Chapter 16
Ophelia
“The Way I Am-Eminem”
I wake up feeling like I swallowed broken glass and bad decisions.
My head pounds like crazy while sunlight slices through the warehouse windows like punishment straight from God himself.
For a few blissful seconds, I don’t remember why my chest hurts too. Then it all crashes back at once.
Hayden.
Rosie.
The warehouse wall.
That random guy’s hands on me.
The look on Hayden’s face when he heard me moan.
Oh God.
I squeeze my eyes shut hard enough to hurt.
What the hell did I do?
The memories come in flashes.
Drunk and ugly.
I remember kissing that guy because I was angry. Because Hayden walked into the warehouse with another girl hanging off him like she belonged there. Like I didn’t, and instead of acting like a sane person, I tried to hurt him back.
My stomach twists.
Because I know Hayden. I know exactly what he saw when he looked at me last night.
Not a girl spiraling. Not heartbreak. Not grief.
Betrayal.
A broken sound leaves my throat while I bury my face into the couch cushion.
I hate this. I hate him. I hate Rosie. I hate that he still has the power to completely ruin me with one stupid smile.
But mostly, I hate that I still love him anyway.
“Morning, psycho,” Bianca says, tossing a water bottle at my head from the kitchenette upstairs. I barely catch it.
“I’m dead,” I mumble.
“You’re dramatic.” She laughs as I crack the bottle open and chug half of it instantly.
“No. I’m literally decomposing.”
Bianca snorts before climbing down the stairs with two greasy breakfast sandwiches.
“Eat before you throw up,” she tells me, and I groan, but take the sandwich anyway.
Silence stretches between us for a minute before she finally says something.
“So…”
“No.”
“You don’t even know what I was going to say.”
“Yes, I do.” I glare at her. “And no.”
“You really hooked up with that guy to make Hayden jealous?” she asks with a raised brow.
Heat floods my face immediately.
“Please just let me die,” I say, and she laughs.
“You did. Did you fuck him?” she asks, and I shove the sandwich in my mouth not wanting to admit out loud what I fucking did. “Oh shit! Was it any good?”
“B… No! Absolutely not. Sex with anyone else but him is really a waste of time. They don’t know my body and mind like he does. I don’t even think he made me cum,” I say, and she laughs loudly.
“Well damn, but for what it’s worth, Hayden looked homicidal.”
That shouldn’t make my heart flutter but it does.
“He brought another girl,” I say, and her expression shifts.
“He sure did.”
“He kissed her in front of me.” My throat tightens painfully. “Like I meant nothing.”
“You disappeared for a month, O.”
The reminder stings because she isn’t wrong.
But Hayden doesn’t understand.
None of them do.
I wasn’t avoiding him because I stopped loving him. I avoided him because loving Hayden Marks feels like standing in the middle of a burning building hoping the flames decide not to touch me this time.
“So now you’re defending him,” I say throwing my water bottle at her.
“I’m not defending him. I’m just stating facts.” She shrugs. “You ready to go home? You can’t run from this shit. Even if I want to keep you here. Hold your ass hostage, I know I can’t, so what’s the plan?” she asks, and I sigh, finishing off my sandwich.
“Gotta face the music, right? Whatever it is, it is. But I won’t go down without a fight,” I say, and she nods, getting up from the couch and grabbing her keys.
The entire ride home, my anxiety grows claws because I know my father is going to lose his mind.
And judging by the number of missed calls lighting up my phone… he already has.
I hug B goodbye and promise to keep her updated, and the second I step through the front doors of my so-called home, I know I’m fucked.
My father stands in the foyer waiting for me. Still dressed in yesterday's suit. Which means he never went to bed.
His expression alone makes me shiver with fear.
“Where were you?”
“With Bianca,” I say, swallowing hard as his jaw tightens.
“You disappeared all night.”
“I’m eighteen.”
The slap comes so fast I don’t even see it. Pain explodes across my cheek while my head snaps sideways.
Silence fills the foyer afterward.
My father rarely hits me. Which somehow makes it worse when he does.
He grips my chin harshly forcing me to look at him.
“You embarrass me at school.” His voice shakes with fury. “You disappear from this house. You run around Brimstone acting like a whore—”
“I’m not a whore!” I scream.
“Then start acting like a Fitzgerald!”
Tears instantly burn my eyes. “I hate you,” I whisper, and his expression hardens further.
“And I’m done tolerating your behavior,” he spits, and fear grips my lungs making it hard to breathe.
“No…”
“Yes.” He releases me roughly. “You’re going to Brimstone House,” he growls as panic detonates through me.
“No, no, no, please—” I plead.
“You clearly need discipline,” he says, and I start shaking.
“Please don’t send me there,” I beg, but he stares at me coldly while tears stream down my face. “I’ll do better,” I choke out desperately. “Please. I’ll do anything.”
Something calculating flashes behind his eyes then.
“What’s one thing,” I whisper shakily. “That would finally make you happy?” I ask as he eyes me.
“Set a wedding date,” he says flatly, but his eyes light up with excitement. My heart stops.
“What?”
“You and Brayden will marry immediately after graduation.” His tone turns final. “No more delays. No more excuses.”
Pain rips through my chest so harshly I almost fold in half.
“No…”
“You will also stop embarrassing him publicly.” My father steps closer. “While you’re suspended, you’ll spend every waking moment becoming the perfect future wife.”
I stare at him in horror as my stomach twists. I swear any second now I’m going to vomit all over his shoes.
“You can either choose Brayden Augustine…” His voice lowers dangerously. “Or I’ll let Brimstone House choose for you,” he says as a smile spreads across his face.
The threat wraps around my throat like barbed wire.
And the worst part?
I know he means it.
Tears slide silently down my face while my entire future collapses around me.
Hayden. God. Fuck!
Hayden would burn this entire city down before letting them control me like this, but that’s exactly the problem.
Loving him only creates destruction.
So, I take a deep breath and look up at my father, already regretting the words before I say them. “I understand,” I whisper.
Victory flashes briefly across his face. “Good.” He straightens his cuffs calmly. “Now go upstairs and get yourself together. Brayden is taking you to dinner tonight.”
The thought makes me physically ill.
But I nod anyway. Because what choice do I actually have?
By the time I reach my bedroom, I can barely breathe around the grief crushing my ribs. I shut the door quietly before collapsing onto the floor beside my bed.
Hayden’s hoodie still sits tangled in my blankets from the last time I cried myself to sleep holding it.
Seeing it destroys me completely.
I grab it and press it desperately against my chest while sobs rip out of me hard enough to hurt.
Because I finally understand something horrible.
There is no happy ending for Hayden and me.
Not in Brimstone.
Not against our families.
Not against the kind of power determined to rip us apart.
Loving him feels like trying to hold onto smoke while the entire world burns around us.
And maybe my father was right about one thing.
Maybe the only way to survive all of this… is to let Hayden go once and for all but that thought alone… feels like death.