What?

No. No, no, no, no...

I'm getting deja vu. This feels like Richy's confession all over again. The hardest pill I ever had to swallow in my whole life.

Now I have to find out that my boyfriend who stood by me all this time I needed it was actually behind the suffering I endured all along?

I wanted to call Jake's bluff but he's always been serious about most things and that's what scares me.

I wanted to cry. I feared I would wake up Matthew so I tried my best not to. My eyes still leaked considerably.

Please do. What I know is Matty is as much of a victim as everyone else. How could he possibly be the culprit?

It took you three months to get settled to contact me again?

Okay, then how come you can only contact me now?

Actually, now that Jake mentioned that...

Matty told me he had to change his phone a while ago because it malfunctioned...

And I'm assuming that's where your investigation started.

Don't tell me...

A few seconds of silence, looking anxiously at my screen...

Then the picture came through. And one phrase stood out:

Sent by Matthew to the kidnapper.

I felt like barfing.

I can't...I can't read this...

No no no no no no!

I couldn't believe this! My Matty used this knowledge to concocte an evil plan?? He betrayed our trust and tricked everyone! And the worst part is, he was so good at hiding it.

More tears were flowing now and I was struggling even more to hold back...

I was brought out of my blurry vision by the sound of Jake's message.

Jake....I need to lay down. If we must talk, let's talk about it tomorrow.

Goodnight Jake.

I had a dreamless sleep that night. Probably for the best, considering what I just learned.

How was I going to face him tomorrow?

Well, I guess I have to become as good at pretending as he is.

Oh Matthew...why? Was your love for me fake too?...

...

After he woke up and had breakfast, Matt was chilling on the couch using his phone. He heard footsteps coming behind him. "Good morning, gorgeous."

Jessy registered the compliment in her head and smiled weakly. "Morning, Matty."

"You look half-dead, is everything okay?" He raised a brow.

No, nothing is okay.

"Yeah, I just didn't sleep very well."

"Well...I don't think you'll like what I have to say then..."

Oh god, what's the matter now?

"I have to go back to my town because I forgot my laptop at home."

The statement almost woke me up. "What? How did you forget that?"

"I had it tucked away yesterday because it was my day off and I completely forgot that I was planning to stay here for week days like tomorrow."

I felt skeptical. I raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure you forgot it, Matt?"

Matt nodded. "I promise you, sweetie. I did. You can look through all my stuff."

I sighed. "Okay okay, but just because it's actually important."

Matty kissed my forehead. "Oh thank you, thank you, thank you!! I promise I'll make it up to you when I get back. I actually wanted to leave you a note but that wouldn't have been good. Hehe."

"You owe me big time, mister."

"Of course, dear."

And just like that, he was gone. Just to be sure, I actually looked through his stuff and his laptop wasn't there. At least that wasn't a lie.

I remembered Jake's words last night and...

"Huh, what a weird coincidence that was Jake wanted actually happened." I told myself.

Hey Jake? I need to speak to you about something.