Total pages in book: 119
Estimated words: 112926 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 565(@200wpm)___ 452(@250wpm)___ 376(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 112926 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 565(@200wpm)___ 452(@250wpm)___ 376(@300wpm)
“Not so fast, Garcia.” She said my name like it was a stain.
“What do you want?” I wasn’t scared, but I didn’t like how there was one of me and four of them. They crowded around me, trying to be intimidating.
Bethany smiled, though it looked every bit as fake and malicious as she was. “I just wanted to give you a little…warning.”
I laughed. “Maddox? Right, of course. Go ahead, give me your warning.”
I tried to appear unfazed, but I knew what was coming. They were here for a reason. The fact that I wasn’t cowering or begging for them to spare me angered them.
“Let’s just say, I’m trying to save you some face. Maddox will grow tired of you, soon enough, and he’ll drop you like yesterday’s trash. You’re going to be hurt because that’s what he does. He breaks girls like you for a hobby.”
I returned her fake smile with one of my own. “Oh, like he grew tired of you and threw you out like yesterday’s trash?”
The corners of her eyes twitched, and her smile slipped off her lips.
I wasn’t done yet. If she wanted to be a bitch, I was going to show her how to play the game right.
I shook her hand off me, tsking under my breath. “I remember that day. Gossip tends to travel fast.”
Last year when I was still the new girl, Maddox and Bethany slept together. The next day, she publicly claimed she was his girlfriend, but he turned her down in front of everyone by saying: You were a good lay but not good enough to earn the title of my girlfriend.
It was harsh, and things turned ugly that day.
But Bethany was rich and spoiled as well as the cheerleading captain. She was Miss Popular and gossip like that didn’t affect her. Sure, her pride was wounded, but she bounced back quickly and kept the title of queen bee.
She growled and lashed forward, backhanding me in the face. I didn’t see it coming, and it hurt. The metallic taste of blood filled my mouth when I tried to lick my aching, bruised lips. Her friend kneed me in the back of my legs, and I fell to my knees.
“You’re easily disposable, Lila. I claimed Maddox a long time ago, and all the girls of Berkshire know he’s my property. That’s the same as playing with fire.”
Maddox… her property?
Oh fuck. My stomach cramped, and I busted out laughing. This was probably the most hilarious shit I’ve heard in this decade.
They looked at me like I was a maniac. Maybe I was.
I was about to get my ass beaten, and here I was laughing at my assailants.
Bethany hissed, her face growing red. Poor little, insecure Bethany.
She pressed her thumb against my bleeding lip, and I forced myself not to flinch. She smirked and pressed harder. It hurt so much that unshed tears burnt the back of my eyes. “You’re as pathetic as I thought. Dirt poor, not beautiful enough, so easily forgotten and so easily replaceable that you had to grab onto the richest and most popular guy.”
Her voice told me everything I needed to know.
I was poor and beneath them. Maybe I wasn’t as pretty or as rich as Bethany and the rest of Berkshire, but… Bethany, she felt threatened by me.
“I don't slut shame, but I can smell a bitch from a mile away,” I said lazily. “You smell of jealousy. Very stanky. Go take a shower, sweetie.”
Bethany gave me a disdainful sneer, her face twisting, and I saw all the ugliness she hid beneath the sweet girl mask that everyone loved and bowed down to.
She was Berkshire's official Queen, a pretty face with a nasty soul and a hideous heart. Her minions still had their hands on me, holding me in place and keeping me from attacking them. They had successfully trapped me; my arms twisted painfully behind my back and their knees were pressed into my shoulder blades, keeping me close to the ground.
Bethany crossed her arms over her huge tits, smirking down at me. “How would your grandparents feel if they lost their grocery store? Their only income and source of survival? They’ve had the store for fifteen years now, right? I guess, it's time to close down.”
So, she did her research on me.
Bethany brought her face closer to me, and I saw the evil glint in her eyes. “Tsk, how sad would it be to watch them beg my daddy? I can ruin you and your little family. All I have to do is snap my fingers, and I'll watch you burn to the ground.”
Rage bubbled over. She thought I was weak. She and her minions thought I was helpless.
Bethany gripped my jaw, her long nails digging into my sensitive flesh. “Where's Maddox now? Your hero is not here to save you.”