“I’m not interested in your incompetence. You’ve blown up my life, and now I need to work out how to pick up the pieces. My father is going after Marjory for her wrongdoing and wants to punish her and both her daughters, like they are to blame for his shitty relationship. So, unless you have something to tell me about my father that I don’t know that I can use to my advantage, fuck off.”
“Brody—wait!” Mike cried before I could hang up. “I do have something.”
I took a deep breath and forced myself to listen. “Then tell me, and it better be good.”
“Oh, it’s good alright.”
Selena
I watchedmy mother flit about the room, fiddling with the blinds, then the mini-fridge, then the flowers by the bed. I wished she’d just sit down and relax already.
“Gosh, a private suite, and they don’t even change the water for the flowers every day.”
Cici caught my eye and hid a smile behind her hand. She was curled up in one of the oversized visitors’ chairs by the window, wrapped in a huge hoodie and looking cozy. She was on break from school for the week. Though, with the way things stood between Marjory and John, I didn’t know what was happening. Her school was usually paid for on an annual basis, so she should be able to finish the year, but I had no idea what John Sinclair was capable of.
He was angry, and I wasn’t sure I could blame him. My mother had been cheating on him with her childhood sweetheart. I’d always known that my mother had come close to marrying someone else when she was young, before she’d met my father.
Now, there wasn’t much of a point in regretting the past. What was done, was done.
My phone was conspicuously silent on the nightstand. Brody texted me a few times a day. Short and commanding, he told me to rest, not to worry about things, get better, he was taking care of everything.
I didn’t know what to think or feel. He’d been having a PI follow my mother, even when he and I were… doing whatever it was we’d been doing. Hooking up? Fooling around? I’d thought it had been more, but now, considering his silence, I was doubting myself.
“Mom, just sit down. We need to decide what we’re going to do,” I said tiredly. I wanted out of the hospital so badly, and today was finally the day.
My mom nodded and sank down into a chair.
“So, what’s the plan? What have you heard from John?”
“I was served the divorce papers. According to the prenup and the morality clause, we get nothing from the rich bastard.”
“A morality clause,” I repeated slowly.
She nodded, miserable. “If you cheat, you get nothing.”
Hmm, Brody had probably banked on catching my mother red-handed so he could use it. He’d been strategic and methodical, and he’d gotten the results he wanted. While I understood it, it hurt my heart to know that he’d been sleeping with me, making me fall in love with him, all while meeting with his PI, gathering information on my mother, and waiting for the perfect moment to strike.
“Travis lives in Queens. We can go and stay there with him?—”
“No,” I said quickly. “I have to finish at HHU. I have a scholarship here. I can’t lose it.”
“And where are you going to live?”
“I’ll try and get some dorm housing, or something,” I muttered, knowing my chances weren’t good, but unable to consider giving up quite so soon. I didn’t want to leave Winter, or Aisha, or any of the girls I’d become close with since my life had changed dramatically. I didn’t want to drop out of school or quit my part-time jobs. The thought of withdrawing from the play made me want to cry.
“And if that doesn’t work out, then what?” my mother demanded.
“Winter offered?—”
“You can’t go leeching off your rich friends. They’ll only resent you for it in the future.”
I zoned out as my mother continued to rant, not wanting to argue with her. Winter wouldn’t resent helping me, I was sure of that, but there was no point trying to make my mother understand. She’d talked to Marcus about some small property his brother had just bought that needed fixing up. He suggested that I help him out by living there while the work was done. I knew what they were doing. Trying to make me feel like less of a leech and somehow helpful. The worst part was that I didn’t have any alternative.
Brody’s face forced itself to the front of my mind, and I pushed it away. He’d all but disappeared, so why would I go to him for help?
“Look, I don’t want to talk about that right now. Where are we going later?” I asked.
John’s divorce papers had made it clear that my mother was banned from going back to the house. It was embarrassing, to say the least.
