Chapter Eleven: The Confession
Jack couldn't look at her.
He sat on the couch, his head in his hands, his entire body trembling.
"Say something," Leena said quietly. "Anything."
"I'm sorry." Jack's voice was barely a whisper. "I'm so fucking sorry, Leena."
"Sorry doesn't fix this."
"I know." He looked up at her, his eyes hollow. "I know it doesn't. But I don't know what else to say."
Leena stood and walked to the window, her arms wrapped around herself.
"You were so angry with me," she said. "You made me feel like the worst person in the world. Like I'd destroyed everything we had."
"You did—"
"And then you did the exact same thing!" Leena spun around, her voice rising. "You fucked Hela. You let her manipulate you. You became exactly what you accused me of being."
"I was drunk," Jack said again, but the excuse sounded hollow even to his own ears. "I was hurt and I wasn't thinking—"
"Neither was I!" Leena's hands clenched into fists. "I wasn't thinking when I slept with Rider. I was caught up in the moment and I made a terrible mistake. But at least I admitted it. At least I tried to make it right."
"I'm trying to make it right now—"
"Are you?" Leena's laugh was bitter. "Because it seems like you were planning to hide it from me. If Rider hadn't sent that video, would you have told me?"
Jack hesitated.
That hesitation was answer enough.
"I was going to tell you," he said finally. "Tonight. I was going to come home and confess everything."
"But you didn't." Leena's voice was flat. "You were going to let me sit here, thinking we were trying to fix our marriage, while you carried this secret."
"I'm sorry—"
"Stop saying that!" Leena's voice cracked. "Stop apologizing and just—just tell me the truth. Did you want to hurt me? Is that why you did it?"
Jack was silent for a long moment.
Then, quietly: "Yes."
Leena's breath caught.
"I wanted to hurt you," Jack continued, his voice breaking. "I wanted you to feel what I felt when I saw those photos of you with Rider. I wanted you to know what betrayal feels like."
"I already knew," Leena whispered. "I've been living with it every day since it happened."
"I know. I know that now." Jack stood, moving toward her. "But in that moment, all I could think about was making the pain stop. And Hela—she made it seem like the only way to do that was to get even."
"So you did."
"So I did." Jack's hands hung at his sides, useless. "And it didn't help. It just made everything worse."
Leena turned back to the window, her reflection ghostly in the glass.
"I could leave you right now," she said quietly. "I could take that video to a lawyer and walk away. I'd probably get everything in the divorce."
Jack nodded. "I know. And I'd deserve it."
"But I don't want to."
Jack's head snapped up. "What?"
"I don't want to leave." Leena's voice was steady now, resolved. "I want to fix this. I want to know if there's anything left to save."
"Leena—"
"But I need to know if you want that too." She turned to face him. "Because if you're just going to keep hurting me every time I hurt you, then we're never going to survive this."
"I want to fix it," Jack said desperately. "I want us to survive this. I don't want to lose you."
"Then we need to try." Leena took a deep breath. "Really try. Not just say we're trying while we're both secretly planning our next move."
"Okay. Yes. Anything."
"Good." Leena picked up her phone. "Because I have a condition."
Jack waited.
"We're going to Rider and Hela's party."
Jack's eyes widened. "What? Leena, no—"
"Yes." Her voice was firm. "We're going to that party. We're going to face them together. And we're going to see if, in that environment, we can remember why we chose each other."
"That's insane—"
"Is it?" Leena's eyes were hard. "Or is it the only way to know if our marriage can survive this level of betrayal? If we can get through that party together, if we can reconnect in the place where everything fell apart... then maybe there's hope."
Jack shook his head. "Leena, they're manipulating us. Rider and Hela—they want us to fall apart. Going to that party is exactly what they want."
"Maybe." Leena's smile was cold. "Or maybe it's what we need. A test. A way to see if we're stronger than whatever games they're playing."
Jack wanted to argue. Wanted to tell her it was a terrible idea.
But he also knew he had no right to refuse.
Not after what he'd done.
"Okay," he said finally. "We'll go."
"And Jack?" Leena's voice was sharp. "Don't contact Rider or Hela. Don't tell them we're coming. I want to surprise them."
"Why?"
"Because I want them to see that we're still together. That their little plan didn't work." Leena's eyes flashed. "I want them to know that we're stronger than they think."
Jack nodded slowly.
He didn't believe it. Didn't think they were stronger than Rider and Hela's manipulation.
But he also didn't have a choice.
"Okay," he said again. "We won't tell them."
Leena nodded and walked past him toward the bedroom.
"Where are you going?" Jack asked.
"To bed." She paused in the doorway. "Alone. You can sleep on the couch."
"Leena—"
"We're going to fix this," she said quietly. "But not tonight. Tonight, I need space."
She closed the door behind her, leaving Jack alone in the living room.
He sank back onto the couch, his head in his hands.
