Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 82255 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 411(@200wpm)___ 329(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82255 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 411(@200wpm)___ 329(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
This nuclear love affair doesn’t get any easier with time. As my feelings deepen, so do my fears. I was so cocky in the beginning, priding myself on my resilience. I swore that I would do whatever it took to prove my loyalty to him, but Sebastian has taken that point literally. He still pushes me away every chance he gets, and I’m still here, battered and hanging onto my sanity by a thread. Because even when he’s cruel, he’s still mine. Or at least, that’s what I want to believe.
Sebastian is always quick to remind me this isn’t a relationship. He tells me once I graduate, our time will come to an end. Yet even as he makes those threats, he’s contradicting himself with demands to know where I am and if I’m safe at all times. It’s the dying flicker of hope I cling to. As long as he’s worried about me, he isn’t abandoning me.
While I’m certain Freud could have a field day with our relationship, I’m too emotionally taxed to consider the dysfunctionality. After all, my parents didn’t set the best example, and I haven’t a clue what’s actually good for me.
After weeks of searching for my father, I’ve all but given up hope. I haven’t heard a peep from Lila, and I don’t expect to, so when she shows up at my dorm on a Friday evening, I get the shock of my life.
“What are you doing here?” I stare at the woman I almost don’t recognize. She’s gained some weight, and the circles under her eyes are too dark to hide even with the best concealer.
“We need to talk.” She barges in. “Let me take you out to dinner.”
“Mom, it’s nine o’ clock.” I stare at her like she’s from another planet. “I ate three hours ago.”
“Fine.” She glances around the space as if it’s beneath her, but it will have to do. “Then we’ll talk here.”
After shutting my door and taking a seat at my desk, she examines me from head to toe, her nose turning up in disapproval over my red tartan skirt and fishnets.
“I told you to throw out those tights,” she says. “They make you look like a common whore.”
“Thanks, Mom.” I roll my eyes. “Missed you too. So nice to see you. How have I been? Oh, just great, thanks for asking.”
“Stella.” Her eyes cut into me. “Are you having an affair with your teacher?”
“What?” My face blanches, and I have the sudden urge to vomit. “Why the hell would you ask me that?”
“Because he came to my apartment looking for you.”
“He did?”
My mind drifts back to the night Sebastian followed me into the city. It’s the only time he would have gone looking for me there, and oddly enough, he failed to mention that he spoke with my mother.
“Yes, Stella, he did,” she replies sourly. “And I’ve been doing some investigating on this man.”
“Why?” A flush crawls over my throat, and I’m terrified that she can see the lies all over my face.
“If he’s been carrying on an affair with you, you need to tell me right now.”
“He isn’t,” I deny. “Stop saying affair like that. Why don’t you focus on your own life with Luis instead of coming here to sling accusations at me?”
“Did you know that your teacher is the majority shareholder for Carter Holdings?” She arches an eyebrow as if this is the most important news in the world.
“So?” I swallow. “What does that have to do with anything?”
“He’s wealthy and powerful,” she answers. “And you know how those men are. If they think they can get away with something, they will. So if he’s done something with you, sweetie, you need to tell me so we can make it right.”
Suddenly, the pieces start to fall together. And when I look at my mother, plotting how she can singlehandedly destroy Sebastian’s career while she steals his money, I’ve never been more disgusted with her in my life. I always knew that she never truly cared about me. I was just someone to dress up and use as one of the stage actors in her life. But to come here and drag me into this scheme of hers under the guise of caring about me is a whole new level of sick.
I walk to the door and open it for her. “I want you to leave.”
“What?” She blinks at me.
“You heard me. It’s time to go. And please don’t ever show your face here again. You and I are done.”
“Who do you think you are speaking to me that way?” she demands.
“Well, I’m certainly not your daughter,” I answer bitterly. “Because it’s obvious the only trait we share is DNA.”
“I don’t need you,” she threatens as she heads for the door. “There are other ways to find out, you know.”