Updated Oct 22, 2025 • ~11 min read
Paige should have known she couldn’t hide the truth from Zoe forever.
She’d been at Vincent’s penthouse for three days when her best friend showed up unannounced at her apartment. Paige only found out because Zoe called her, furious.
“Where the hell are you? I’ve been standing outside your apartment for twenty minutes. Your car’s not here, you’re not answering your door—Paige, I’m worried.”
Paige looked at Vincent, who was working on his laptop on the couch. They’d been in comfortable silence, just existing together. Normal. Or as normal as their lives could be.
“I’m not at my apartment,” Paige said carefully.
“Where are you? Are you okay? God, with everything in the news about Marcus, I’ve been freaking out—”
“I’m fine. I’m safe. I’m just… not home.”
“Then where are you?”
Paige closed her eyes. “I’m with Vincent. At his place.”
The silence on the other end was deafening.
“Zoe?”
“You’re with Vincent Hartley. Marcus’s brother. The man who—” Zoe’s voice was rising. “Paige, what the actual hell?”
“It’s complicated.”
“Complicated? That’s what you’re going with?” Zoe’s voice cracked. “I’m coming over. Text me the address. We need to talk. Now.”
“Zoe—”
“Address. Now. Or I’m calling the police for a wellness check.”
Paige looked at Vincent helplessly. He nodded, already understanding.
“I’ll text you the address. But Zoe, I need you to come with an open mind, okay? Please?”
Zoe hung up without answering.
“This should be fun,” Paige muttered, sending the address.
“She’s your best friend. She deserves the truth.” Vincent stood, stretching. “I’ll give you two space to talk.”
“No. Stay. She needs to hear it from both of us.”
Twenty minutes later, the concierge called up. Zoe was in the lobby, demanding to be let up.
When she walked through the door, her expression was a storm of anger and concern. She looked at Paige, then at Vincent, then back at Paige.
“Start talking. Now.”
So Paige did. She told Zoe everything—the bribe, the deal, the evidence, the six months of waiting for Charles to die. Vincent’s role in exposing Marcus. The threats. The immunity deal. Their relationship.
All of it.
Zoe listened in silence, her face cycling through emotions—shock, anger, disbelief, hurt.
“So let me get this straight,” Zoe said when Paige finished. “Vincent bribed you to withdraw your statement. You took a million dollars to stay silent. And now you’re what, in love with him? Living here while Marcus is in jail?”
“It’s not that simple—”
“It sounds pretty simple to me. It sounds like you sold out.” Zoe’s voice was cold. “And now you’re sleeping with the enemy.”
“He’s not the enemy,” Paige protested. “He’s the one who gave me evidence to take Marcus down.”
“After bribing you first! After making you complicit!” Zoe stood, pacing. “Paige, do you hear yourself? You’re defending the man who paid you to commit a crime.”
“I know how it sounds—”
“Do you? Because from where I’m standing, it sounds like Stockholm Syndrome. It sounds like you’ve been manipulated by another Hartley brother, just in a different way.”
The words hit like a slap. Paige felt tears sting her eyes.
Vincent spoke for the first time. “Ms.—Zoe. I understand your anger. But Paige wasn’t manipulated. She made a choice—a hard choice—and I gave her the tools to make sure Marcus would still face justice.”
“Oh, I’m sorry, should I thank you?” Zoe’s voice dripped sarcasm. “Thank you for bribing my best friend? Thank you for putting her in legal jeopardy? Thank you for making her lie to everyone who cares about her?”
“Zoe, that’s not fair—” Paige started.
“Not fair? You know what’s not fair? Finding out my best friend has been lying to me for months. Finding out she took money to stay silent about abuse. Finding out she’s shacking up with the brother of the man who nearly destroyed her.” Zoe’s voice broke. “You could have told me. You could have trusted me.”
“I couldn’t. Vincent made me promise not to tell anyone.”
“Of course he did. Because that’s what abusers do, Paige. They isolate you. Make you keep secrets. Make you lie to people who love you.” Zoe looked at Vincent with disgust. “Sound familiar?”
“I am nothing like my brother,” Vincent said quietly, but there was steel underneath.
“Aren’t you? You both manipulate. You both use money to get what you want. You both make Paige feel like she has no choice.” Zoe turned back to Paige. “Can’t you see it? You escaped one Hartley brother just to fall for another.”
“That’s not true.” But Paige’s voice wavered. Because wasn’t there a kernel of truth there? Hadn’t Vincent manipulated her? Hadn’t the money taken away her choice?
“Isn’t it? How much of this relationship is real, Paige? How much of it is just guilt and trauma bonding and him playing white knight?” Zoe grabbed her purse. “I can’t do this. I can’t watch you make this mistake.”
“Zoe, please—”
“No. I’ve watched you rebuild yourself for three years. I’ve been there for every nightmare, every panic attack, every moment you doubted yourself. And now you’re throwing it all away for what? A man who bribed you? Who comes from the same family that tried to destroy you?” Zoe’s eyes filled with tears. “I love you. But I can’t support this. I can’t watch you self-destruct.”
“I’m not self-destructing—”
“Then what do you call this?” Zoe gestured around the penthouse. “You’re living with him. You’re in love with him. You’ve tied your entire future to a man you’ve known for two months. A man whose brother is in jail because of you. What happens when he resents you for that? What happens when the guilt fades and all that’s left is blame?”
“That won’t happen,” Vincent said.
“You don’t know that. You can’t promise that.” Zoe looked at him with something like pity. “You’re guilt-ridden right now. Trying to atone for years of doing nothing. But eventually, that guilt will turn to resentment. And Paige will pay the price.”