What the fuck have we gotten ourselves into?
But he already knew the answer.
They'd gotten themselves into a trap.
And they were walking right into it.
------------------------------------------------
Leena lay in bed, staring at the ceiling.
She couldn't sleep.
Every time she closed her eyes, she saw the video. Jack's face. Hela's body. The brutal, angry way they'd moved together.
He wanted to hurt me.
The thought echoed in her mind, over and over.
Jack had wanted to hurt her. Had deliberately sought out Hela and fucked her as revenge.
And the worst part?
Leena understood.
Because she'd wanted to hurt him too. When she'd gone to that hotel with Rider, part of her had been thinking about Jack. About making him feel what she felt.
They were destroying each other.
Piece by piece. Betrayal by betrayal.
And if they didn't stop, there would be nothing left.
But maybe there's still something worth saving.
Leena rolled onto her side, pulling the blanket tighter around herself.
She'd meant what she said. She wanted to fix their marriage. Wanted to know if there was anything left beneath all the hurt and anger and betrayal.
But she also knew they couldn't do it alone.
They needed something. Some external force to push them back together.
Or pull them apart for good.
The party.
Rider and Hela's party.
It was a terrible idea. Leena knew that.
Going back to the place where everything had started to fall apart. Facing the people who'd manipulated them both.
It was insane.
But it was also the only way to know for sure.
If they could survive that party together—if they could face Rider and Hela and come out the other side still united—then maybe their marriage had a chance.
And if they couldn't...
Well. At least they'd know.
Leena picked up her phone from the nightstand.
The video was still there, paused on that first frame.
She should delete it. Should erase the evidence of Jack's betrayal and try to move forward.
But she couldn't.
Not yet.
Instead, she opened her messages and scrolled to Rider's name.
His last text stared back at her: Maybe you should ask your husband what he did last night.
Leena's fingers hovered over the keyboard.
She should ignore him. Should block his number and never speak to him again.
But she didn't.
Instead, she typed: We'll be at the party.
She hit send before she could second-guess herself.
The response came almost immediately.
Rider:I'm glad. It'll be good to see you both.
Rider:And Leena? I'm sorry about the video. I thought you deserved to know the truth.
Leena's jaw clenched.
Liar.
Rider wasn't sorry. He'd sent that video deliberately. Had orchestrated the whole thing to drive a wedge between her and Jack.
And it had almost worked.
But Leena wasn't going to let him win.
She typed: See you Saturday.
Then she turned off her phone and set it aside.
In the living room, she could hear Jack moving around. The creak of the couch as he settled in for the night.
Part of her wanted to go to him. To curl up beside him and pretend everything was okay.
But she couldn't.
Not yet.
They had too much to work through. Too many wounds that needed to heal.
But maybe—just maybe—they could start at that party.
Leena closed her eyes and tried to sleep.
But all she could see was Rider's smile.
And all she could hear was Hela's voice: You got even.
No, Leena thought. We're not even. Not yet.
But they would be.
One way or another, they would be.
---------------------------------------------------
The next few days passed in tense silence.
Jack and Leena moved around each other like ghosts, speaking only when necessary. They slept in separate rooms. Ate meals at different times.
It was like living with a stranger.
But beneath the silence, something was shifting.
Jack found himself watching Leena when she wasn't looking. Noticing the way she moved. The way she bit her lip when she was thinking.
All the little things he'd fallen in love with.
And he wondered if they could find their way back to that. To the people they'd been before Rider and Hela had entered their lives.
Leena, for her part, found herself doing the same.
Watching Jack. Remembering.
The way he laughed. The way he touched her. The way he used to look at her like she was the only person in the world.
Can we get that back?
She didn't know.
But she was willing to try.
On Friday night, Jack knocked on the bedroom door.
"Come in," Leena called.
He stepped inside, his hands in his pockets.
"I just wanted to make sure," he said. "You still want to go tomorrow?"
Leena nodded. "Yes. We need to do this."
"Okay." Jack hesitated. "And after? What happens after the party?"
"I don't know." Leena's voice was soft. "But we'll figure it out. Together."
Jack nodded and turned to leave.
"Jack?"
He paused in the doorway.
"I meant what I said," Leena continued. "I want to fix this. I want us to survive."
"So do I."
Their eyes met across the room.
For a moment, it felt like the old days. Like they were still the couple who'd laughed over dinner and made love in the dark and promised to be together forever.
But then the moment passed.
And they were just two broken people, trying to find their way back to each other.
"Goodnight, Leena," Jack said quietly.
"Goodnight."
He closed the door behind him.
Leena lay back on the bed, her heart pounding.
Tomorrow.
Tomorrow they would go to the party.
Tomorrow they would face Rider and Hela.
Tomorrow they would find out if their marriage could survive.
Or if it was already too late.
Please, she thought. Please let there be something left to save.
But deep down, she wasn't sure there was.
And that terrified her more than anything.