Katherine cried in Adrian's arms until the tears finally stopped, leaving her exhausted and raw. Slowly, hesitantly, she began to recount the full, devastating story. She told him about James's drunken assault and then, with a voice shaking with fresh horror, she revealed the true identity of Ava.
"It wasn't just a random person, Adrian," she whispered, pulling back to look into his eyes. "I saw her. I heard her. Ava... Ava hired him. She orchestrated the stalker. She paid him to—to hurt me."
Adrian was genuinely shocked, the revelation hitting him with unexpected force. The thought that his girlfriend was capable of such monstrous malice stunned him. However, his focus remained strangely fixed. The betrayal by Ava, while shocking, was emotionally distant because, as he had admitted, he truly loved Katherine now. He was largely unbothered by Ava's cheating with James a betrayal that seemed minor compared to the psychological warfare she waged on Katherine.