“You’re wrong,” Paige said, but her voice was small.
“Am I? Then explain to me how this ends well. Explain to me how you two build a healthy relationship on a foundation of bribery and witness tampering and family betrayal.” Zoe walked to the door. “I need time. To process this. To figure out if I can forgive you for lying to me.”
“Zoe—”
“I love you, Paige. But I can’t be part of this. Not right now.” She paused at the door. “When it falls apart—and it will—call me. I’ll be there to pick up the pieces. I always am.”
The door closed behind her with a soft click that sounded like a gunshot.
Paige stood frozen, tears streaming down her face. Vincent reached for her but she pulled away.
“Don’t.”
“Paige—”
“She’s right. About some of it. About me lying. About the manipulation.” Paige wrapped her arms around herself. “What if she’s right about all of it?”
“She’s not.”
“How do you know? How do we know this isn’t just guilt and trauma and two broken people clinging to each other?” Paige looked at him, desperate. “How do we know this is real?”
Vincent crossed to her, cupping her face in his hands. “Because I choose you every day. Not out of guilt. Not out of obligation. Because I love you. Because you’re the best thing in my life. Because when I’m with you, I’m not the man who failed everyone. I’m just… me.”
“But what if loving me is just another way of punishing yourself? Another form of penance?”
“Is that what you think? That you’re my punishment?” Vincent’s voice cracked. “Paige, you’re my salvation. You’re the only good thing to come out of this nightmare. You’re—”
“I’m scared.” The words burst out of her. “Scared Zoe’s right. Scared this is all a mistake. Scared that when the dust settles, you’ll realize I’m not worth what you gave up.”
“You are worth everything. Everything I’ve lost, everything I’ll lose, all of it.” Vincent pulled her close. “But if you need space to figure that out, I’ll give it to you. I’ll sleep in the guest room. I’ll keep my distance. Whatever you need.”
Paige buried her face in his chest, breathing him in. “I don’t want space. I want this to be real.”
“It is real.”
“How can you be sure?”
“Because I’ve never been more terrified of losing something in my entire life.” Vincent’s arms tightened. “That’s how I know it’s real. The fear of losing you is bigger than any guilt I have about my family.”
They stood there, holding each other, while Paige’s world tilted on its axis.
Zoe’s words echoed in her head. Stockholm Syndrome. Manipulation. Self-destruction.
But so did Vincent’s. Salvation. Choice. Love.
Which was the truth? Or were they both true somehow?
“I need to lie down,” Paige said finally.
Vincent released her immediately. “Of course. Whatever you need.”
She went to the bedroom—their bedroom now, she realized—and crawled under the covers fully clothed. The exhaustion wasn’t physical. It was soul-deep.
Zoe’s anger. Her mother’s coldness. Vincent’s mother’s poison. The weight of choices made and consequences coming.
It was all too much.
She must have fallen asleep because when she woke, it was dark outside. Vincent sat in the chair by the window, watching her.
“How long have you been there?” she asked, voice rough.
“A while. I wanted to make sure you were okay.”
“I’m not okay. But I’m here.” Paige sat up. “Zoe hates me.”
“She doesn’t hate you. She’s scared for you. There’s a difference.”
“Is there? Because it feels the same.” Paige pulled her knees to her chest. “She’s my best friend. My only real friend. And I lied to her for months.”
“Because I asked you to.”
“No. Because I chose to.” Paige met his eyes. “That’s the part that scares me. I made that choice. I kept those secrets. I became someone who lies to people who love me. That’s not who I thought I was.”
“You’re someone who survived impossible circumstances. Who made hard choices with no good options.” Vincent moved to sit on the edge of the bed. “You’re not a bad person, Paige. You’re human.”
“Human. Right.” She laughed bitterly. “A human who took a million dollars to stay quiet. A human who fell in love with her abuser’s brother. A human who’s about to testify in a trial that will destroy whatever’s left of her credibility.”
“Stop.” Vincent’s voice was firm. “You’re spiraling. I can hear it.”
“Maybe I should spiral. Maybe Zoe’s right and I’m making a huge mistake and—”
Vincent kissed her. Firm and grounding and real.
“Listen to me,” he said when they broke apart. “Zoe is your best friend and she loves you. But she doesn’t understand what we’ve been through. She doesn’t know what it’s like to carry the guilt we carry. She doesn’t know—”
“That’s exactly what she said. That we’re trauma bonding.” Paige touched his face. “What if she’s right?”
“Then we’re trauma bonding. So what?” Vincent’s eyes were fierce. “I don’t care what label people put on this. I know how I feel. I know that I’d do everything the same way if it meant ending up here with you. I know that when I look at you, I see my future. Not my past. Not my guilt. My future.”
Paige felt tears slip down her cheeks. “I’m so tired of doubting everything.”
“Then stop. For tonight, just stop.” He pulled her into his arms. “Tomorrow you can doubt. Tomorrow you can question. But tonight, just be here with me. Let that be enough.”
So she did. She let herself be held. Let herself believe, just for one night, that this was real and right and worth fighting for.
But as she drifted off to sleep in Vincent’s arms, Zoe’s words haunted her.
When it falls apart—and it will—call me.
What if Zoe was right?
What if this beautiful, impossible thing they’d built was destined to crumble?
What if loving Vincent Hartley was the worst mistake she’d ever made?
Paige didn’t know. Couldn’t know.
All she could do was hold on tight and hope they’d survive whatever came next.
Together.
Even if the whole world thought they were wrong.
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