SWNOVELS Sweet Ruin: Chapter 21
Noah and I barely spoke for the rest of the journey home. He’d just confessed his love for me, but I’d told him I was with someone else and to forget me and move on. There wasn’t much more we could say to each other after that. But even though we sat in silence, my mind was a hive of activity as I desperately tried to work through everything I’d learned over the last few hours and decide how I felt about it all.
I only broke the silence when we arrived back at school. I quickly thanked Noah for the ride before I jumped from his car and hurried back to the dorms. I didn’t want to seem ungrateful or rude, but I needed space from him. Noah had opened his heart to me at his dad’s memorial. He’d said some beautiful things, and he seemed genuinely sorry for the way I’d been caught up in his quest to destroy his grandfather. I even understood why he’d done everything he did, but that didn’t change the fact he’d broken my heart. He couldn’t just turn around and expect me to fall at his feet the moment he decided it was the right time for him.
I was still feeling flustered and overwhelmed by it all when I got back to my room. I needed to talk to someone, so I dumped my bag and went in search of Anna. Thankfully, she was in her room and her roommate was out.
“Hey, you’re ba—” Anna answered the door with a smile, but she cut herself off when she saw the expression on my face. “Are you okay? I heard about last night.”
“You heard already?” I asked as I walked past her and into the room.
“Cress called to let me know,” she explained. “She thought you’d need someone to talk to when you got back to school.”
“Well, she was right,” I said as I started pacing the room. “I still can’t wrap my mind around it.”
“It sounds like it was pretty hectic,” Anna said. “So, Noah really sold his grandfather’s company to your dad?”
“Yep. Apparently, Noah has been planning to screw over his grandfather for years, and he’s been working in secret with my dad.”
‘Wow.”
“That’s just the start.” I slumped down on Anna’s bed. “Noah told me that everything he’s done recently—breaking up with me, telling Luther and Kaden to ignore me, dating Veronica—it was all to convince his grandfather he wanted nothing to do with me. To show he was loyal to William so he wouldn’t get suspicious. Then on the drive back here, Noah told me he’s been in love with me all this time and now he wants me back.”
Anna stood motionless as she listened to me, her mouth hanging slightly open. I’d left her speechless. It was a feat I never would have believed possible. I had to admit this was all quite hard to believe—even at Weybridge Academy where the bar for drama was pretty high.
“Shit,” Anna finally said. “I think I need a drink.”
“You always need a drink,” I replied.
“True.” She smiled, but then her expression dimmed. “I thought the story about the surprise takeover was wild. But this…”
“Is a lot.” I hadn’t even told her about the fact Noah and Matthew had discovered William was responsible for the deaths of Liam and Georgina. That part I’d better keep to myself.
“What are you going to do?” Anna asked, coming to sit on the bed beside me.
“There’s nothing I can do,” I said. “The deal is done. My dad owns Noah’s family business now. They’ll continue working together.”
“I meant about Noah?”
“I’m with Wes,” I replied simply, like that was all the answer I needed to give.
“Yeah, but do you still have feelings for Noah?”
I wished that was a question with an equally easy answer. It was hard to know what to feel when just two days ago I’d been convinced Noah hated me, and I’d convinced myself I hated him too.
“It doesn’t matter what I feel about Noah,” I said. “I care about Wes. Noah hasn’t changed that. I already told him that he needs to forget about me and move on.”
Anna nodded. “Are you going to tell Wes what Noah confessed? That he’s in love with you?”
“I’m not sure.” I hesitated. “I don’t want to worry him unnecessarily, and I think it would upset him.”
“Yeah, it’s tricky,” Anna agreed. “Noah’s feelings might not be something you can hide though. He doesn’t seem like the type to sit back and let another guy be with the girl he wants.”
I groaned and lowered my head into my hands. She was right. The last thing I wanted was for Wes to learn about all this from someone else. Especially Noah. I’d already suffered enough because of my family drama. I didn’t want my relationship with Wes to be affected too. We were so good together. Why would I give that up to be with someone who had treated me as badly as Noah had?
I jumped as my phone buzzed in my pocket. When I pulled it out, I saw I had a text from Wes. Speak of the devil.
Wes: Hey, how’s it going? When are you getting back to school? I miss you.
I SWORE UNDER MY BREATH, and guilt swelled in my chest. I’d been so distracted by everything I hadn’t messaged Wes since yesterday. He didn’t even know I’d just gotten back to Weybridge.
“That’s Wes,” I said to Anna. “I should go see him. On a scale of one to ten, how pissed do you think he’ll be when he finds out I got a ride back from New York with Noah?”
Anna grimaced. “I mean, probably less pissed than if he hears Noah’s in love with you.”
