Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 84075 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84075 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
“She’ll be fine, and besides, I don’t plan on letting you wait very long. This man I have in mind will be very amenable to a quick turnaround. I’m thinking a few weeks at most? Then you’ll be married and we can put all this unpleasantness with the Arc family behind us. Does that work?”
I nod and keep my back as straight as I can but all I want to do is slump forward and curl into a ball and cry. “That works.”
“Two weeks then and you’ll be a married woman. Oh, don’t look so glum about it, Katherine. This is going to be good for you, I promise. You’ll have purpose now.”
“Purpose, right. Thank you, Grandfather.”
“Next time you speak to your mother, tell her to call me. I’ll pick up.”
I nod and slowly stand. That’s a little candle of hope in the otherwise windy darkness of my soul. “Thank you.”
“Now go back to your room and get settled. I’ll call you down for dinner later and we’ll discuss our plans further. For now, I have to get in touch with a few people.”
I turn and leave his office, feeling empty.
Back here again. Back in the Stockton house. Back in this place, letting Grandfather boss me around, feeling like a stranger among my own family. I’m going to get sold off to a total stranger in two weeks and I’ll do it to make sure my mother doesn’t end up dead in a ditch. I’m back to this again, back to where I started, and I hate myself so much I could vomit.
My poor future husband doesn’t know that he’s getting a lemon.
“Oh, there you are, Kit-Kat.” My blood runs deadly cold and I look up. Sara Lynn’s waiting for me down the hall, grinning mercilessly, standing between me and the stairs heading up to my room. “I heard you came home with your tail between your legs.”
“I’m not in the mood, Sara Lynn,” I say, put my head down, and try to keep going.
But she stands in my way and forces me to stop. “Like I was in the mood at La Mode? You remember that, don’t you? You remember what Ford said to me? Do you have any idea how distressing I found that entire encounter? And all the questions I’ve had to endure since you shacked up with that psychopath. Really, Kit-Kat, if you wanted to rebel against the family, you could’ve done it when you were younger, but now it’s only sad and pathetic.”
Anger suddenly sparks in my chest. I look up at her and clench my jaw tightly. “I told you, I’m not in the mood for this.”
“Oooh, look at you.” She laughs lightly. “Come on, Kit-Kit, don’t look at me like that, like you’re all mad. I’m not the one that got together with Ford Arc, that was your big, stupid mistake, isn’t that right? And anyway, it’s okay now, he figured out what you really are and dumped you and now you’re home. Grandfather will find a use for you after all. Things work out, don’t they?”
“He didn’t dump me,” I say quietly, staring at her, seething, my heart racing. “I left him.”
“Did you? Doesn’t matter. He would’ve seen you for what you are eventually.” She jabs a finger into my chest. “Fat.” Jab. “Stupid.” Jab. “Lazy.” Jab. “Worthless.” Jab—
I snatch her finger and grab it tight. Her eyes widen as I squeeze. “Leave me alone.”
“Don’t you touch me with your filthy hands. My god, have you washed them since you were last with Ford? Ugh, you are truly disgusting, Kit-Kit. You are truly inconsequential, pointless, unimportant, useless—”
I release her finger, cock my arm back, and slam my fist into her face.
She yelps like a hurt dog. Blood spurts from her pretty straight nose and her hands fly up as she staggers backwards and falls down on her ass. I’m freaking out, heart racing, head a dizzy mess, and I stand over her breathing hard and staring at her blood and at her surprised and pained face and the tears in her eyes, and I want to kill her. I want to kick her, again and again, until she’s dead. Instead, I lean down and look her in the face.
“I told you I wasn’t in the mood,” I say through my teeth.
“You bitch,” she hisses. “You broke my nose, oh my god! You hit me!”
“Sara Lynn, listen to me right now. If you ever talk to me like that again, I swear on my life, I will do more than break your nose next time. I will beat you until you’re a bloody little pulp.”
“Is this what Ford taught you? My good, he’s a brute, you’re a brute, you just as bad as him!”
I cock my fist back and she flinches away, yelping and groaning and covering her head with her arms.