Total pages in book: 139
Estimated words: 127146 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 636(@200wpm)___ 509(@250wpm)___ 424(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 127146 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 636(@200wpm)___ 509(@250wpm)___ 424(@300wpm)
I slowly push off the floor, using the stationary door for support to gain my footing. A wave of dizziness hits me, and I take a slow breath into my lungs, steadying myself. When I meet Drew’s gaze, I swear I see concern, but when I blink, it’s gone. All that’s left is his stupid smug smile.
"You're a disgusting, self-righteous prick, and I can’t believe I ever thought there was a single ounce of good inside you." I want to hurt him. To stomp on his heart the way he’s stomped on mine, but I don’t know that I can. Not when I’m not even sure there’s a heart inside him.
He doesn’t appear affected by my lashing of words. "The apple doesn't fall far from the tree. Isn't that what they say?"
I look back and forth between him and his father. "I guess not. Not surprising, really. You’re just like him. I thought I had witnessed the real monster that night in the woods, but it turns out he never really showed me his face. Not until today.”
He takes a step toward me, and I shield my face with my hands, afraid he might hit me, but he doesn’t. Instead, he grabs me by the wrists, my skin burning where he touches me, and using the weight of my own body, he shoves me backward. He pushes me hard enough to dislodge the swinging door behind me. The doors fly open with the weight of my body while I spill out onto the floor ass first.
Pain registers in my mind as my tailbone throbs from the fall, but instead of sitting there like a damn statue, I scramble off the floor and onto my trembling legs.
“I hate you! I hate you, and I hope that when you realize how much you’ve messed up, you experience the same pain I am right now. I hope you see that I was the only one to give a shit about you.”
"I don’t need you to give a shit about me, Maybel. I’ll find another tight cunt to keep my cock warm. That’s all you ever were to me anyway, a nice warm hole to fuck.”
Those are the final nails in my coffin. There is no point in me continuing this conversation or trying to understand. I’m only prolonging the inevitable. I turn to leave, my eyes full of tears, making my vision blurry. My first reaction is to run, but I don’t. I won't let him run me out of here. I thought...I don't know. I don’t know what I thought. Whatever we shared or whatever semblance of what we shared has been shattered and blown into a million pieces. It doesn’t matter. I lived without him before, and I'll do it again. Fuck him and this whole fucking world.
When I make it to the door on the other side, I pause. Anger threatens to swallow me whole. He doesn't get to throw me out like trash when he's the one with the secret and the shitty family. This is not on me. It's on him. I turn and stare down the long hallway, watching as a woman comes through the back of the kitchen. She's in a server's uniform like me, and I think maybe she’s going to tell them someone called the police or to break up the argument, but she walks straight into Drew's father’s arms.
My gaze travels back to Drew. He's clenching his fists as his father leans in and kisses the woman passionately. It's at that moment when he sinks his fingers into her hair, and she lets out a terrible giggle that I recognize who she is. Jackie. The ground beneath my feet shifts. I can’t be seeing this correctly. The world spins, and I feel bile rising up my throat. No. She wouldn't do this to me. Jack is my friend, my best friend, she'd never. The betrayal cuts through me like a dull knife cutting through meat. How could she?
What the hell is going on? You know what? It doesn’t matter. None of this matters. Not Drew, not this fucking family, or the money. Tears fall hot and heavy, making tracks down my cheeks, but I don’t feel them. I continue forward, but the door on the other side swings open the second I reach it, and I almost walk into...someone.
"I'm so..." I sniffle and duck my head, trying to hide my red face and tear-filled eyes. "Sorry."
Gently, as if I’m made of glass, the person grabs me by the shoulders. I lift my head and stare into a pair of eyes that have never shown an ounce of concern or care for me. Sebastian. This day keeps getting more and more fucked up.
"Come, Bel. Let me take care of this.” Why is he looking at me like that, and what is he talking about? What is there to take care of?