Page 62 of Leafpoint Lighthouse

“Stop treating me like an entitled heiress; I’m anything but that. Hell, my dad failed to stick around to see me born. Up and ran out on my mother without a by-your-leave. Typical bloke, got laid, then didn’t want the responsibility. He was so petty that he married her so that she couldn’t marry the man she loved. All I want to do is live in my lighthouse! Why is that so wrong?” My temper snapped. This whole scene was mortifying, and I was so embarrassed, and I felt victimised.

“It’s impossible for me to sell even if I wanted to!” I screamed. “Don’t you understand? Are you wilfully blind or just pig ignorant? You assume bullying me will somehow make it so I can put it up for sale? The Trust doesn’t allow the selling of any asset! If a stick of damn rock is in The Trust, it can’t be sold. You may all complain until the day you die. The Trust is set in stone and was done so to protect the heirs from this kind of behaviour!” I yelled.

Several of those gathered looked uncomfortable as tears began streaming down my face.

“If I could leave, I would. Who in their right mind wants to live with this type of hate? Every single one of you is a bully, and I’m tired of being your victim. You don’t want me here? Good. I don’t want to be here. From this point on, everyone in this town can go to hell. I’ll take my damn fortune and spend it elsewhere. And any community projects I was thinking of helping can get screwed, too. Like that new church roof I planned to donate money to repair.

“God, I hope you’re not churchgoers because none of you has a Christian bone in your body. You ought to be ashamed of yourselves. You’re nasty, petty-minded, mean-spirited and downright vile. All you care about is money! Money, money, money!” I shrieked and then walked away.

“Lyra!” Cale caught hold of me, desperation on his face. Behind him, I saw Keith Keating smirking.

“Let go of me, Cale. I don’t love you, and I won’t allow you to gaslight me into thinking I made you cheat. What a crock of crap. I didn’t make you shove your dick into Serena. You decided to do that. You chose to discard the love I freely gave you. Now I’ve got money, you think I’m stupid enough to come back? Grow up!”

With that, I wrenched free from Cale and rushed away from the silent crowd.

“That is what it looks like when you break someone. Shame on all of you,” Mrs Penrose declared as I ran. I sobbed and kept heading for my car. Once inside, I slammed it into gear and sped off.

Leafpoint came into view, and I cried uncontrollably as I saw it. Home, sanctuary, haven. I screeched to a halt outside and scrambled out of the vehicle as if the hounds of hell were after me. I raced for the door and shoved it open. An alarm passed through me as I headed for the stairs and my bedroom. Leafpoint reached out to me, panic-stricken.

I flung myself on the bed and just wailed. Pain erupted from me as flashes of what happened tortured me. I bet they’d called me a madman. Strong hands hauled me upwards, and without thinking, I climbed into William’s lap as I wrapped my arms around his neck. He held me tight against his chest as I sobbed heartbrokenly.

“Mum!” Avery’s panicked voice yelled. Tiny fingers formed and rubbed my back as William tucked me under his chin and ran his hand over my hair.

“Dad, who harmed her? Why is Mum crying? Do something,” Avery cried.

“Lyra!” Thea screamed as she rushed up the stairs. “That video is all over social media!”

She burst through my door and froze. Damn, I couldn’t imagine what she was thinking.

Avery growled. “Are you the one who hurt my mum?”

“What the hell?” Thea gasped.

Avery’s eyes turned red. “You!” he hissed.

“Avery, no!” I yelled as he launched himself off my bed at Thea, who stood there dumbly. “She’s my cousin.” Suddenly, Avery vanished and flowed through Thea.

“Poppy and Lia are on their way. That scene is everywhere. These two need to dematerialise,” Thea uttered numbly. Avery formed on the mattress again and ran his hands over my spine.

“That’s my mother,” he growled.

“Avery,” William warned. He still held me tight, his arms soothing me.

“You can’t let Lia and Poppy see him!” Thea exclaimed.

“Why are you so calm?” William demanded.

“Because I’ve got my own damn ghost to deal with, and believe me, he’s not rubbing my back in comfort!” Thea snapped.

“Perran?” William sounded stunned.

“We’ll talk about it later! Hide yourselves,” Thea warned.

“Lyra!” Lia yelled from below.

“Avery, please hide. William, take him up to his room,” I begged. William searched my face and nodded. He and Avery vanished.

“You’ve got some explaining to do,” Thea said, but took a seat and gathered me up.