Page 219 of Lessons in Cruelty

My phone is in my hand a second later, trembling as I look up Haven’s number. I got it from Nora. It was worth every Mars Bar.

But I’ve been too spineless to message Haven, to call her. I keep thinking it would leave a trail for someone to follow. Evidence they could use against me.

What do I even say?

Hey, my brother’s about to destroy you, run?

I’m sorry?

My thumb hovers over her name.

One text, and I’m admitting she matters more to me than my future.

One text, and I’ve officially chosen her over my family.

Jesus, who am I kidding?

I made my choice a long, long time ago.

Chapter 55

Haven

The thin veneer of courage I walked into the gala with has just evaporated. Even this gorgeous gown I’m wearing feels flimsy as fuck. I bet they can smell the panic underneath the designer silk.

The poverty.

“I think I’m having a stroke,” I calmly tell Melissa as she drags me down a narrow corridor.

It feels like I’m headed for a public beheading…and it’s my neck on the chopping block.

She flashes me a nervous smile over her shoulder. “You’ll do fine,” she murmurs, but her voice is as unsteady as the hand she uses to guide me. “God, Haven, I really, really thought you knew.”

“No, Melissa!” I hiss. “I had no fucking idea.”

“It’s okay, really. Just…use your imagination.”

I yank my arm out of her grip, and she spins around to face me, her cream-colored gown as flawless and fluid as her makeup and hair.

It’s the weed’s fault I’m here. I was so happy and giggly that it felt like I was in a rags-to-riches montage sequence where the ugly girl gets a makeover that turns her into a beauty queen.

Pop songs played. Tequila shots were passed around.

One thing led to another, and before I knew it, I was dressed in the Ellie Saab and all my reasons for not attending the fundraiser had evaporated in a cloud of cotton-candy vape smoke.

We tried putting my hair into a French knot. It slid apart like a rushed lemon meringue pie. So Melissa tried to curl it into soft waves…a few of them survived, but they’re heavy on the soft, and barely there on the wave. The hair clip she used to drag some of my hair away from my face made the most noticeable difference, but I can feel it sliding too.

This is what happens when you drown virgin hair in shea butter.

Bastian’s concealer got rid of the dark smudges under my eyes and Melissa found a bronze eyeshadow that really made my eyes pop.

I’ll never forget the way she stared at me when she came up to me with a pair of diamond earrings and I told her my ears weren’t pierced.

When we climbed into her Aston Martin, I felt great.

Like on top of the world fantastic.

My dress was gorgeous. My hair shiny. My face…well, as good as it would ever be, I guess.