Chapter 149

Hannah & Noah

Hannah’s POV

Amber hesitated for a moment in the doorway, her eyes darting warily between Viona and me. Finally, she took a seat in the empty chair, setting her purse down beside her.

“What’s all this about?” she asked. “You’re kind of freaking me out.”

I exchanged a glance with Viona, silently debating who should start. Viona gave me a small nod, so I took a deep breath and began.

“Amber, we need to talk to you about Jake,” I said gently.

Amber’s brow furrowed. “Jake? What about him?”

Viona leaned forward with her elbows on her knees. “We... we have reason to believe he might not be faithful to you.”

Amber’s eyes widened, and she let out a small laugh. “What? That’s ridiculous. Jake would never cheat on me,” she retorted, rising from her chair. “You’re messing with me.”

“Amber, you might want to sit back down,” I insisted. “We’ve seen some things that make us think that he’s cheating… and that he may be gay.”

“What things?” Amber demanded, her voice rising slightly. “What are you talking about?”

I glanced at Viona, who nodded and pulled out her phone. “We have proof, Amber. We didn’t want to believe it either, but... well, look.”

She handed her phone to Amber, who took it with shaking hands. We watched as she scrolled through the photos from the cafe, the look on her face quickly cycling through disbelief, confusion, and finally, pain.

“This... this can’t be real,” Amber whispered, her voice cracking as she slowly sank back down into her chair. “You must have photoshopped these or something.”

“We didn’t,” Viona said firmly. “Those were taken today. Jake met up with a… guy from Tinder.”

Amber’s head snapped up. “Tinder? Jake doesn’t have Tinder.”

“He does,” I said softly, taking the phone and scrolling to the screenshots from when Drake messaged him. “We found his profile.”

Amber still looked disbelieving, so Viona took a deep breath and explained everything—our initial suspicions, the night at the club, the fake Tinder profile, the disguises. When we were finished, Amber’s eyes were as wide as saucers.

“No. No, you’re wrong,” she said, shaking her head. “Jake wouldn’t do this to me. He loves me.”

“Amber,” I said, reaching out to take her hand, “I know this is hard to hear, but we’re telling you because we care about you. We didn’t want to believe it either, but we couldn’t let you marry him without knowing the truth.”

Amber pulled her hand away, anger flashing in her eyes. “And what, you thought the best way to tell me was to trick him? To set him up?”

“We knew you wouldn’t believe us otherwise,” Viona explained. “We had to get proof.”

“So you played detective behind my back?” Amber snapped.

“We did it because we love you,” I insisted. “We couldn’t stand by and watch you marry someone who isn’t faithful to you.”

“We’re sorry it has to be like this,” Viona added. “But it was the only thing we could think of doing. And with the wedding coming up so soon, we were desperate.”

I nodded in agreement. “Look, we know that having Drake pose as this ‘Tyler’ guy wasn’t the best way to go about it. But we only did it because we care about you; and Jake took the bait almost immediately.”

“And this can’t be the first time he’s hooked up with another guy,” Viona finished softly.

Amber was quiet for a long moment, staring down at the phone in her trembling hands. Viona and I exchanged nervous glances. When she finally looked up, there were tears in her eyes. “I can’t believe this is happening,” she whispered.

I moved to sit next to her and put an arm around her shoulders. “I’m so sorry, Amber. We never wanted to hurt you. We just wanted you to know the truth.”

Amber leaned into me, her body shaking with silent sobs. Viona came to sit on her other side, rubbing her back gently.

After a few minutes, though, Amber straightened up and wiped her eyes. “You’re right,” she said, her voice a little stronger now. “Actually, I’m glad you two did this. I... I need to talk to Jake.”

Before we could say anything, she was already dialing his number. Viona and I exchanged worried glances as the phone rang.

“Jake?” Amber said when he picked up. Her voice was cold, controlled. “We need to talk. Now.”

There was a pause as Jake responded.

“No, not later. Now,” Amber insisted. “I know you’re cheating on me and that you’re gay. The wedding is off.”

Another pause. Jake’s voice came through faintly, sounding panicked.

“Don’t try to deny it,” Amber cut him off. “I have proof. Pictures of you with another man today. On a date. And a Tinder profile to match.”

Jake’s voice rose, becoming clearer as he tried to explain.

“I don’t want to hear it,” Amber said firmly. “If you realized you were gay during our relationship, you could have just talked to me about it. Not cheat on me with men behind my back.”

Before Jake could say anything else, Amber abruptly hung up. She sat there for a moment, breathing heavily, before looking up at us with a small, sad smile.

“Thank you,” she said softly. “Both of you. I... I’m glad I know the truth now.”

Viona and I hugged her tightly, telling her how proud we were of her for standing up for herself. “So,” I said after a while, trying to lighten the mood, “what do you say we break out that margarita mix you brought and have a proper girls night?”

Amber managed a weak laugh. “That sounds perfect.”

The rest of the night was spent watching movies, eating our weight in takeout food, and painting our nails. As the night wore on, Amber seemed to relax a little bit, her tears slowly drying on her cheeks.

During a lull between films, Amber suddenly spoke up. “I think I need to get out of town for a bit.”

Viona and I exchanged glances. “What do you mean?” I asked.

Amber shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s just... it’s been too long since we had a girls trip, you know? I think I could use some time away with my best friends.”

I nodded slowly, realizing she was right. “The last time we all had a vacation together was... wow, almost three years ago, right after my wedding to Noah.”

“Exactly,” Amber said. “I think we’re overdue.”

Viona and I both grinned. “I’m in,” we said, almost in unison.

Later that night, Viona and Amber had drifted off to sleep on the couch and armchair respectively. I was quietly cleaning up the remnants of our night, gathering empty takeout containers and rinsing out margarita glasses.

As I was finishing up in the kitchen, I looked up to see Noah standing in the doorway. I tensed, unsure what to expect.

“What do you want?” I asked, maybe a bit more harshly than I intended.

Noah cleared his throat. “Can we talk for a minute?”

“Fine.” I set down my dish towel, crossing my arms as I waited for him to speak.

Noah ran a hand through his hair, looking uncomfortable. “I, uh... I heard what you did for Amber.”

I braced myself, expecting him to accuse me of being a schemer again. But to my surprise, he didn’t.

“It’s not what you think,” he said quickly. “I’m not here to criticize you. In fact, I... I’m proud of you, Hannah.”

…

Noah’s POV

Noah watched as the color drained from Hannah’s face. Her mouth opened and closed a few times before she finally muttered, “Thanks.”

Before Noah could say anything else, however, Hannah suddenly brushed past him. He turned, watching with a furrowed brow as she hurried down the hall and up the stairs—as if his very presence frightened her.

But Noah knew the truth.

That night, when he had told her to picture the man she wanted the most, she had said Drake… And yet, when he had slipped into her bedroom, he could have sworn he heard her moaning his own name.

Hannah was lying about her love for Drake.

Noah was sure of it.