For someone who’s meant to be smart, I feel dumber than everyone else who seems to have it figured out.
The people that innately have known to set boundaries their entire life.
The people who can spot a manipulator the entire way.
Not me.
I’m so sick of being the nice one, the sweet one.
The trusting one.
When do I get to be the bad one? The one who calls the shots.
Do I get to be the manipulator, the asshole… ever?
It’s not in my nature, but maybe it should be.
By the time the tears stop, I feel hollow. Empty.
But underneath the emptiness, a new resolve begins to form.
I’m done being the victim. Done being the one who gets played and betrayed.
If Dex thought he could watch over me and play the hero, he was wrong.
From now on, I’m setting boundaries that no one will cross.
Not Timmy, not Dex, not anyone.
Because if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that the only person I can truly rely on is myself. And that has to be enough.
I don’t need a hero.
I’ll save myself.
CHAPTER 141
WHY HE DID IT
MARGAUX
I’m on the phone with Alice, and for the first time in ages, it’s not just messages back and forth—it’s an entire video call.
Her face fills my screen, bright and animated, a reminder of what life used to feel like before everything crumbled around me.
It’s refreshing, liberating even, to talk like this. No Timmy hovering in the background, no need to keep my voice down or guard my words.
But the conversation? That’s another story.
“I can’t believe Dex,” I say, my voice tinged with frustration. “What the hell was he thinking?”
Alice tilts her head, her expression calm but curious. “Think of it this way—what was he trying to accomplish by doing it?”
“I don’t know!”I throw my hands in the air. “Reading my innermost thoughts so he could be a predator, just like Timmy?”
Her brow furrows. “I understand why you’d think that. But I’m wondering if—in his case—he was just looking out for you in his own way. A creepy way—nobody’s debating that—but maybeit came from a place of care. He had the chance to look at info on anyone in the world, and he chose you.”
“Sounds unhealthy. Like a stalker-y obsession.”