Chapter 13 - RACHEL
Rachel flew back to Boston.
They met at a quiet café.
Claire showed her the manipulated screenshots.
Rachel cried.
“I should have believed you.”
Claire shook her head.
“They looked real.”
“I still should have asked more.”
“You did.”
“I asked while already believing the answer.”
Claire understood.
They did not restore eight lost years in one conversation.
No dramatic hug fixing everything.
They started with coffee.
Rachel’s move to Chicago also had reasons unrelated to Ethan.
Better salary.
Closer to her sister.
A chance to leave a company she disliked.
The manipulated fight accelerated emotional distance.
It did not single-handedly move her across the country.
Rachel said:
“I probably still would’ve gone.”
Claire asked:
“Would we have stayed friends?”
“I think so.”
That was enough grief.
No need to exaggerate.
Ethan did not control every outcome.
He nudged fractures where real pressure already existed.
That made his behavior more believable and more disturbing.
He did not need supernatural control.
He needed timing.
Then another call.
Trust rebuilt slowly.
Rachel asked:
“Why did he want me gone?”
Claire answered:
“Because you were the one person who kept saying he was too perfect.”
Rachel laughed bitterly.
“I thought I was being cynical.”
She had been perceptive.
May you like
Ethan had recognized that.
So he removed friction.
