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And, surprisingly, she’d gotten to me. I felt stripped down instantly at the suggestion that I was merely an orphan, a neglected child, because that’s exactly what I’d spent my whole life trying desperately not to be.
I got up from beside Spencer, my clammy hand squeezing onto his tightly, turning to walk away.
She was evil, and I couldn’t get away from her quickly enough.
Chapter Seventeen
SPENCER
Nat wasn’t a short woman by any means, but as my mother spoke, she seemed to shrink before my very eyes, folding in on herself to the point that she seemed almost half her original size. Still, she rose to her feet slowly with implicit grace.
I’d dealt with my mother’s bile for as long as I could remember, so I was not surprised when she unleashed her tirade; however, Nat was obviously affected, and even though part of me wanted to drill my mother into the ground, the other part of me grew concerned by Nat’s disposition.
“Nat,” I started, but I had no idea what to say. I’d never seen her visibly shaken, and I wasn’t sure how to comfort her or if she wanted me to. I was sure Nat wouldn’t want to show weakness in front of Heidi, so hovering over her didn’t instinctually seem like the right thing to do. Especially with the look of smug satisfaction, almost diabolical glee, that spread across my mother’s face, watching as her words cut as deeply as she’d intended.
Nat fixed her eyes on my mother. “Spencer,” she said gravely, her eyes unwavering, “I’ll see you back at the house. Please give my apologies to Stephen and Nadia.”
Without another word, she strode away from me, her long, silver gown shimmering in the moonlight. My heart twisted in my chest as she left.
“That’s what I thought—” my mother said, walking after her with purposeful steps, her stride barely matching half of Nat’s.
“That’s enough!” I demanded, reaching out to grab Heidi around the inside of her elbow.
Any skin-to-skin contact with her was abhorrent to me, but there was no way I was allowing her to take one more step after Natalia.
“Do not dare handle me in this manner,” she said, whipping around to face me, her eyes black. “I want answers—”
“You are owed no answers,” I hissed. “After insulting my wife so egregiously, I am the one owed the answers. Why did you follow us?”
“You dare to speak to me this way!” she snapped, her voice shaking furiously as she tried to twist out of my grasp. “How dare you insinuate—”
“I’m not insinuating anything,” I said, holding her firmly. “I know you were trying to humiliate her in front of me, but all you’ve achieved is to infuriate me in almost every way. I’m sick of you and your bullshit.” I folded my arms, staring down into the woman’s severe eyes. “I saw who was sitting behind you during the ceremony. I have no idea what you had to gain by inviting my ex here, especially when you took such pleasure in ridiculing her when we dated. Now, you think it wise to bring her here when I am with my wife?”
She didn’t skip a beat as she switched personalities right before my eyes. Her body went slack, no longer tense against my grip, relinquishing her rage and sliding into character as the wounded mother. She fixed me with the pathetic, watery gaze she’d perfected to get people to have sympathy for her. This time, when I saw it, I didn’t bother to keep from rolling my eyes. “I just want the best for my children—”
“I’m done with your psychotic martyrdom, Heidi,” I said. “Why not try a straightforward approach for once in your life?” I let go of her arm. “You know what? Forget it. I already know exactly who you are, and I have since I was seven. I don’t need your contrived explanations because I’ve reached the limit of lies I can tolerate from you. All I need is for you to keep away from Nat and me for the rest of the time we’re here. If you do not, as God is my witness, I will ensure that everyone here knows exactly who you are in ways you will never forget.”
Every time I’d ever tried to make a point to her in the past, she’d roll her eyes and huff out a dismissive laugh that made my skin crawl. But there must’ve been something in my face that made it clear I was deadly serious, and despite the hatred in her flat, scheming eyes, she nodded at me carefully in surrender.
I turned away from her, striding into the labyrinth’s dark paths, pulling like a moth to the brighter lights of the main party. Once I’d arrived back in the melee, I looked around for any hint of Nat’s silver satin dress, hoping she’d changed her mind and decided to stay with the rest of the party.
Unfortunately, she was nowhere to be seen, and the rest of the party was still in full swing as I looked around. Finally, my eyes landed on Hillary, the ex I hadn’t seen in years, as she sat alone in the corner, sipping on a champagne flute. Her soft brown eyes landed on me, and I sighed, knowing I needed to handle this to shut down this next play of my mother’s.
Hillary had been invited here for a reason, and whatever that reason was, I wouldn’t let Nat be affected by it. Nat had taken enough shit from my mother; the last thing she needed was this parasite throwing more at her. After all, Nat was only here to pose as my fake wife, not to take emotional abuse head-on.
“Hillary,” I said dryly, looking down at my ex. “This is a surprise.”
“Hi, Spencer,” she said, her soft, high voice sounding slightly more annoying than it ever had. “Your mum got in touch, saying that you’ve been asking about me and wanted me here. However, I saw you with that lovely lady—”
I had to back down from my lethal feelings. This woman was not the type who would work as an evil ex and gladly take my mother up on the opportunity to destroy Nat, my wife. Even though we parted on shitty terms, she wasn’t evil about it. I needed more information.
In my line of work, I was a master at changing moods and putting on a believable display of emotions. And now, I needed to switch gears to get information out of Hillary.
I ran my hand through my hair. “I’m sorry about this. You know how Heidi behaves; she is who she is, and I don’t think she’ll ever stop trying to mess with people. I believe this situation is no different. I am married, and that woman with me is my wife. Heidi knows that, and she still led you to believe something that was never true. I did not ask about you, and I’m sorry if that is not what you wished to hear from me.”
She gave me a slight nod and a fragile smile. “Well, then. It was lovely to see Stephen marry, but I think I’ll return to the city now. Maybe I’ll go to Greece since I’m in this corner of the world.”
“Sounds like an excellent idea,” I said, leaning down to kiss her on each cheek before turning away and heading to the small sweetheart table at the front of the dance floor. Stephen and Nadia sat there, enjoying their meal, looking at each other with perfect happiness. That, of course, was interrupted when I approached, and they observed me with worry.
