"Do I?" She crosses her arms. "Quinn, come on. You know what happened with Orla. You know your part in it."
I ball my hands into fists, wanting to smash them into her face right now. "I know what you told everyone my part was."
She sighs like this conversation is exhausting her. "You've been playing the innocent victim so long you actually believe it."
"You isolated her." My voice comes out harder than I intended and I don't pull it back. I’ve held all of this shit in for far too long. "You spread rumors about her to everyone she knew. You made yourself the only person she had left and then you told Lorenzo that it was me." I step closer. "You described exactly what you did to that girl, and then you blamed me."
Anger flashes through her eyes and she opens her mouth to no doubt spew some shit at me but I don’t let her.
"Bullying me for years wasn't enough?" My voice is shaking now. Not from tears, but from all the abuse I’ve suffered at her hands. "Having Mam spend my entire childhood telling me I was less than, that I was boring, that I’m nothing compared to you, that wasn't enough? Lying about me so nobody would question your version of events, that wasn't enough?" I'm not stopping. I can feel that rage bubbling to the surface and I don’t try to smother it. "Getting yourself pregnant and blowing up the only real opportunity this family had to stabilize the alliance, humiliating everyone in front of the entire Syndicate, that wasn't enough? Now you have to poison my marriage before it's even started?"
Daire's eyes have gone flat. "You always wanted what was mine."
The laugh that escapes me is humorless. "I never wanted anything of yours."
"You were obsessed with me. Everything I had, you wanted. Mam's attention, da's approval. And now Lorenzo." Her voice hardens. "He was supposed to be mine. Everyone knows that. You're the replacement, Quinn. In every version of this story, you are the replacement."
"He's not marrying you," I say. "He's marrying me."
"Because I didn't want him." She tilts her chin, her stubbornness setting in. "Don't forget that."
"I went to Mam," I say, and my voice drops. "When it was happening, when you were doing it to Orla. I saw it and I went to Mam and told her what you were doing to that girl." I watch her face to see if she knew I did and there’s no fucking shock in her expression. "You know that."
That fucking smirk comes back on her lips. God, she’s so infuriating.
"And do you know what she did?" I say. "She slapped me across the face and told me I was jealous. Told me I was lying." My voice is ice cold which is crazy considering I’m burning with rage. "I was sixteen years old and I was trying to help someone and Mam hit me. Called me a liar and chose you. Like she always does."
"Don't bring Mam into this?—"
I shake my head as the laughter rumbles out of me. “Like she’s not already in this? She’s lied to protect you and threw me under the bus. She’s helped you destroy every part of me.”
"You ruined our family by being born." She says, her words like acid. "Did you know that? Mam told me you were an accident, that she and Da didn't want another child. You were one more problem to manage." Her voice is still hard and filled with venom. "I made sure everyone saw who you really are. Weak, pathetic, inconsequential. And it doesn't matter whether you were to blame for Orla, everyone thinks you were, and that's all that matters. Lorenzo knows now. Just like the rest of us have always known."
I breathe, pulling in a deep breath through my nose, trying not to cry.
I’ve always known that I wasn’t wanted, that I was nothing but a burden. But God, it fucking hurts to hear it out loud.
"For once in your miserable life," I hiss, not letting the tears fall, "stop blaming me for the consequences of your own choices."
She rears her head back as though I’ve just struck her.
"Orla is not my consequence," I say. "Whatever is broken in you, Daire, it's yours. Not mine. I'm done carrying it for you."
"What is going on?" I hear Mam’s angry voice from the end of the hall.
I don't know how long she's been there but from the expression on her face, long enough. No doubt she’s heard everything and will always side with Daire.
She looks between us and then her eyes settle on me. "Quinn," she says. "What on earth are you doing?"
"Ask Daire," I say, not bothering to check my tone with her.
"I'm asking you." She steps closer. "The wedding is weeks away. This is not the time for scenes."
"I'm not the one who caused a scene at my own engagement party," I say. "Daire went to my fiancé and told him lies about Orla. At the party, in front of the entire Syndicate."
Mam glances at Daire, and I see the anger diminish as she faces her favorite child. She turns back to me, and the anger returns once more. "Daire wouldn't say things without reason."
There it is. God, not once will she ever be impartial or even back me.
