<spanng="EN">Analise’s POV


    <spanng="EN">They were all struggling to stay calm. My father had to put his head down to face the floor. My father hated to show emotions. He was a tough man who felt that showing emotions made him look weak. He was always stoic. We knew he loved us, but he rarely told us. He was raised in another generation, one that was much tougher than the one I was raised in. There were times growing up when he did show us, but usually only on milestones in our lives. High School and College graduations, buying a home, and getting our businesses off the ground. He let Mom be the one who nurtured us, and he was the protector, nd the one who handed out punishments to us.


    <spanng="EN">I knew that for thest ten years, he had thought that Mom had missed something. That my ‘tantrum‘ was because she had coddled me too much. But now he knows that it was because they both missed the signs they should have seen. He had security for me, but they always stayed back. They couldn’te into the bathrooms or gym showers with me. I saw his tears fall, and I squeezed his hand. This really wasn’t his fault, and it really wasn’t on Seth or Holden. This was solely on Tiffany, Gretchen, and the friends they used to hurt me.


    <spanng="EN">“I have proof of most of what happened. Tiffany texted me quite often, so I have hundreds of them. Half of them were the ones that warned me that she would kill me if I told. That she would know if I did, as our families would have a falling out. She thought she could do anything to me and get away with it. She assaulted me in Holden’s restaurant because she was positive she could delete the footage. She did, but it took me all of five minutes, including booting up myptop, to find it. You need a better firewall system, Holden,” I said as I finally looked up at him.


    <spanng="EN">He looked wrecked by what I had shown him. He met my eyes and flinched at the pain in mine. “What, what is it that I did, Ana?” he asked hesitantly. Now came the hardest part.


    <spanng="EN">“You remember the day that Seth and I came over to swim? The day Tiffany held Seth up, to let me go out and find you?” I asked.


    <spanng="EN">“The day you walked back home instead of asking us to drive you?” Holden asked with a frown. He was still clearly confused.


    <spanng="EN">“Yes, that day,” I replied.


    <spanng="EN">“But I never saw you that day,” Holden responded. The frown on his face grew as he became increasingly confused about where I was going with this.


    <spanng="EN">“But I saw you, Holden. What’s worse, I heard you,” I answered. “What were you doing that day before we were supposed to arrive?”


    <spanng="EN">I watched his face as he went from bewilderment to rity in about thirty seconds. His eyes flew up to mine, and I saw him swallow hard. “Is it alling back to you now, Holden?”


    <spanng="EN">“What? What happened?” Seth asked. He was watching Holden like he expected him toe out with it, only he couldn’t. My father was in the room, and he wasn’t going to react well to what Holden had done.


    <spanng="EN">“Seth, it was the same thing that happened with Tiffany,” Holden snapped out.


    <spanng="EN">“What is going on? Stop speaking in riddles. Just spit it out. We’re all adults here. What happened, Ana? Whatever it is, I can take it. Your mother and I are here for you. We love you, and we won’t allow you to suffer a minute longer. Just tell us, I need this finished to know what steps I need to take,” my father asked. He knew it wasn’t going to be good if neither Seth nor Holden wanted to discuss it.


    <spanng="EN">“Ana, I’m sorry. You know I didn’t mean any of it. I was just saying what she wanted to hear. It was just sex,” Holden carefully said to me. His hands were raised as if he thought I was going to lose it. He was trying to keep me calm, but I was past all of that. I didn’t care anymore. About any of this. It was my past, and after today, I didn’t want to go back there again.


    <spanng="EN">“If that’s what you need to tell yourself, Holden, then sure. Just sex, with a side of betrayal. You were fine with what you said that day, and don’t forget that you also acted on it. You made good on what you felt was your only recourse, because you did just that. I know you were led into saying it, but that doesn’t mean that it wasn’t the truth you spoke at that time. She saw me, Holden. She saw how upset I was, and still pushed you to say it. I couldn’t walk away. She used your very words against me, for years, Holden,” I replied.


    <spanng="EN">“What did he say?” Seth asked, but he was looking at Holden.


    <spanng="EN">“Seth, we need to discuss this at another time, privately. This doesn’t need to be a factor in our arranged marriage. Both of our parents would be very unhappy with me if they found out. You know how it is, Seth. Gretchen offered herself up, and I had been drinking by the pool. What was I supposed to do, Seth? She was wearing a barely there bikini, and she kept rubbing herself against me. So, I took her up on her offer and we went into the pool house. It was just a one–time thing. You and Ana weren’t supposed to arrive for another half an hour. She was never supposed to know. I knew she didn’t like Gretchen, hell, I don’t like her either, but you know how things happen,” Holden answered.


