Shawn had played the video for me, and I listened with growing fury.
“There. Fiancé duty fulfilled. He’ll probably try calling me the second I send him that.”
“Your man is obsessed with you,” one of her friends had said.
“God, I know,” Tiffany chuckled. “It was so easy getting this ring.Can you believe I considered going after Bunsen? I figured since his ex left him, he’d be easy. But Newton was such a better choice. He’s got a big dick and an even bigger bank account. Do you know he paid for this trip? I just pouted about how much it cost, and he basically threw his card at me. I cannot wait until my name goes on that checking account—”
The bitch must have swiped on her phone or something then, but that was plenty. And she was dense enough to send the thing to Shawn without realizing the message was way more honest than she meant it to be.
With that one slipup, Shawn had proof that the woman he was planning on marrying only wanted him for his money from the start, and that Tiffany would have been just as fine with going after his best friend if she thought she could catch him.
So yeah. That gold-digging tart can go to hell. But she’s not the only leech on Shawn’s lengthy roster.
She’ll sit on the bench next to the nanny who used the credit card meant for Shawn’s care to buy expensive toys only to resell them on eBay and pocket the cash.
Beside the boy who convinced Shawn they were best friends so he would get invited on a trip to Europe, only to hook up with the girl Shawn was dating while they were all in Germany.
And they’ll all sit beside me.
Some people—like Darla—might say what I did and what Tiffany did are different. And sure, I didn’t cultivate my entire relationship with Shawn in order to get access to his money.
But I still remember the day nine-year-old me came upon an unusually quiet twelve-year-old Shawn. He was morosely pushing himself on the swing set at the playground where we regularly met up after learning of each other’s existence.
“Does Mom pay you to hang out with me?” he’d blurted, his eyes fixed on his bright white Nike sneakers.
I’d frowned down at my used-to-be-blue-but-had-kind-of-turned-gray non-branded tennis shoes. “Mom gives me a dollar every week if I clean my room and vacuum the apartment.”
That earned me a long pause.
“Doesmymom pay you?” Shawn eventually clarified.
“Oh.” I shrugged. “No. I don’t know your mom.”
Shawn had turned owlish eyes on me, which looked extra red around the edges. “Zander and Marty—they’re in my class—I thought they were my friends. But Zander told me he and Marty only play video games with me because Mom bribed them with Xboxes.”
Tears had gathered on his lower lashes.
“I’m sorry,” I had whispered. Even though I was young, I knew that my brother was sad. “I promise to always be your friend, no matter what. And even if your mom gives me fifty Xboxes, I’ll throw them all in the trash.”
His grin was a beautiful thing.
So no, I suppose I’m not the same as Tiffany. But in some ways, I think what I’ve done is worse. Because Iknowhow Shawn has been hurt before. I know that this is one of his insecurities. I’m his sister. One of the few people in his life he’s supposed to be able to rely on to be honest with him and not take advantage of him.
He’ll have every right in the world to be furious with me. To want to cut me out of his life so he’s not surrounded by duplicitous people.
“I’ll probably forgive her. Someday. But I won’t ever want to be around her again. Not after the way she used me. The way she lied to me.”
Maybe that’s the best I can hope for. That over the years, he might find a way to forgive me.
Even if he won’t ever trust me again.
“Come on.” Shawn nudges my plate closer to me, the waft of chiles from my khao soi dish pulling me out of my spiral into self-loathing.“Fuel up. You’re not going to make it through book club on an empty stomach.”
Good point. I shovel the spicy food into my mouth, letting the heat burn away thoughts of Tiffany and betrayal.
If I only have this time with Shawn, then I want to savor it.
Chapter
