Jake’s voice was quiet as he began to tell me everything. He didn’t rush, didn’t try to soften the blows. He just laid it all out, piece by agonizing piece, and with every word, my stomach twisted tighter.
“She wasn’t always like this, you know,” Jake said, leaning back in his chair. “Vanessa. She wasn’t always... this version of herself.”
I stayed silent, letting him continue.
“It started with our dad,” he said, his voice bitter. “He cheated on her mom when she was kid. I was too young to really understand, but Vanessa? She saw it all. The fights, the screaming, the lies. She told me once she thought love was just a game people played to hurt each other. I didn’t believe her then, but now... I think she really meant it.”
My chest tightened, the weight of his words sinking in. I’d never thought of Vanessa as anything other than a manipulative, selfish person. But hearing this? It was like seeing a side of her I didn’t want to acknowledge.
“She’s always felt like she had to prove something,” Jake continued. “ Our dad drilled that into her. Told her she had to be perfect because the rest of the world would tear her down if she wasn’t.”
I swallowed hard, my throat dry.
Jake nodded. “It got worse after the professor.”
The air in the room seemed to shift as he said those words, the weight of them settling heavily between us.
“They found out,” Jake said, his jaw tightening. “Our parents. About Professor Mitchell.”
My breath caught.
“But they didn’t react the way you’d think,” he said bitterly. “They didn’t go after him. They didn’t call the police or try to protect her. Instead, they blamed her.”
“What?” I whispered, horrified.
“They said it was her fault,” Jake continued, his voice shaking with anger. “That she must have done something to provoke him. That she embarrassed the family.”
I felt sick. My stomach churned as I tried to process what he was saying.
“And when she found out she was pregnant?” Jake’s eyes darkened. “Our dad lost it. He told her she had to give the baby up, no questions asked. He said she couldn’t keep it and bring shame to the family.”
I couldn’t speak. I couldn’t breathe.
“That’s why I’m here,” Jake said, his voice quieter now. “They sent me to this school to keep an eye on her. To make sure she didn’t screw up again.”
For the first time, I felt something I never thought I’d feel for Vanessa: pity.
She’d built her life on lies, but underneath it all, she was just a broken girl trying to survive in a world that had failed her over and over again. Her father’s betrayal, her family’s cruelty, the professor’s abuse—it all made sense now.
But it didn’t change what she’d done to me. Or to Logan.
“She lied to him,” I said, my voice trembling. “She’s lying to Logan about everything, Jake.”
He looked at me sharply, his brow furrowed. “What do you mean?”
I hesitated. For a moment, I wanted to tell him everything—about the clinic, about the file, about how the baby wasn’t Logan’s but Professor Mitchell’s. But the words caught in my throat.
How could I do that to him? How could I destroy the fragile thread of loyalty he still had for his sister?
I looked away, my hands trembling. “Nothing,” I said finally. “It’s just... she’s manipulating him. She’s making him think he owes her something.”
Jake sighed, running a hand through his hair. “She’s been doing that to people her whole life,” he said. “It’s how she survives. But it’s not fair to you—or to Logan.”
His words lingered in the air, a painful truth I couldn’t deny.
For a moment, I thought about what it must be like for Vanessa. To carry the weight of everything she’d been through, to live in a world where lies were easier than the truth.
Would I have done the same in her place?
Maybe.
But that didn’t excuse her actions. It didn’t excuse the way she’d hurt Logan, the way she’d hurt me.
Jake looked at me, his eyes filled with quiet understanding. “You’re a good person, Emma,” he said. “Better than most. But don’t let this destroy you. You deserve to move on from all of this.”
His words were like a lifeline, pulling me out of the storm in my mind.