Ashlynn sat in silence for several heartbeats as she struggled to digest what Jocelynn had told her.
It would have been easier, she thought, if Jocelynn had truly been a manipulative, scheming backstabber who had sought Owain out in a twisted bid to torment her sister and steal the 'perfect' life she had. It would have broken her heart, but it would have been cleaner. Simpler.
Instead, she was confronted with a much harder, much messier truth. Jocelynn had betrayed a secret she shouldn't have, and the things she'd told Owain had been the trigger for everything that followed after… But she'd done it from a place of hurt, loneliness, and her own sense of betrayal.
Worse, she'd done it as Owain manipulated her with strong wine and kind words, preying on her feelings and putting her in a compromising position where something like Ashlynn's deepest secret could just 'slip out.'
