CHAPTER TWENTY #2
I was about to nod in defeat, already falling in line out of habit, but then I thought about what Maggie had said—how not everyone could be bought—and I knew there was no way I was going to go through with Mom’s plan.
Maggie was a decent person and very proud.
There was no way I could look that woman in the eye and offer to buy her silence. It was straight-up insulting.
For the first time, I refused to fall in line and do what they wanted me to.
“No.”
Melody shifted in the armchair, worrying her lip between her teeth.
Mom’s brows raised. “No?”
“What do you mean, no?” Dad asked, his face a picture of rising anger.
“I refuse to do that. And I refuse to use that woman. I won’t do it.”
“You don’t have a choice,” Mom said.
“What are you going to do? Ground me? I’m nineteen.”
“I’m going to make sure you lose your other contracts with your sponsors.”
I thought about that, and, strangely, I didn’t feel anything. It was like I couldn’t care less about losing sponsors. I’d saved more than enough money to survive without sponsors for years, including college expenses, and I wouldn’t miss the ad sets at all.
I shuddered. I especially wouldn’t miss seeing William.
“Do it. But you know very well that’s going to hurt you more than me.”
Her face fell, and she gaped at me, while Dad observed me with a look he had reserved only for the business parties who brought him more trouble than they were worth. It was a look that was supposed to intimidate the shit out of you.
“If you won’t agree to this, there will be punishment,” Dad said.
I swallowed, my gut coiling at what he could have in store for me. “I understand.”
Mom clicked her tongue, watching me with both disapproval and disgust, and a part of me wished I could take what I said back. Because what else was I good for if I couldn’t do what was right for this family?
Mom snatched her tablet from the table and tapped something on it.
“In that case, we’ll amp up your public appearances.
You’ll attend all my charity events. That includes the one I’m organizing with Lana.
I won’t be there for obvious reasons—I don’t want to get anywhere near that girl now—so you’ll go in my place.
Also, there won’t be any more partying for you unless it’s formal events. ”
Dad stepped up to me, and judging by his expression, I knew whatever he wanted to say next would be only for my ears so our staff wouldn’t possibly overhear it.
“And I’m going to need you to make an effort with William again.” Nausea swept over me. There it was. “I need this deal closed, and he’s been making it somewhat difficult for some reason, so he needs a bit of an ‘incentive.’ He expressed a wish to see you.”
I put all my effort into keeping it together. I should’ve known William would find a way to get to me, even if he had to drive a hard bargain with Dad. I didn’t want to offer him any “incentive,” but this was my punishment.
I looked at Melody, and her concerned expression drove a nail into my heart. I’m doing this for her too, I reminded myself. I’d put up with it if it meant she would be left out of it. I didn’t even want to imagine her with the likes of William.
“Okay.” Everything in me rebelled against this. I didn’t want this. But since when did that matter? I held no more value in this family than that of a plant. Just to sit pretty and do nothing fulfilling.
Denying my family anything was unthinkable.
However, denying myself was becoming increasingly stifling.
And I didn’t know what to do about that.
Mom and Dad left Melody and me alone in the living room, the sudden silence between us reverberating as she gave me a worried look.
“How could you be so reckless, B? You know the media can’t wait for stuff like that.”
“Wait.” I moved to check whether Zach was in the hallway. I didn’t want him to eavesdrop on us. The hallway was empty, and I returned to Melody. “I just went to a trailer park, Melly. It’s not like I went to a gang hideout,” I said jokingly.
“Don’t try to be funny about this. You know we have to be above mingling with those people.”
I gaped at her. There it was again. Since when did she become such a snob? “You talk like they’re any less worth than us.”
“It’s not that they’re less worth than us. It’s that we don’t have anything in common with them. Nothing good can come out of that. I told you why the rich don’t mingle with the poor.”
“Have you ever hung out with someone poor? How do you know they’re all out to get us?”
“I don’t need to hang out with them to see they all look at us, at our clothes, at our purses or shoes with envy and even a dose of loathing.
They don’t see us as real people. Just walking money.
They don’t try to see that beneath our exterior we’re people with real feelings and problems just like everybody else. ”
I raised my brows at her. I’d never thought she felt that way. “Maybe some. But you can’t possibly think all of them feel the same.”