    <spanng="EN">“I didn’t ask you what happened, Holden. I already know what happened. Tiffany was set on holding me up that day, too, so I didn’t go out there with Ana. She was so excited that day and couldn’t wait toe over, so we came over early. Tiffany and Gretchen teamed up toe after Ana that day. I got it. Stop being evasive. I asked you what you said,” Seth said as he stepped closer to Holden. “You know it won’t stay hidden any longer, Holden. If I have to ask Ana, things are going to get worse.”


    <spanng="EN">“It’s already worse, Seth. I can’t say the words. You know how it is, we say things they want to hear at the time. Gretchen didn’t mean anything to me. I didn’t mean anything I said. We’ve spoken about what happened that day before, Seth. We let things go too far with them both. Both of us had a one–and–done. They were looking for a romantic connection, while we were seeking a release. That was all it was,” Holden insisted.


    <spanng="EN">Holden turned to me in panic, “Analise, you know I was young and dumb back then. We slept with a lot of girls while we were in college. I was just doing what most guys did back then. I’m not that guy anymore. I have nothing but disgust towards Gretchen. I never wanted to date her, Ana, let alone marry her. She might have wanted me to marry her, but it was always just sex. She was never the person I wanted to marry. I’m sorry I hurt you, Ana, I really am. Not having you in my life thesest few years made me realize just how much I missed you. When Seth called and said that he wanted me to marry you, I immediately epted. Not out of pressure from our families. I did it because I miss you, Ana. I really care about you. Please don’t hold my ignorant words I spoke when I was young against me,” Holden pleaded.


    <spanng="EN">“What did he say?” Seth asked as he looked at me.


    <spanng="EN">“When we got there, I ran straight through the house. I didn’t want to deal with Tiffany or her snarkyments about how I shouldn’t be wearing a two–piece. I headed out back and put my things down on a pool chair. When I didn’t see Holden, I went looking for him. I found him in the pool house with Gretchen, having sex. The moment she saw me, she smiled. I knew things were going to get much worse when I saw her smile. It was like she had been waiting for me to show up the whole time. I wanted to leave, Seth, but I couldn’t. It was like I was frozen in ce. I couldn’t move. Apparently, seeing the guy you love, willingly having sex with someone you just can’t stand, can tear you apart. Especially when their one of your biggest bullies.


    <spanng="EN">It changes you. But that wasn’t the worst part,” I answered.


    <spanng="EN">“I had epted the fact that you two were living it up with girls at college. But knowing that he was doing that, and seeing it y out in front of you, are two very different things. I could lie to myself about what Holden was doing, as it wasn’t real. It was easier to put it away as something I knew was happening, but also something that wasn’t truly real. Except I was just fooling myself.


    <spanng="EN">shback to ten years ago:


    <spanng="EN">I could feel the heat from the sun on my back as I excitedly ran over to save my chair, right next to Holden’s chair. Leaving the other chair for Seth. I nced over at the pool house, trying to see where Holden was. I would grab a drink from the fridge with him and let him know that we were here. I knew that Seth would be out here with us soon. He wasn’t a big fan of Tiffany’s, so he wouldn’t just hang out with her. Holden was so handsome. I was already wearing my dark sunsses so I could check him out without being caught again today.


    <spanng="EN">I had annoyed Seth until he finally gave in and agreed to drive us over. In my excitement, I never once thought. that I was going to catch Holden having sex. I knew that he and Seth both had girls they slept with at college. Not official girlfriends, but more of a friends with benefits type of thing. It hurt, but I knew they wouldn’t be celibate at college. Both sets of parents had agreed and acknowledged the arranged marriage between us. I had been thrilled thinking that one day I was going to be Mrs. Holden Vaughn. That’s a worthy title, and I was ready to im it as soon as they would let me.


    <spanng="EN">I wanted to get married at twenty, but my mother kept insisting that I should graduate from college first. She said things happened quickly in a marriage, and she wanted me to graduate before she became a grandmother. I can still feel the blush on my cheeks just thinking about it. I wasn’t worried about the girls at college. Seth assured me that yes, they both had sex, but there were no feelings involved with any of them. They always used protection no matter who they were with, and that Holden cared about me. Seth assured me that there was nothing for me to worry about.


    <spanng="EN">Except, there was something to worry about, and I heard it straight from Holden’s lips.