Lust in Ecstasy: Love, Lies and Revenge Chapter 56: More Complications

Just as I was about to sit down, my door creaked open.

I turned to see my uncle standing there, arms crossed. His eyes swept over my room before landing on the backpack on my bed.

"Going sowhere?" he asked.

I felt my pulse spike for a second, but I kept my expression calm. "Just organizing so stuff."

His gaze lingered on for a beat longer before he stepped inside. "You’ve been acting strange these past few days."

I shrugged. "Just got a lot on my mind."

He scoffed. "If only you spent half as much ti thinking about your responsibilities as you do wasting ti with Eric."

And there it was. Another jab. Another reminder that no matter what I did, I’d never asure up.

But real talk, what was this new obsession of him comparing with Eric?

I bit my tongue, not in the mood for an argunt. But he wasn’t done.

"You need to stop all this aimless wandering and actually do sothing with your life. Look at Eric—he’s making sothing of himself. And you? What are you doing? Where do you even see yourself in five years?"

Five years?

I barely knew where I’d be in five days.

Still, I kept my face blank, letting his words roll over like waves against a rock.

"Figure it out," he said, shaking his head. "Before it’s too late."

Then he turned and walked out, leaving standing there, fists clenched at my sides.

Too late?

I was already ahead of him. I was figuring it out—just not in the way he wanted. Or in the way he ant.

I glanced back at my backpack.

Shit. That was too close. I hurriedly pick it up and hid it in my wardrobe... I was about closing it when it crossed my mind that my uncle might be suspicious of .

I hadn’t really spent a lot of ti downstairs, I only ever stayed in my room most tis.

I reached out to Eric, asking if he had spoken to the team about soone new joining them. He said he’d handle it soon and get back to .

With nothing else to do, I sat on the edge of my bed, scrolling through articles and forums, researching different aspects of the ga. I kept reading, taking notes, getting lost in ideas—until at so point, exhaustion crept in.

Before I knew it, I had dozed off, my laptop still open beside .

A Sudden Confrontation

I wasn’t sure how long I had been asleep, but the sudden shake of my shoulder jolted awake.

"Ladi."

I blinked groggily, my eyes struggling to adjust to the dim light in my room. Abby stood over , arms crossed, her expression unreadable.

I sat up, rubbing my eyes. "What...? What is it?"

She didn’t answer imdiately. Instead, she let out a deep breath, as if she was trying to steady herself. "Ladi, I need to ask you sothing."

Still half-asleep, I ran a hand through my hair. "Okay... What’s up?"

She hesitated for a second, then took a step closer. "Are you taking advantage of us?"

That woke up completely. My eyebrows furrowed as I stared at her. "What?"

"You heard ," she said, voice sharper now. "Are you just playing around with ? With Faith?"

I let out a short, disbelieving laugh. "You can’t be serious."

Her arms tightened across her chest. "I am serious. Because it sure as hell feels like you’re just doing whatever you want and not caring about what happens afterward."

I exhaled, leaning forward slightly. "Abby, no one forced you to do anything. You were the one who set the rules. You said it was just sex. No strings. And now you’re here acting like I manipulated you?"

She scoffed. "I’m not saying you manipulated , but..." She trailed off, biting her lip.

"But what?" I pushed.

She looked away for a second, then back at , sothing flickering in her eyes. "You and Faith. The way you kissed her. That wasn’t just so random hookup, was it?"

I sighed, already seeing where this was going. "Abby, you’re the one who told you didn’t want anything serious. You made that clear from the beginning. And I respected that."

Her jaw tightened. "That was before I—" She cut herself off, shaking her head.

I caught it, though. That was before I...

I leaned back, studying her. "Before you what?"

She clenched her fists. "It doesn’t matter."

I let out a dry chuckle. "No, it does matter. Because right now, you’re acting like I betrayed you when I was just going along with the boundaries you set."

Silence stretched between us.

Her gaze dropped for a mont, then she whispered, "I just... I didn’t think it would feel like this."

I sighed, my voice softer this ti. "Abby, I didn’t plan for any of this. I’m just figuring things out too."

She lifted her chin, forcing a smirk onto her face, but I could see the cracks in it. "Right. Figuring things out. Guess that ans I was just part of the trial run, huh?"

I frowned. "That’s not fair."

She shook her head, stepping back toward the door. "Doesn’t matter. Forget I said anything."

I sighed. "Abby, if you wanted more, you should have said so from the start."

She scoffed again, but it was weaker this ti. "And what? You would’ve magically turned into boyfriend material?"

I hesitated. Not because I didn’t have an answer, but because I wasn’t sure if she actually wanted to hear the truth.

"I don’t know," I admitted. "But at least we wouldn’t be standing here arguing about sothing that never had a clear direction in the first place."

She bit her lip, looking away for a mont. When she turned back, her expression had hardened again. "Forget it," she said, voice tight. "This was a mistake anyway."

I nodded, stepping back. "If that’s how you feel."

And just like that, she turned and left, leaving sitting there, staring at the space she had just been.

I exhaled, running my hands over my face.