They made a beautiful family.
A family I wasn't a part of.
The thought was pierced by the shrill ring of my cell phone. I fished it from my pocket and felt my stomach clench at the sight of my mother’s name.
Speaking of not being part of a family...
I let out a heavy sigh before answering. “Hi, Mom. How are you?”
But the voice that answered was not hers.
“Your mother is fine, Evy.” The sound was a cold blade, twisting in my ear. “Don’t you want to know howIam?”
It was Peter.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
EVELYN
A terrible shiver shot down my spine. I hated that his voice could still provoke such a visceral, fearful reaction in me.
"Why do you have my mother's phone?" I demanded.
"I took her out for coffee. She's in the bathroom. I simply asked to borrow her phone to call you, since you keep blocking all my numbers."
"When you block someone, it's a clear sign you don't want to talk to them," I countered.
I wanted to hang up, but the fact that he was with my mother froze me. Peter had never been physically violent, but I didn't doubt he would harm me or my family to get what he wanted. Because of that fear, I kept the line open, but I kept my voice firm.
"Just tell me what you want."
"Oh, darling... Aren't you going to say you missed me?"
"Believe me, not for a single second."
"I miss you every day."
"Haven't you found another sucker to give you credit cards to steal from?"
"I didn't steal from you, Evy. We were a couple. What's mine was yours, and what's yours was mine."
"We arenota couple anymore. I've moved on. You should do the same. And stop cozying up to my mother. You won't get to me through her."
"Yeah, I hear you've moved on. And in style, right? You landed a millionaire and even got two daughters. Who would've thought? You, of all people, who never wanted kids."
"Maybe I just didn't want to haveyourchildren."
"But there's just one problem, sweetie... We both know those girls aren't really yours, don't we?"
I hated the direction this was taking. "Stop playing games. What do you want?"
"You know I have friends in journalism. The press swallowed that story about you being the mother of Logan Turner's twins whole. But if someone with therealstory came forward... any reporter would be thrilled to publish that bombshell, don't you think?"
"Why would you do that? What do you gain?"
"The pleasure of revenge, perhaps."
"You bankrupted me, you betrayed me countless times...I'mthe one who should want revenge. Instead, I'm just trying to live my life."
