Chapter 500
“To be honest, if it weren’t for that gold locket still being here, I’d start to wonder if
I imagined the whole thing-maybe I never even met that man out at sea p>
“And who knows where he ended up, anyway p>
“Seriously, how could he just leave without saying a word? I mean, I pulled him out of the ocean he owes me his life, at least a thank you p>
Celeste was thoroughly frustrated.
“Maybe he had his reasons,” Caitlin said, glancing at Celeste. “By the way, March, didn’t that locket have the name ‘Summers’ engraved on it p>
“Yeah, exactly!” Celeste jumped up from the couch and grabbed the locket from her jewelry box. “Not only does it have ‘Summers’ on it, there’s a date too! Look— November 14th. That has to be his birthday, right p>
It all made sense.
Every detail matched.
That explained why Xavier’s locket went missing.
Caitlin set down her glass of water. “March, do you know why I seem to know so much about this p>
“No idea,” Celeste replied, shaking her head.
“There’s something I need to tell you p>
“Okay,” Celeste said, taking a relaxed sip of her Coke. “Go ahead, Catie p>
“The man you saved wasn’t a stranger. He was my brother, Xavier p>
Caitlin’s voice was dead serious, but Celeste couldn’t help thinking she was joking. What were the odds? Stuff like this only happened in books.
“Come on, Catie, don’t mess with me. How could that guy possibly be your brother Xavier p>
“I’m not joking, March. I’m completely serious. My brother Xavier was in the Maldives last July. The accident happened on the 18th while he was out swimming. That locket you have—that’s the one our grandmother gave us siblings. See? I have the exact same one p>
With that, Caitlin pulled a delicate gold locket from beneath her collar.
It was identical to the one in Celeste’s hand.
Seeing both together, Celeste finally realized Caitlin wasn’t kidding.
She choked, nearly spitting out her Coke.
Celeste could hardly believe it. She’d actually saved Xavier!
Oh my God.
This was almost too wild to believe-even if someone wrote it into a novel, nobody would buy it.
A few seconds later, Celeste managed to calm herself, taking a deep breath. Then she asked, “Catie, if the person I saved was your brother Xavier, why did he just disappear without even a thank you? What was really going on p>
From what she knew, that wasn’t Xavier’s style at all.
Caitlin rubbed her temples. “It’s a long story. The thing is, my brother Xavier actually mistook someone else for his rescuer p>
He mistook his savior?
Celeste was stunned. “Wait-how is that even possible p>
Caitlin nodded, not answering right away. Then she continued, “March, do you remember those two girls we ran into at Silverhaven Mall? The ones who dumped coffee all over you p>
“Of course I remember!” Celeste’s face darkened. She’d never forget Jeanette and her friend’s smug, nasty expressions.
“One of them was named Jeanette-she was a classmate of mine. I didn’t know the other p>
“The other one is Katrina,” Caitlin supplied.
Celeste was about to ask how Caitlin knew her name, but then Caitlin said something that left her speechless.
“Because Katrina is the one who pretended to be Xavier’s savior p>
“What p>
Celeste’s eyes widened. She wondered if she’d misheard.
“That’s not all,” Caitlin went on. “She used that to become Xavier’s girlfriend p>
Girlfriend?
Celeste was completely floored.
“She became your brother’s girlfriend? Catie, you’re not messing with me, are you?” She stared at Caitlin in disbelief.
How had Katrina pulled that off? Not only did she impersonate Xavier’s rescuer, but she also managed to become his girlfriend!
Suddenly, Celeste remembered Jeanette’s smugness at the mall, bragging, “Do you even know who Katrina’s boyfriend is p>
So that was it-Katrina had the Richards family behind her. No wonder she acted so entitled.
“That’s why I said things are
complicated. Even now, all six of my
brothers are still in the dark about it.
But Dust recorded our videocalldo you mind if I send it to Xavier p>
Some things were just too tangled to explain.
Caitlin figured it would be best for Xavier to see for himself.
Celeste replied, “I don’t mind-go ahead and send it p>
“Great, I’ll save it and send it to him. Let’s catch up again in a bit p>
“Sounds good. I need a moment to process this bombshell p>
Celeste never expected to be at the center
watch the drama she usually just
watched from the sidelines. Now she was a main character in the story..
After ending the call, Caitlin saved the video, then opened Xavier’s chat and sent
it.
The file was pretty big, so it took a while to upload.
Caitlin quickly typed out a message: [Xavier, I’ve found your real savior. Katrina is
a total fraud. Watch the video I just sent you p>
But the next second-
Caitlin stared in disbelief.
A red exclamation mark popped up next to her message.
That only happened if you’d been blocked.
Xavier had blocked her.
Feeling something was off, Caitlin immediately tried to call him, but was met with a cold robotic voice “The number you have dialedis currently unavailable p>