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I existed in a quiet state of shock. I could feel breath entering and exiting my mouth, feel my heart throbbing dully in my chest—but it was like they belonged to someone else. Like my entire body was a stranger’s, and I was only sitting inside it, peering out at the strange, dark, dangerous world.
A world that had finally taught me, too late for the lesson to be of any use, not to trust anyone.
Philip sat stoically in the front seat, and beside me, Jacqueline’s face was a mask of stone, her fingers curling like claws as she rested her hands on her lap. When the car dropped us off, she walked quickly up the steps, and my feet felt like lead as I followed her, my grandfather behind me.
The second I entered the foyer, a stinging slap hit the side of my face.
I gasped, stumbling sideways slightly.
“How dare you?” Jacqueline kept her hand raised, her voice low and trembling with fury. “We have done nothing but provide for you since the moment you arrived, and I only asked for one thing. That you respect our family name. That you respect us.”
“I—”
“One. Rule. And you broke it so completely you went miles past the line!” She turned away from me, pacing across the large, echoing foyer. “Important people were at that school tonight. Connected people. And they all watched my granddaughter disgrace herself. Disgrace me. Disgrace her entire legacy.” Her hazel eyes were accusatory as she rounded on me again. “If you think everyone in Roseland won’t know about this by tomorrow, you’re dead wrong. You don’t think there are people who will be only too happy to see another Hildebrand self-destruct? Who’ve been just waiting for this to happen?”
My jaw tightened, and I bit my lip so hard it hurt. Did she think I’d wanted this to happen? That I’d done it on purpose to hurt her?
She stalked toward me again, her heels clicking like gunshots on the polished marble floor. “Those pictures. Those videos. It was like watching Charlotte all over again. I asked you, Talia. I asked you point blank if you were partying or drinking. And you fucking lied to me!”
I’d never heard her curse before, and it shocked me out of my stupor.
“So what?” I gestured wildly in Philip’s direction, my entire body buzzing with hurt and anger. “He drinks all the time!”
Another slap landed across my cheek, in the exact same place as the first. Then another. And another. Just like my dad had used to do. He’d hit the same spot over and over, using my own body against me, using each strike to make the next one feel worse.
When they finally stopped coming, my hand went to my cheek, shaking hard as I remained bent over sideways for a moment, trying to catch my breath. When I straightened, Philip had pulled Jacqueline a few feet away from me. He held her by the elbows, and her chest rose and fell as she stared at me. Anger flashed in his dull blue eyes too, along with something like regret.
I swallowed. “I didn’t mean—”
“It doesn’t matter what you
meant,” my grandmother interrupted coldly. “It matters what you did. And that can never be undone.”
“It wasn’t all me!” My voice rose as frustration and anger filled me like twin poisons. “The images were doctored. They made it look like—”
“Was that you screaming ‘fuck the Hildebrands’?” Jacqueline asked, lingering on the final words as her nostrils flared.
“Yes.” I met her eyes, squaring my shoulders. I had said that, and I didn’t particularly feel like taking it back at the moment. “But I didn’t know they were recording. I was just… mad. Letting off steam. No one was there. No one heard me!”
“Until tonight.” Her lips pressed into a line, and she tugged her arms out of Philip’s grasp, smoothing down her honey-brown hair. “You’re worse than your mother. For all her faults, at least she never set out to intentionally destroy our name.”
“That’s not what I was trying to do! And I am grateful for everything you’ve done, I just—”
“No.” She shook her head sharply, her expression growing cold as ice. “You obviously aren’t. I should’ve seen that sooner. We should never have brought you here.”
My throat tightened. “What?”
Philip’s brows drew together, but before he could say anything, Jacqueline stepped forward again, coming to stand in front of me. “Tomorrow morning, I’ll speak to the social worker in charge of your case. And I’ll buy you a plane ticket back to Idaho. But that is the last cent you’ll ever receive from us.”
I blinked, staring at her. “You’re… you’re kicking me out?”
Her expression twitched, pain flashing over her features for a second, then it hardened. Instead of answering, she said, “I’ll have someone go to your dorm to collect your things. Your car will be sold. There will be a plane ticket waiting for you tomorrow morning.”
Without another word, she turned and walked up the stairs. Philip and I gazed at each other for a long, silent moment, then he muttered something under his breath and shuffled slowly down the hall toward his office, his shoulders slumped.
I stood by myself in the large entry room, staring ahead blankly but not really seeing anything. Finally, I forced my body into motion, heading upstairs to the second-floor bedroom that had become mine.
As soon as I closed the door, everything seemed to rush at me all at once, the reality of the night slamming into me like a two-by-four to the head. My knees buckled, and I staggered toward the bed, barely making it before I collapsed. I crawled under the covers and pressed a pillow over my head as wracking sobs shook my body.
