Total pages in book: 143
Estimated words: 138844 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 694(@200wpm)___ 555(@250wpm)___ 463(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 138844 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 694(@200wpm)___ 555(@250wpm)___ 463(@300wpm)
“Do you think I give a shit?!” she yelled. “This is the damn story of my life! It always happens to me. I thought the one person—my own son… I just—oh God, I can’t. I fucking can’t. My own son,” she sobbed. I saw how each word left her mouth and hit Noa like the sharpest blade, and it made me tense up further too. “Noa, how could you do this to me? I’ve given you everything, and you betray me like this? My whole marriage—!”
“That’s enough,” I growled. “You want to blame someone for what happened to your marriage, blame yourself and KC. Noa had fuck-all to do with that disaster.” I took another step forward when she got ready to argue, and I shut her up before she could start. “Or when did he wreck your relationship, Christine? When he cleaned up your vomit after another night out? Before or after he begged you to get help for the fifth time? When you sent him out to pick up a prescription you’d fucking forged?”
Christine gasped in horror and turned to Noa. “You told KC about that—you turned him against me.”
Noa looked like he’d been slapped, and I’d fucking had it.
“Are you listening to yourself?” I snapped. “Do you hear the words leaving your goddamn mouth? You don’t send your child to commit a fucking crime! What’s wrong with you?”
“Mom, I-I was like thirteen,” Noa implored, his voice cracking. “You can’t seriously—”
“No, she can’t,” I said. “Come on, sweetheart. We’re leaving.” I grabbed his hand and started pulling him with me. This was it. He wasn’t staying another minute for this abuse. Fuck her. Fuck that wretched woman. She could’ve hurled the worst insults about KC, and I would’ve been more considerate. But to blame Noa? Jesus Christ.
Noa sniffled as I helped him with his jacket, and he angrily stuck his feet into his shoes before I put mine on too. He was about to break, and I didn’t want him here for that. We had to go.
“Noa, I don’t wanna hear from you again!” Christine cried from the kitchen.
“Okay!” Noa replied, choking up.
I gnashed my teeth and pushed open the door, and I was hit by the memory of how Noa had defended me in front of my boss mere days ago. He’d been my little tough guy then. Now…he just took whatever Christine hurled at him.
“Deep down, you know what you’ve done,” she threw out too.
“Christine—sincerely, go fuck yourself,” I spat out. “My God, you’re a horrible person.” I gently nudged Noa out the door and slammed it shut, and fuck whoever saw this. I picked him up, and he was quick to wrap his arms and legs around me.
“She thinks everything’s my fault,” he croaked.
“She’s a fucking idiot.” I kissed the side of his head and stalked back to the car. “I wish you could forget everything she said, because it was all bullshit.”
I helped him back into the car and buckled him in too. Fucking hell, I was furious. But now I had to cool down and be there for Noa. I could rant my ass off when I was alone with KC later. Or Cam.
Soon enough, I was buckled in as well, and I didn’t waste a second. I drove off and gathered Noa as close as I could.
“She’s wrong, you hear?” I said firmly. “You’ve done nothing wrong, Noa.”
He whimpered into his hands. “I knew she was gonna be mad, but to blame me for everything?”
I clenched my jaw and cursed under my breath.
When we’d made it back to the house, I could see that a short text to Cam had been enough for word to spread a little. And Cam wasn’t what I’d call a gossip. But he was waiting on the front lawn with KC, and I spotted River—wait, it could be Reese—Greer, and…Penelope? They were in the background, close to the porch. So perhaps it was unrelated. River could’ve reached out to Penelope about Ella’s visit.
I doubted KC had completed his morning workout yet.
“Give me Corey’s car key, darling. I can give it to Master Greer.”
“Yes, Sir.” Noa dug it out from his pocket.
I helped Noa out of the car, and the fact that he let me carry him again told me everything I needed to know about his mood. He’d stopped crying, but the sadness rolled off him.
On the car ride, he’d kept mumbling his disbelief. After everything he’d sacrificed—not his word, but mine—Christine hadn’t mentioned any of it. She’d just decided that her own son was the villain. Not even KC; it was all Noa.
“Master!” Cam called, running toward us.
Maybe we should’ve explained ourselves more in the text, but I’d been focused on driving, and Noa had been upset. So I’d just asked him to text Cam to say we were on our way home after Noa had come clean to Christine—and that it hadn’t gone well.