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I close my eyes briefly, taking a breath that doesn’t quite fill my lungs. “You’re not achieving anything here.”
The sound of the front door banging shut has us all snapping our attention toward the kitchen door before Izzie’s voice rings out. “We’re home!”
My panicked gaze bounces around the room, and when it lands back on Phoebe, she raises a brow. “Want to bet on that?”
Izzie bounces into the kitchen, her smile spreading even wider when she sees me standing here. “Amelia! You’re home!”
Panic thrashes through me like the waves in the sea on a stormy day at the look Phoebe is giving Izzie. Her beady eyes scan the length of Izzie, from the tip of her blond head to the pink sneakers on her feet.
“This must be Izzie.”
Phoebe moves toward Izzie and my instincts kick in, but I can’t get to her fast enough. Izzie looks up at Phoebe as she stops in front of her, lifting some strands of her hair and running it through her fingers.
I step forward, coming to a stop a foot away from Izzie, my hands reaching out to pull her away from the woman who is completely unstable.
“Stay away from her!” I hear Tris’s panicked voice warn, his footsteps coming closer.
“So beautiful, don’t you think, Avery?” She looks beside her, talking to empty space before her head slowly moves back around, her dead eyes meeting mine as she drops her voice so only me and Izzie can hear. “Is this why you came here? To replace my baby with another version of her?”
“Amelia?” Izzie’s soft voice asks, her eyes shining with confusion and fright.
I lunge forward as her other hand starts to lift, pulling Izzie behind me and squaring up to Phoebe. My gaze doesn’t move from hers as Clay and Harmony’s mom walk into the kitchen. My hand is yanked off Izzie’s arm, and when I tilt my head to the side, I see Tris’s murderous gaze, but it’s not pointed at Phoebe—the person he should be worried about—it’s directed at me. Can’t he see how dangerous she is right now?
Harmony’s mom stares at all of us in turn before asking, “What’s going on?”
“Could you take the kids upstairs for me, please, Tilly?” Tris asks, his eyes not moving from mine.
“I… sure.”
Tris walks Izzie over to Harmony’s mom, his muscles tense as he stands at his full height.
Harmony steps toward him. “Tris—”
“No,” he interrupts her, holding his hand up and waiting until both of the kids are out of the room. “Leave.” I take a relieved breath at him telling Phoebe to leave, but when he walks back toward us, his gaze focused on me, the breath is sucked back out of me. “You’re not welcome here.”
The burn of tears itches my nose and I try to swallow against the lump building in my throat to no avail.
“Tris, please—”
“Get. Out.”
I take a step back as his nostrils flare and for the first time since I’ve known him, I’m scared of what he might do or say. His breaths become pants as his chest heaves and I understand then. I understand that it doesn’t matter what I say or do right now, he won’t believe me when he has this woman standing in his kitchen.
However much I hate that he won’t hear me out and let me explain, I know he needs time to process—they all do.
“Tris,” Nate growls. “You’re not listening to her.”
“I don’t need to listen!” he shouts. “She’s been around my kids for six years and I haven’t got a fucking clue who she is!”
Nate’s nostrils flare and his green eyes meet mine. “Maybe you should let everyone calm down—”
“I don’t need to calm down, I need them out of my house and away from my kids!”
His words feel like a physical knife to the heart and I lift my hand to my chest and rub it, trying to soothe the pain.
I’m not going to get anywhere today. My plan to tell them all what’s been going on hasn’t worked, and right now I don’t know what to do or say. Dad would know. As soon as that thought flows through my mind, I realize I’m not on my own. Dad will be here tonight and he’ll be able to help me explain it all. I just need to wait until then. But first...
Nodding my head once, I straighten my back before saying, “I’ll leave as soon as she does.” Turning back to face Phoebe who hasn’t moved an inch and is still standing a foot away from me, I pull a determined expression on my face.
