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She’d mentioned it was for their honeymoon, to be his sugar mama, but now, I suspected he hadn’t even known.
“I put my whole life on the line for him, and he dumped me for it,” she wailed.
“Sounds typical,” Stina said, glaring at Dad as she removed more items from the shelves near the door and dropped them unceremoniously into the box.
“What do you expect?” I said. “Wasn’t it you who always told me behavior has consequences?”
“Oh, please,” Pris said, rolling her eyes. “Don’t even.”
“Why shouldn’t I?” I said. “You bothblackmailed me. How could you think you could just go on with your lives after something like that?”
“It wasn’t blackmail,” Pris argued.
I gaped at her. “No? What would you call it, then?”
“Retribution. After the way you ruined things for me with Derek, how could I help but take advantage of an opportunity?”
My mouth gaped open. There was no reasoning with her. With either of them.
Dad lifted a palm as if to speak, but I quieted him with a hand on his shoulder before approaching Pris. It looked like I wasn’t the only one who wasted time blaming others for my wrong choices.
“I didn’t ruin anything between you and Derek.Youruined things between you and Derek.
“He knew how you treated me, Pris. And if he heard about you stealing? About the way you tried to peg it on me? Why do you think he’s ending things again now?”
Pris sniffed, but to my surprise, she didn’t argue. She folded her arms and refused to meet my gaze.
Like a few moments before with Dad, with Stina, I pitied Pris, too.
Was she really that insecure that she’d steal just to keep a relationship with someone? To threaten me and Hawk?
That didn’t sound like any relationship I wanted to have. And if that was all Pris could hope for, she needed to rethink things.
I wasn’t about to say as much. Much as I wanted to havesome kind of resolution between us, it wasn’t going to happen right now.
Maybe not ever.
I peered to where Stina had been standing, but she’d moved on into the kitchen, boxing things up as noisily and haphazardly as possible. Clearly, she wanted to be out of Dad’s house as soon as she could be.
I knew better than to expect an apology from either of these two.
It was enough. Pris made her way to the other side of the living room to retrieve her phone and headed up the stairs.
I watched her go, breathing in full breaths. Pris and Derek’s relationship wasn’t the only thing that was over for good this time. My relationship with my wicked stepsister—such as it was—was over as well.
And I was okay with that.
I turned to give Dad a final hug.
“You want to come over for dinner on Sunday?” he asked.
Nearby, Stina slammed a cupboard door.
“Sure,” I said after a brief wince. “As long as you don’t mind if I bring someone.”
Dad’s brow crinkled with surprise. “Oh? Are you dating someone?”
Another cupboard door slammed. Evidently, Stina was protesting in whatever way she could.