I dropped my head into my hands. “Not helpful,” I groaned.
“Sorry,” she said. “I’m sure he’ll be okay once you explain the whole story. You can’t help what Noah does or feels. What’s important is you want to be with Wes, and you told Noah that, right?”
“Right,” I confirmed.
“Then I’m sure Wes will understand.”
“Okay,” I said, feeling a little more confident than before. Although that wasn’t saying much. “I better go. Wish me luck.”
WES WAS in his room when I arrived, but I wasn’t greeted by my normally cheerful boyfriend. He seemed distant, and I knew something was up when he didn’t move to kiss me or give me a hug when he answered the door. As I walked past him and into the room, I tried to reach out to him, but he stepped back. Seeing him recoil from me made my heart fall. I’d been worried about how Wes would react to all this, but I hadn’t even told him yet, and already it didn’t look good.
“I heard about Noah’s party,” he said once he’d closed the door behind him. “About his announcement and his arrangement with your father.”
“You already heard about last night?”
“Everyone’s heard, Isobel,” he said. “Did you grow up under a rock? It’s all anyone can talk about. It’s been on the news and everything. What I don’t understand is why I didn’t hear it from you.”
I thought he was being a little harsh, but I knew he was only lashing out because he was shocked and upset. How was I supposed to know that something like this would make the news? Maybe it was naïve of me not to have thought about it, but it’s not like I’d been in this kind of situation before.
“I didn’t realize,” I said. “And yes, compared to you, I did grow up under a rock.”
He winced. “I didn’t mean it like that.”
I shrugged because I thought perhaps he had. “I’m sorry I didn’t call you last night. I was upset and just trying to process what had happened.”
“And what about you and Noah?”
“What about me and Noah?”
“Why were you in his car?”
The blood drained from my skin. “How do you know about that?”
“One of the guys on the rowing team saw you two in the parking lot. I was planning to give you the benefit of the doubt, but you got back an hour ago and didn’t even tell me.”
I was really getting sick of this school and the way nothing ever stayed secret for long. “I got a ride back to school with Noah because Cress is staying in New York for an extra couple of days and my father wants us to play nice. I’ve been with Anna since I got back. I was going to tell you.”
“Were you?”
‘Of course, I was.”
“And you think I’m just supposed to believe nothing’s happening between you two now?”
“Yeah, I do,” I said. “Just like when you asked me to believe you about that photo of you and Sarah.”
“That’s different.”
“Is it? Because you asked me to trust you, and I did. Now, I’m asking the same.”
“I trust you. You know I do,” he said. “It’s him I don’t trust.”
I let out a sigh.
“Seriously, Isobel. Noah betrayed his grandfather to side with your family. Can you really tell me he doesn’t still have feelings for you?”
It seemed like Wes thought Noah’s sole reason for the takeover were his feelings for me. There’s no way he could have known the true reasons, but it showed how anxious he was about me and Noah. I couldn’t tell him the full truth behind Noah’s and Matthew’s actions, but even if I did, I suspected Wes would still believe Noah was partly motivated by me.
“Noah didn’t do it to simply side with my family,” I said. “He certainly didn’t do it for me. He had other reasons. But Noah’s feelings aren’t the ones that matter. Mine are.”
“I realize that,” Wes murmured. “And I know you had strong feelings for him.”
“Had,” I emphasized and walked toward him. This time, he didn’t move away, and he let me place my hands on his chest. “And I have strong feelings for you. Noah is my past, and you are my future.
“It’s just hard not to worry that might change now,” he admitted.
“Wes, you’re the only one I want to be with, and nothing that’s happened changes that. I told Noah as much on the drive back. He knows how I feel about you.”
“You did?”
“Of course, I did.”
He slowly nodded though his jaw remained tight. “Okay,” he said. “Thank you.” His shoulders relaxed a little, but he still didn’t look convinced, and his eyes were focused on the ground. I slid my hands up his chest and wrapped them round his neck, pulling him closer to me.
“And how are your feelings for me?” I asked, tilting my head to try to catch his eye. “Strong too?”
He glanced up at me, and a little more sparkle was in his gaze. “Stronger than you know,” he said.
I drew him in for a kiss, hoping my lips could erase any doubts he still felt. I wanted to be with Wes. I just needed him to believe it too.
He gave me a smile as I pulled back from our kiss, and I hoped that meant we were okay. But something still felt off. I hadn’t told him Noah had confessed he loved me, and given the strength of Wes’s reaction to everything else, I knew it was probably something he was better off not knowing. But even without that knowledge, there still seemed to be a hint of doubt in Wes’s eyes whenever he looked my way. I just hoped it wouldn’t linger.