I forcedhimaway.
I hate Jamie.
I always have.
And that’s all there is to it.
****
It’s been three weeks since the wedding.
Three weeks sincethatmoment.
Three weeks since I punched a mirror, bled everywhere, and convinced myself that whatever the hell happened between me and Jamie was a glitch I’d never let repeat.
And now?
Now he lives here.
Inmyhouse.
Inmyspace.
Down the fucking hall.
Every morning I hear him – soft footsteps, humming while he makes coffee, the scrape of his pencil on sketch paper, thesound of him laughing with my father like he belongs here.
Like he’s my father’s other son.
But he’s not. And he’ll never be.
It grates on me.
Every. Single. Day.
I hate him.
I’ve always hated him.
But now that hatred is a living thing – breathing, crawling, whispering in the back of my skull every time I catch sight of him in the mansion’s hallways.
He shouldn’t be here.
Especially not at Kingsley University –myuniversity.
Kingsley was supposed to be my escape, my territory, the one part of my life untouched by family, expectations, or the shadows that cling to our house.
But now?
Jamie strolls across campus like he’s the most famous person here.
Like he’s not the reason I’ve been grinding my teeth to dust.
Like he’s not the reason I wake up sweating some nights, pissed off without knowing why.
Like he’s not the boy I once chased through the woods wearing a mask, who looked at me like I was the monster parents warn their kids about.
I hate that memory.
