Which will only happen over my dead body.
“Why are you gawking?” she asks.
Taking a bold step forward, I snap, “You want to hand my fucking business over to Elliot’s runaway bride?”
“Of course not, but with your condition,” her eyes descend to my stomach, “I assumed that you’d appreciate some help, and who better than Bianca?”
My stomach sinks, and a coil of dread wraps me in its embrace. I should have expected Carmen wouldn’t be able tokeep her obnoxious mouth shut, but I had other things on my mind.
After a long moment, I manage to get out, “My condition?”
“We have a lot to look forward to, which is why this family meeting is so important. We need to look over work distribution, shares of the company, and inheritance allocations, so that?—”
Oh, hell no!
“So that’s what this is.” I take another aggressive step forward, hands clenched. “You thought you smelt weakness, and you’re out for blood.”
“Samantha, I’m here to?—”
“You just couldn’t wait for me to fuck up, so you could swoop in and tell my father how irresponsible I am.”
“Not at all! You’ve done great work. I would never take anything away from you.”
“Like you’d never take my father from my mother? You were her best friend. The maid of honor at her wedding. You were supposed to be like sisters!”
“Sam—”
“Don’t you fucking Sam me! My mother trusted you, and look where that got her. You couldn’t even wait for her to move out before getting knocked up. I guess you had to secure your win.”
She looks off to the side and releases a terse breath. “I was hoping we could move beyond that.”
“Move beyond you taking what wasn’t yours? Beyond you ruining my life?”
“I’m sorry you had to live through that, Samantha, but it’s time we set our sights on the future instead of living in the past.”
“How convenient for you.”
“Samantha—”
I pivot and charge back to my room, refusing to reply as she calls my name from her treacherous mouth.
You have to understand. I never wanted this…
Of course, she didn’t. What woman would want her husband messing around with her best friend?
I can’t be meek. My father loathes cowardice.
Luckily, being in PR, I know an opportunity when I see one. Bianca flying the coop could easily turn into a scandal, especially if she spills the beans on the reason for her broken engagement.
One train wreck is bad enough. A second, we may not recover from.
But threats so often ring empty. I have to show my father that I mean business.
I need to leave, but I can’t go to a hotel because all of my credit cards are attached to my business, which my father has access to, allowing him to track me.
With so few friends, or rather, no friends, my choices are limited.
My phone buzzes, and a message populates from Toxic.
