Page 44 of Obsession (Dark Revenge)
“Maybe it would have changed something,” I suggested. “Maybe if either of us had spoken up, it might have made a difference.”
“No, it wouldn’t have. It’s just the world.”
“Or maybe we’re all just cowards,” I corrected, but Jared laughed bitterly, shaking his head in disbelief. His reaction infuriated me because his words seemed to suggest that we couldn’t strive for better, that there weren’t any good people out there willing to help us. Or maybe, just maybe, we could have rescued each other. Although it was too late to change the past, perhaps it was time I spoke up. Just this once. It was Jared, after all. He already knew more than most, and once our time was up, we would never have to revisit this moment.
“You want to know why I hate Kyle more than you?” I asked.
“I don’t want to play anymore,” he sighed, turning to me and placing his hands on his hips.
“This isn’t part of the game. It’s true. I hate him more than you, and out of all those people I once knew, the ones you’ve taken down, I’ll never shed a tear for him. He deserved it. He deserved to go to jail when we were younger.”
“Yes, I’m aware. You’re good at protecting rapists,” he sneered.
I let out a painful chuckle before nodding. “Yeah, I guess I am.”
Jared’s eyes widened slightly at my words, but there was something he didn’t know.
“My husband isn’t one. We’ve already talked about that.”
“We have,” he confirmed.
“But you’re right about Kyle,” I whispered.
“No surprise there, and you beat that poor girl as if it were her fault.”
I stared at the ground, fiddling with the cue in my hands, twirling it as I recalled a memory I had long buried.
“I did hurt her,” I admitted.
“And I thought you couldn’t sink any lower,” he taunted.
“But she wasn’t the one he raped...”
“What?” Jared was taken aback.
I slowly looked up, meeting his eyes. My heart was once again tearing apart as I confessed, and my words seemed to shock even me.
“She wasn’t...?”
“Some guys don’t like to be told no,” I whispered. “Some guys believe it’s their right.”
“Alison...”
“I thought my bedroom was a sanctuary. I never imagined I would see my bed smeared in blood and that it would become a constant reminder of what was taken from me.”
Jared’s face drained of color, yet I hadn’t even uttered the words yet. Tears welled up, streaming down my cheeks. I had to stop myself, I told myself. I wasn’t one to cry, yet I couldn’t seem to make it stop. It felt both painful and liberating to finally say it.
“I did protect a rapist, but he never raped that girl. It was me, Jared. He raped me.”
Chapter 20
-Jared-
I took a step back, nearly stumbling, as Alison confessed to me the horrifying truth about what her old high school boyfriend had subjected her to. The revelation was beyond belief, especially considering how convincingly they had played the roles of a loving couple. It was now clear to me that her feelings for him had never been genuine.
She never wanted him. It was all for show, but I never thought she would tell me he raped her in her own bedroom. It shocked me so much that I had no words to tell her.
“He likes to drink,” she continued in a low voice, constantly looking at the ground because she couldn’t look at me for more than a second. “And I was always the one to look after him. So one dinner, he got so drunk that I was asked to put him in a place out of sight to sleep it off. It’s crazy how strong you can still be while intoxicated, and he was tired of waiting. I had just turned 17, and I had never had sex before. What a first time…”
