He does, and the world tilts as the video loads.
Isla looks pale, as if someone has scrubbed all the venom out of her and replaced it with a script.
“I take back the allegations I made last year against Mason Payne.”
I gasp alongside Jim.
Holy fucking shit.
I twist to see Mason. This is the moment he’s been waiting for,hoping for, and he looks like it’s knocked the wind out of him.
I don’t blame him. It knocked the wind out of me too.
“Payne never touched me in a way I didn’t consent to,”she adds, and I turn toward the screen again in time to see Isla clench her jaw so tight that her voice wobbles.“Those allegations were false. I made them up.”
She pauses and flicks her gaze toward her brother, who nods at her to go on.
What the actual?
Her next words are choked.“And… the incident seven years ago with Alaina Crews was not the fault of Crews Racing. It… it wasn’t a mechanical failure. I manipulated the bike. She crashed because of me.”
Dane slams pause, freezing the screen with Isla’s lips pulled into a grimace on the last word. His head whips around, eyes locking on me like I just exploded in the middle of the living room.
But I don’t meet his stare.
I can’t.
I’m still looking at Isla, frozen on the screen with her perfect hair and perfect lies, suddenly unraveling in high definition. And then my gaze goes to Isaac.
Fuck.
He really didn’t know.
He wasn’t the one doing this.
Shewas.
Andhe made her confess.
Made her sit down and own her shit.
My lungs pull tight.
Was my hatred pointed at the wrong person this whole time?
I hated her, too,God, did I hate her,but I always saw him as the one behind all the malice, behind everything bad that happened to me, tothem.
What am I going to do with this?
I don’t even register moving, but I feel it when Finn lets go of my hand, and I stand and cross the space to Mason.
He’s still staring at the screen with that same dazed look when I wrap an arm around his side and tug him into me. He sucks in a slow breath, like he’s scared the floor might disappear under his feet.
“Keep going,” Luc says as he comes to stand behind us, setting a hand on each of our shoulders. “There’s more.”
Dane presses play again, and on-screen, Isaac speaks next, and I’m almost impressed by how normal and professional he manages to sound.
“With this video, we wanted to say we’re sorry for everything we caused. We know it’s not enough. It won’t ever be enough.”He clears his throat, and Isla’s chin trembles beside him.“So we’re going to self-report to the police.”
