I let her go on as I walked out onto the porch, hand on my hips, pacing. Never seeing Everett again was too soon and now I would have to see him in less than an hour? It was suchbullshit.But on top of that, what was mom doing? She went to a guy like Mr. Kingsmen for a loan? I should have known, but I was so wrapped up in whatever drama was going on in my life, I didn’t even consider it as a possibility. We never met with bankers when I was growing up. Certainly not at a restaurant. Why didn’t I think of that? Why hadn’t I been smarter?
“You’re pathetic, Olivia,”I heard Steven taunt.“You have never and will never be the smartest person in the room, that’s why people like me have to think for you. It’s exhausting. You’re exhausting.”
I closed my eyes and grabbed my temples, trying to will the voice away. He was dead. He was never coming back. Ever.
“What do you have to say about your actions?” she finally finished. “Because I would love to hear what perfect little Olivia has to say about ignoring and abandoning her dear old mother in a time such as this.”
I dropped my hand and stared out across the street. All of the houses similar enough to suck any ounce of individuality from the street without trying. Wade was probably right about every layout being nearly identical.
Why did builders do this? Why did they all have to look exactly the same? Couldn’t anyone have any ounce of individuality at all anymore?
“Olivia,” she bit.
I sucked in my lip and straightened, chewing on it. My anger had always been my worst trait, she said as much, but God, it felt so good, addicting, I would say. All my life I had been forced to swallow it, to wrap it up and shove it down and completely ignore it. With the cameramen, the paparazzi, the interviewers, my parents, Steven. Every single person in my life forced me to swallow it. All of them.
All of them except for Everett.
Fuckingdick. He made it impossible to swallow. No, henurtured it, put gas to it, taunted it like a prowling wolf would taunt a deer.
And what I learned was how tired I was of holding it in, of swallowing the words I wanted to say, of being a little stupid cookie cutter, silver-spooned,whorethat just took what she was given and never said a goddamn thing about it.
Lucy walked back out, her tail wagging, watching me carefully. No, she wouldn’t have smelled a threat in the house. She would have smelled her friend.
Her friend.
I dipped my head and grasped the bridge of my nose, my heart racing, the anger welling and crashing against my bones, willing me to just…just…scream.
“I know you’re still there; I can hear your nasally breathing. I see you never got that nose job I set up for you. Typical.”
I heard a vehicle pull up and I looked up to find a giant white box truck sitting outside my house.
Oh, this was justperfect.
I straightened, watching as Evelyn hopped out of the passenger side, Everett the driver’s side, and despite everything, my heart skipped a beat like the traitor it was.
He stormed up the sidewalk, his mask back in place, his eyes blazing as if he had a reason to be upset with me. As if he had some sort of right.
I stormed over, stopping at the top of the steps, forcing him back. I met his eyes evenly as the sound of the back of the truck opening filled the air. “You want to be movers?” I asked, my voice as cold as ice. “Then move.”
His eyes narrowed to slits.
“If you damage a single thing, I’ll ruin you,” I stated evenly.
His lips flicked up at one corner of his mouth. “You can’t order me to—”
“Look at yourself,” I interjected in disgust, taking him in. “Ialready have. Iown youtoday. My money, my orders.”
“Who are you talking to? Where did you move? You never told me a thing!”
His lips curled in a vicious snarl, but before he could get a single word out, I held up a finger and turned away from him, mainly to keep him from seeing how badly I was shaking. “Mr. Kingsmen?” I asked, walking down the porch, my voice filled with such rage, even Lucy stopped in her excited greeting with Everett to turn to me.
“Malachi Kingsmen?” I asked angrily.
“Yes? What about him? Are you moving?”
“You went to a loan shark, mom? Aloan shark? What have you done to the company?”
She was quiet a moment. “You don’t need to know that.”
