Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 70445 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 352(@200wpm)___ 282(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70445 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 352(@200wpm)___ 282(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
“War isn’t my boyfriend.”
“Do you think I give a shit what he is to you?” Her eyes narrow in anger. “All I want is for you to drive on home, Melody. Leave us alone.”
I take a deep breath and let it out. “In a few days, I’ll be gone,” I say quietly. “I’m staying until the end of the week. I’ll visit with Dad and say my goodbyes. I’ll ride the ranch and spend some time with Renee. Heck, even you and I could try to get along, if you wanted. But I’m not leaving until I’m ready.”
Or until War earns the paycheck I desperately need.
Daisy’s smile is an ugly smear across her face and I can already tell where this is going. I’ve seen that look on her face—it’s the smirk she’s always given me before sinking her claws in my face. “You always were a liar, weren’t you, Melody? You never could tell the truth, and it looks like nothing’s changed. Like what happened to my sister. Are you still telling that tall tale about how you tried to help her? Or are you starting to admit that you’re the one who stood by while she choked to death, you sick bitch?”
I move toward her, hands tensed into fists, a sudden and violent ringing in my ears. “You don’t know a damn thing,” I say but something’s going off in my head, some alarm, screaming at me.
Daisy’s grinning now and not backing down. “Did you tell your guy the same bullshit story you told everyone else after Rosie died? That slanderous disgusting shit? Did you tell him your pathetic little story, your little woe-is-me garbage? Your little pity fest?”
“Fuck you, Daisy,” I say, and I’m trembling now with rage.
“Yeah, that’s what I thought. I bet you can’t tell that lie anymore, can you? Because it was never about Rosie bullying you or being a bitch, and trust me, she could be fucking cruel to me too. Nah, it was always about little Melody getting all the attention for herself, the big boss’s daughter, the most important girl in the whole Leader family. You couldn’t handle that a dead girl was getting the spotlight for a little while, so you told your sob story, you made up your little lie, and you slandered my dead sister’s memory all for your own pathetic attention-seeking.”
I’m breathing hard, face flushed, dizzy as the memory comes back to me, that horrible night two days after Rosie died: crying so hard I threw up and Renee finding me on the floor of the barn and asking what was wrong, and how I admitted it to her. I told her everything, the whole ugly story about why I hated Rosie and what she did to me when we were younger, I let it rush out of me in a stupid, horrible flood, and once I was done, I felt better but everything got so much worse, because Renee couldn’t let it go. She couldn’t keep her mouth shut.
“I never wanted you to find out about that,” I say so softly I’m almost whispering, but Daisy only shakes her head. “I never wanted anyone to find out.”
“Bullshit. Another lie. How many more lies you got, Melody? God, just go back home and leave us alone. You’re not wanted here.”
“I’m not lying,” I say and feel like I might fall over. “I was never lying. I’m not—” But I am lying, or I was lying, or maybe I’m lying now. I can’t tell where the real me starts and the stories end because for so long now I’ve wrapped myself in layers to keep all this pain at bay.
Now Daisy’s ripping it back into the light.
But my protest only makes Daisy’s lip pull back in rage. “Don’t start denying it now, you disgusting, fucking piece of trash,” she snaps. “You sick piece of garbage, I swear to god, Melody, I’ll fucking kill you, don’t you start denying it now!”
“You don’t know what happened,” I choke out. “You weren’t there. You knew what your sister was like, do you still think Rosie was innocent after all these years? Do you really think Rosie wouldn’t have—”
Daisy comes at me, screaming. I’m so surprised that I don’t even defend myself. Her hands slam into my face, slapping me hard. I stagger back and she’s still on me, slapping, punching, screaming at me, telling me she hates me, she’ll kill me, she’ll rip out my eyes and make me eat them if I don’t leave. I snap out of my shock as fear and rage take over, and I manage to hit her back, screaming right in her face at the top of my lungs. I grab her hair and pull and she grabs on mine and we hit the ground in a heap, pulling and scratching and trying to hurt each other, an ugly mess of limbs and screaming and hate, and I don’t know if I’m trying to beat Daisy or the memory of Rosie and I don’t care. Being back home and facing all my demons has driven me to the edge already and I’m tumbling, plummeting back down into that dark place.