
Then his eyes spotted something on the entryway table—a spare set of keys attached to a keychain Julia had bought me last week, lying right next to his father's forgotten insurance papers.
"What's going on here?" Ryan asked, his voice dropping into a dangerously quiet tone.
"Ryan, honey," Julia began, standing up slowly. "Sit down. We need to talk to you."
"Talk to me about what?" Ryan looked between us, his brow furrowing as suspicion flared into dark realization. "Why are you looking at each other like that?"
"Ryan, listen to me—" I started, stepping around the counter.
"Don't touch me!" Ryan yelled, shoving my shoulder back with sudden violence. "Ethan, what the hell are you doing in my house? Why are you hanging out with my mom when I'm not here?"
May you like
"Ryan, please, just let us explain!" Julia cried out, tears welling in her eyes.
"Explain what?!" Ryan screamed, his face red with betrayal and anger. "That my best friend is creeping around my mother behind my back?! How long has this been happening?!"
Related Stories
