Silas steps closer to me. “Back up, Abi.”
She ignores him. “Chad, baby, she’s lying. She’s jealous. She hates me. She’s always been a bit dramatic, you said so yourself.”
Dad’s eyes narrow. “They’re saying you locked Minxy up at that school.”
Abi shrugs. “She needed structure.”
“They have proof that she was being drugged, and that you had her communication privileges revoked. She could have come home multiple times, and … And you refused.”
“I fixed what needed fixing.”
Silas moves between us. “You’re done.”
Abi’s eyes flick to him, and her expression cracks. “Oh look. The creepy brother-in-law. Still chasing college pussy? Tell me Silas, do you prefer ruining families now too or just your own reputation?”
Chad stiffens. “Abi–”
She barrels on. “At least your brother had the decency to off himself instead of downgrading like you have. Dominic couldn’t handle one measly affair, so he shot himself like a coward.”
Silas goes rigid, his rage almost tangible, sea-glass eyes turning flat and cold.
“We know that’s not what happened.”
“Oh please,” she spits. “You people love your delusions.”
Silas steps forward. “Mention my brother again and see what happens.”
Abi laughs. “You’re pathetic. Just like he was.”
Dad’s face drains of color. “Abi, stop.”
She turns to him, tears miraculously springing to her eyes. “Chad, I'm trying to protect you. They’re poisoning you. She’s worried she’s losing her daddy and all her rich-girl money.”
“So you can have it and pay Jensen Rowe five more years of hush money?” I ask.
Abi freezes, and her pupils shrink as her hand slips inside her purse.
Silas reacts first. “Penelope, get behind me.”
He steps in front of me, solid as a wall.
Abi pulls out a gun.
Everything stops.
Dad stumbles back. “Abi! What are you doing?”
“What I should have done years ago,” she hisses. “All you do is ruin things. All of you. You ruin everything you touch.”
Silas’s voice drops. “Put the gun down.”
“You don’t tell me what to do.”
Her hand trembles. Tears streak down her cheeks in thin, frantic lines.
“She turned you against me,” Abi sobs at my dad. “Just like Dominic. Just like Randy. Just like Todd. I fix everything, and nobody appreciates it!”
Chad looks horrified. “What did you do to Dominic?”
