Do Not Fall For The Baseball Captains (Victoria and Elijah) novel Chapter 178

So You Knew

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79

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Victoria’s POV

“Tori…” he called softly.

My whole body had gone completely numb.

Out of his entire frantic rant, one single sentence echoed repeatedly in my brain, cutting through the noise like a sharp blade.

‘Why did you love me more than you were supposed to?‘

My heart began beating at a terrifying, rapid pace. I stared at him, my mouth slightly open, my eyes searching his face as a horrifying suspicion began to form in my mind.

“What did you just say?” I asked, my voice dropping so low it was almost lost to the wind.

Caleb blinked, looking up at me, his eyes going wide as if he had suddenly realized what had slipped out of his mouth.

I took a step back, my voice trembling as the truth settled into my bones. “You knew.”

Silence fell over the beach.

“Caleb… you knew,” I stated again, tears instantly welling up in my eyes.

All those years… All those painful, agonising nights in middle school, throughout high school, my entire freshman year, sophomore year, third year… right up until my fourth year before I found Elijah.

All those years where I cried myself to sleep wondering why I wasn’t enough for him, why he couldn’t see me… he had known the entire time.

He knew I was madly, deeply in love with him, and he had acted completely oblivious the entire time just so he could keep me hanging on his hook because it was comfortable for him.

Tears pooled in my eyes, blurring the sight of his face.

“Why did you do it?” I sobbed out, my voice breaking completely as tears spilled down my cheeks.

“Why did you hurt me like that, Caleb?”

Caleb’s lips trembled. I could see the brokenness and the intense regret pooling in his eyes, his own tears threatening to fall, but it didn’t touch me. It didn’t move me the way it used to.

He took a tentative step forward, reaching a hand out toward me. “Tori, please—”

“Don’t you dare come near me!” I screamed, lifting my hand up to block him.

Tears streamed down my face in hot, heavy rivers.

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11:32 Tue, Aug 25

Do Not Fail For The Baseball Captains

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“I did everything for you! I spent years waiting for you to notice me! You watched me lose my self–respect, you watched me break my own heart over you, and you used me!”

“Tori, that’s not what happened!” Caleb started rambling, his hands shaking as he tried to scramble for words.

“I didn’t mean to—it wasn’t like that! I just… I cared about you so much, and I didn’t want to lose our friendship! I thought if we stayed best friends, it was safer for both of us-”

“Safe for who?” I let out a loud, disbelieving scoff, shaking my head as fresh tears blurred my vision.

“What are you even trying to explain right now, Caleb? There is no explanation for what you did! It was just convenient for you! It was convenient to have a girl who adored you, who took care of you, while you gave nothing back!”

“No! Look at it logically, Tori,” Caleb pleaded, stepping closer as he tried to spin his actions, trying to make his selfish choices sound innocent and protective.

“I was trying to keep us intact! If we dated back then, we would have broken up, and then where would we be? I was trying to protect what we had!”

Hearing him try to gaslight me–trying to twist his cruel, comfortable manipulation into some kind of noble sacrifice–sent a surge of pure, unfiltered rage straight through my veins.

Before I even realized what I was doing, my hand flew out.

SNAP.

The sharp crack of my palm striking his cheek rang out loudly across the empty shore.

Caleb’s head jerked to the side. He stumbled back a step, holding his hand against his burning, reddened cheek, his green eyes wide with total shock.

“You are a narcissist,” I choked out, my whole body shaking uncontrollably with rage and heartache.

“You are the most selfish person I have ever met in my entire life! I curse myself for being so stupid, for wasting years of my life not seeing who you really were!”

“Tori, please-”

“Don’t touch me!” I screamed, slapping his hand away as he reached out again. “I can’t even look at you!”

I shoved past his shoulder, hitting him hard enough to make him stumble, and broke into a full sprint back toward the cabin.

“Tori! Tori, I’m sorry! Please, wait!” Caleb yelled behind me, his footsteps crunching loudly on the pebbles as he tried to chase after me.

I didn’t stop. I ran across the damp grass, tears streaming blindly down my face, my chest heaving so hard I felt like my lungs were collapsing.

I couldn’t get enough air into my body. The pain of realizing my entire past had been a lie made my head

2/3

11:32 Tue, Aug 25

Do Not Fall For The Baseball Captains

spin, making the ground feel unsteady beneath my feet.

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