LIES WE LOVED

LIES WE LOVED 14 - 17

CHAPTER 14 — THE HOSPITAL CALL

That evening, Mia’s phone rang. Not a text — a call. From an unknown number. She answered, her heart pounding.

“Mia,” a weak voice said. “It’s Carlo.”

She froze. “Carlo? Where are you?”

“In the hospital. The doctors say… it’s not looking good. I have cancer, Mia. It’s been spreading for months. I don’t have much time left.”

Mia’s throat tightened. “Why are you telling me this?”

“Because I need to tell you the truth. All of it. Before I can’t anymore. Come to the hospital. Please. I’m alone.”

She looked at Lucas, who was watching her intently. “It’s Carlo,” she said. “He’s dying. He wants to talk.”

“Then we go. But together. And we’re careful.”

They arrived at the hospital an hour later. Carlo was in a private room, pale and thin, hooked up to monitors. He looked smaller than Mia remembered — frail, broken, and terrified.

“I’m glad you came,” he whispered. “I’ve been waiting a long time to say this. And I’m sorry, Mia. For everything.”

CHAPTER 15 — CONFESSION

Carlo took a shallow breath, his eyes glistening with tears.

“I wasn’t just there that night. I was driving. Your father paid me — five million pesos. Said if I took the blame, said I was the one behind the wheel, he’d take care of me for life. I was young. Stupid. I needed the money. So I did it.”

Mia’s knees buckled. “I wasn’t driving?”

“No. You were in the passenger seat. Passed out — drunk, your father said. I was behind the wheel. We were arguing. Adrian was following us. I was speeding. I lost control.”

“And the brakes?” Lucas asked, his voice sharp. “Were they cut?”

Carlo went pale. “How did you —?”

“Tell me,” Lucas demanded.

“I didn’t do it,” Carlo said quickly. “But I saw someone. Before we got in the car — someone walked up to the front wheel. Adrian saw them too. He yelled — ‘What are you doing?’ But the person ran. I didn’t think anything of it. Not until we crashed.”

“Who was it?” Mia asked.

Carlo looked at her, fear in his eyes. “I don’t know. But Adrian did. And that’s why he died. Not because of the crash. Because he saw who did it.”

CHAPTER 16 — THE TRUTH HURTS

Mia walked out of the hospital in a daze. Twelve years. Twelve years of guilt, nightmares, self-hatred — and none of it was hers to carry.

Lucas wrapped an arm around her shoulders as she leaned against the wall, tears spilling over. “It wasn’t your fault, Mia. None of it.”

“But he let me believe it,” she wept. “My own father. He let me think I killed someone. For twelve years. He made me hate myself.”

“He made a choice. And it was wrong. But you — you didn’t choose this. You were a victim, same as Adrian.”

She looked up at him, seeing the pain in his eyes — the grief he’d carried, the hope that the truth would matter. “We’re not done, are we?”

“Not even close. We know Carlo was driving. We know someone tampered with the brakes. We know your father paid for silence. But we still don’t know who killed Adrian. And until we do — we’re not safe.”

CHAPTER 17 — FATHER VS. DAUGHTER

Two days later, Mia went to her father’s office. Alone. Lucas waited in the car — just in case.

Her father looked up from his desk, his expression cold. “I heard you’ve been asking questions. Talking to people you shouldn’t be.”

“Was I driving that night?” Mia asked, her voice steady. “Tell me the truth.”

He hesitated — just for a second. “It doesn’t matter. What matters is that we moved on.”

“It matters to me! It matters to Adrian! Was I driving?”

“No,” he said, the word heavy in the silence. “Carlo was. You were in the passenger seat. You’d been drinking. I told him to take the wheel. I thought — I thought it would be safer.”

“You made him take the blame. You made me believe it was my fault.”

“I protected you! If the truth came out, you’d be ruined. Your reputation — your career — everything I built for you — gone.”

“I don’t want your version of safe,” Mia said, her voice trembling with rage. “I want the truth. Who was the man who spoke to Adrian before he died? Who cut the brakes?”

Her father’s face went pale. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Tell me!”

“I can’t, Mia. Some things — some people — are too dangerous to cross. Stop this. Please. For your own good.”

“I’m not stopping. Not until I know everything. And if you won’t tell me — I’ll find out myself.”

She turned and walked out, leaving him staring at the empty doorway. The war between them had just begun.

---to be continue---