Chapter 2
The group chat kept blowing up, and then Lucas' call came through. "Julia, are you out of your goddamn mind? Sophie was upset, so I was just talking to her as a friend, trying to cheer her up. Why are you acting like a rabid dog?"
"Oh, my bad," I said, my voice dripping with fake sweetness. "I thought Sophie was trying to provoke me, you know, hint that I should back off. Guess I misread the situation, huh?"
I paused, then added, "Wait. Didn't you just tell me you were working at the vet clinic? How'd you end up at a nightclub?"
Lucas caught the sarcasm in my voice, and his volume shot up immediately. "Julia, I think you've lost your mind. You're just my girlfriend, not my wife. What gives you the right to control what I do?
"Sophie's my bro. If we were into each other, we would've gotten together ages ago. It never would've been your turn to be my girlfriend.
"Stay out of the family group chat. Sophie's crying her eyes out because of you right now, so you need to apologize to her in the friend group. Now."
I sneered, "What good would my apology do? Your precious bro Frank is ready to kill someone. Don't you think you should be figuring out how to explain this mess instead?"
"Julia, this is all your fault!" He spat out a vile curse at me and hung up.
The photo Sophie had sent me was provocative. It didn't show much, but the teasing was off the charts.
Anyone who saw it would feel their blood run hot. The poses, the expressions—everything was so explicit that I had no idea how Lucas and Sophie were going to talk their way out of this.
But I never expected Lucas to use me as his shield.
He sent: [Guys, don't get the wrong idea. That's not Sophie at all. It's actually Julia—she photoshopped our pictures together.]
He continued: [Julia had some drama with Sophie a few days ago, so she came up with this sick plan to trash the brotherhood between Sophie and me. Don't believe her.]
After sending that message, he actually posted several of my private boudoir photos to the group chat. [Everyone look. This is what Julia really is.]
Tears burned in my eyes, threatening to fall.
My boyfriend had cheated on me and betrayed me. Now he was posting my intimate photos to his friend group just to cover for the other woman. Just to protect his "friend."
Those photos were something I'd shared with him out of trust, and now he'd turned them into weapons to hurt me.
Within seconds, Lucas' trashy friends shifted their attention from his club photos with Sophie to my boudoir shots, and they started leaving disgusting comments in the group.
Frank tagged me in the chat: [You fucking slut, I don't care whose girl you are. If you dare trash my girlfriend again, I'll get a bunch of guys to run a train on you!]
Right at that moment, Sophie sent me a private message too. [Serves you right! Someone like you actually thought you could ruin me? You're nothing to Lucas.]
She continued: [Frank's my lapdog. I tell him to do something, and he does it. Try messing with me again, and I'll have him deal with you for good!]
I fired back a few choice words at her, and she immediately deleted her own messages. Now only my angry replies sat there in the chat window, making me look like I'd lost it for no reason.
Then those doctored screenshots—the ones missing her threats—popped up in the group chat.
The whole group exploded. Everyone started tearing into me, calling me every name in the book.
I didn't rush. I took my time and posted a video.