Van

Tension built around us, a growing cyclone of pride, emotion, secrets, and lies. I understood to what lengths people would go to come out on top. I knew it firsthand. I’d been the victor more than I’d been the victim.

As Julia’s hand trembled in my grasp, I asked the question again, “Who was the beneficiary?”

Gregg stood. Even if I couldn’t see the defeat in the way his shoulders slumped, I could hear it in his ...