“Oh please. As if you don’t know how judgmental people are toward us. But that’s beside the point now. The point is—you have to be more careful, B. First, you’re messing around with Tom. And now this. If only you hadn’t gone to that place—”
My chest tightened, and I raised my hand. “Don’t say that like Mom and Dad wouldn’t have punished me anyway. You know that’s what they always do.”
I always wondered how much Melody knew, or if she suspected, about my involvement with William and other men.
She’d never asked me about these “favors” Dad made me do, and while I’d always found it strange, I preferred it that way because it saved me from having to lie to her.
I’d wanted her to be as little involved with the dark side of our world as possible.
But at the same time, there was a small part of me that wanted her to ask. Wanted her to show she cared. I’d always tried to shield her. I didn’t expect the same from her, but knowing she cared about what I had to go through would be nice.
“I know,” Melody said, glancing down. “It sucks.”
I waited for her to say something else (although nothing she could say would make a difference), but she didn’t, not even to say she would be there to support me every step of the way. It was more that she looked relieved.
I turned to leave, not wanting to dig deeper into that. “I’m going to my room.”
“What happened with Zach Curtis?” she asked suddenly, and my heart lurched in my chest. “No one ever wanted to share the details with me. Why?”
As far as Melody was concerned, I’d had an ugly argument with a classmate. Mom and Dad had thought the fewer people who knew about my relationship with Zach, the better, and I’d agreed, unwilling to reveal to Melody just how horrible I was.
“Because it’s not important.”
“It’s not important? That’s your answer? It’s obviously important if he ‘received a ridiculous amount of money to disappear.’ What does that even mean? Why did he have to disappear?”
“Because he wanted to paint me as a bitch on social media, obviously.” The lie slipped out easily.
“Still. Something feels weird about it. And you even went to that trailer park. Why did you go there now, of all times?”
“Because I was bored.” I rolled my eyes, trying to turn it into a joke.
She wasn’t having it this time. “You’re keeping something from me, B.”
“I’m not.” I sighed. “Look, you know what happened with Aurora. Just one wrong video was enough to mess with her life. I just wanted to make sure he didn’t come out and point a finger at me. I don’t need bad press.”
“And in doing so, you created it. The press will keep talking about it.”
“I know. But they’ll have to stop eventually.”
Worry lines remained on her face, and I closed the distance between us to hug her.
“You don’t have to worry about me. Everything will be fine.”
She gave me an uncertain look. “Are you sure?”
My lips curled into a smile. “Positive.”
“You always take care of me, but you know you can rely on me too? If there’s anything that bothers you, you can tell me. I’m here.”
For a second, I wanted to tell her about William. About everything that had happened with him.
But of course, I didn’t. Just the very thought of ever voicing those words sent bile up my throat.
“Don’t worry, Melly. Everything is just fine.”
I made sure my smile was fixed on my face as I spun around and dropped it the moment I left the living room. My footsteps echoed through the foyer as I made my way to the stairs, but just as I reached them, Zach grabbed my wrist from the side and yanked me behind the staircase.
My skin tingled at the contact, and heat speared me as he crowded me.
My thoughts rushed back to what had happened in my room between us.
To the fact that despite how I hated wanting him so much, I still wanted him, and even now, I couldn’t stop imagining his hands and lips all over me.
Or his thick length deep inside me, pounding into me.
Even more when his gaze dropped to my lips like he himself was ensnared in similar thoughts.
I gritted my teeth, pushing all this away. “What do you want?”
He dug his fingers into my waist, and a shiver ran down my spine at his touch. “You said no to using Maggie.” His eyes devoured me, and my heart skipped a beat. “Why?”
I looked away. “Let go of me.”
He didn’t move. “Why?” he repeated.
My teeth clenched. I should remove his hand, but I didn’t, and I realized immediately why. I enjoyed his nearness too much.
“Because I couldn’t let them use her. I’m not a good person, but doing that would be beyond messed up.”
“You wouldn’t have even blinked using her in the past.”
“That’s true. But as I told you, I’ve changed. I’m not the same person I used to be. I can’t do that shit to her. She doesn’t deserve that.”
He didn’t take his gaze off me, and it was getting more difficult to breathe. “If you say you’ve changed, why are you going along with what your family says? These events, this attempt at damage control . . . Why do it?”