Total pages in book: 44
Estimated words: 39740 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 199(@200wpm)___ 159(@250wpm)___ 132(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 39740 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 199(@200wpm)___ 159(@250wpm)___ 132(@300wpm)
I was more annoyed by her behavior than the actual cheating and just wanted to be left alone, which is what I told her a week after everything went down. She threatened self-harm, to which I told her I’d call the cops for a wellness check if she made that threat again.
She got her friends to call me before I blocked them all, including her. And then, her Dad showed up at the house and went into my Dad’s study to speak to him in private.
They were in there for a while, but what did I care? I was sure it was just some business meeting or something that had nothing to do with me. I had no idea of the shitstorm that was about to be unleashed on my head.
When he left, Mom went to talk to Dad, and then they, too, were in there for a while before they called me into the office. They sounded kind of panicked, but that didn’t register until later.
“Yeah, Dad?”
“Mr. Sinclair was just here, as you saw. He wanted to know what it would take for you to forgive his daughter and go back to the way things were.”
“I don’t understand why this is such a big deal. We broke up; people do it every day. It’s not like we were married or anything.”
I really was starting to lose my cool with the whole situation and told them as much before leaving the room, still thinking that the situation was not that serious.
I didn’t hate Lacey; she was still one of my best friends, and as far as I was concerned, this was what was best for everyone seeing as how I didn’t even care about seeing my supposed girlfriend going down on some other guy before riding his dick.
I fought them for the next month or so until they completely blindsided me one day. I came home from swimming practice, tired and wanting nothing but my bed and about eight hours of sleep before I felt human again.
I walked through the door and saw that my parents had packed my room up. All of my clothes had been thrown into suitcases, and my books and trophies were in boxes.
“What’s going on? Are we moving?”
“No, we’re not moving, but since you can’t do what’s best for this family, we don’t think you should benefit from our hard work.”
“What’re you talking about, Dad?”
“I’m talking about my job, my livelihood. The thing that helps me put food on the table and a roof over your head.”
I looked at my mother, but she had her usual blank expression on her face. “Mr. Sinclair has offered me a promotion with a hefty pay raise, life-changing money that could change all our lives. You can go to the best financial university in the country, the world, even, and all you have to do is get back together with Lacey.”
“If you still persist in saying no, then you can say goodbye to all this.” I stood there in shock and disbelief for as long as it took his words to make sense to my ears. I felt as if I’d fallen down the rabbit hole.
"You can’t be serious. You’re selling me? Your son? She cheated on me; doesn’t that mean anything to you?”
“Look, she said she was sorry. Why do you always have to make things more complicated than they are? You’re both young; these things happen. And besides, Lacey says someone spiked her drink at that party, and she has no idea what was going on.”
“Is that true?”
“Yes, of course.”
“So that means she was assaulted. Did her parents call the police?” I already knew that was a load of crap because everyone who knew about the encounter swore that it was a planned date and that it was not the first time. Apparently, my so-called girlfriend gets around.
That night, I walked away from my parents, both disgusted and disappointed. But the longer I laid in my bed stewing, the angrier I became. But I had to think with my head and not my emotions. It was the first time that I was going to use that choice and it has stood me well throughout my life.
By the morning, I had part of a plan formed in my mind. I did a good job hiding my anger from my parents and played along with their new tale of the spiked drink. I did a good job of convincing them that I felt bad now that I knew the truth.
Of course, I would keep seeing her if it meant Dad would get that promotion and raise. Inside, I was seething as I felt forced to say these words. I’m no fool; at seventeen, I had a good deal of money from my stocks, but it was all under my Dad’s control.