Page 78 of Chris

How could they if he left?

Her last hope.

What was hope good for, anyway?

Nothing.

That’s what.

Hope is for the fucking weak. It’s why she had never bothered before now because it all ended the same. So, why did this hurt so much?

“What are you do—”

Valeria scooped her daughter up from the ground where she had been playing with the kitten that her father still threatened to take from her. She ignored the nanny’s shout at her back as she turned and headed toward the stables while Maria’s wild black curls flew in every direction.

“Careful, my kitty!”

“Hold him tight,” Valeria told her girl.

Maria did just that, tucking the squirming kitten into her arms, cradling it like a baby doll. Behind them, Carla shouted louder.

“You can’t just take her, Valeria!”

“She is my child. I can do whatever I want.”

“I’ll tell Jorge you said that.”

Fuck it.

“Do so,” Valeria snapped over her shoulder.

Carla’s fish-mouthed stare almost made her laugh. The bitch also wasn’t as important as she tried to seem to be, so Valeria didn’t give her another thought.

Oh, sure, she would pay for this.

Jorge would make her aware.

Valeria didn’t give a shit.

Not right now.

“Where are we going?” Maria asked.

“For a horse ride.”

Away, she wanted to say,

Just … God, away from here, and this place, and these people. Away from pain, and fear, and the hell that would someday catch up with her. Not that it mattered. Eventually, she would have to come back, and if she didn’t, then someone would come find her.

For right now, though, she was going.

She needed to.

Once she had calmed down earlier after overhearing Jorge’s conversation with his brother, Valeria’s only wanted to get away. It screamed in her heart—to go.

Somehow.

Knowing she didn’t have much time, Valeria took the one horse that someone already tacked up. That way, she didn’t have to waste time getting their favorite riding horses ready.