Trace of Innocence | Sweet and Sour (Book 4)

Chapter 15

(No Control | Holding Me Ransom - 15 - Your Words Cut Like Knives)

"What the fųck are you playing at?" I hiss, and on the other end of the phone I hear a gasp.

"Wh - what do you mean?" she asks, her voice high-pitched and squeaky. The familiar sound makes my heart constrict.

"You fuckıng kissed Louis?!" I yell.

"Harry," she begs, but I cut her off.

"Don't Harry me! How could you? How fuckıng could you?! Louis, of all people! What...? How...?"

I'm actually hyperventilating. My whole body is shaking with untamed rage.

"Please, just let me explain," she pleads, and I can now hear the beginnings of tears in her voice.

Good. Let her cry. Let her feel this pain, my pain, that she has inflicted.

"Go on then! Explain! Talk your way out of this one!" I bellow.

Here it comes, the 'I was just leaning towards him' bullshit.

I wait, my whole world depending on what she says next. I realise I want her to tell me it was a trick of the light. I want the pictures to be fake.

I hate myself for this.

"We were just talking... about you," she says, her voice wavering, "... and... and I got upset, a bit, and he gave me a hug and was being really sweet, and he said I wouldn't have any trouble finding anyone else, and I just... I just gave him a quick peck on impulse - "

I feel like I've been punched.

"What the fucķ?!" I shout, whirling around to look at Louis. He closes his eyes and drops his head forward. He knows the game is up.

"I'm sorry," she offers, her voice barely above a whisper.

"He said it was a trick of the light!" I thunder. "He said nothing happened! He fuckıng lied, the fucķing snake. I am gonna have him for this!"

I feel sick. As much as I was convinced they were guilty, I think a little part of me stuck to the belief that she wouldn't actually do this to me. Or maybe it was just hope.

I hate her for hurting me like this.

Niall has stood up now, in front of Louis, shielding him from me. I want to laugh. I am so furious right now that if I really wanted to hit Louis, a little squirt like Niall couldn't stop me.

"What do you mean, a trick of the light?" Jess is asking, and I am distracted for a second.

Has she not seen the pictures? Does she not realise the whole world knows what they did?

"You mean you don't know?" I give a harsh laugh. "You haven't seen?"

"Seen what?" she asks, and I take great pleasure in delivering the next few lines.

"You're all over the internet. You and Louis," I inform her. "Some pap with a long-range camera got a picture of you. It's not a very clear picture, but it's pretty obvious what you're doing."

Let's see how her whole world falls apart now. Little Miss Fucking Perfect.

"You know the worst of it?" I sneer, without waiting for her reaction. "A little part of me believed Louis when he said nothing happened. He said you were just leaning towards him, and it was like the time they printed a picture of you holding hands with that guy that turned out to be your brother - just clever photography." I laugh sadly, thinking how I actually can't trust anyone at all. "Of all the people to betray me, you were the last person I would have imagined. What is it with people suddenly revealing their true colours? Seems to be a familiar theme for me lately."