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I narrowed my eyes at her, fury bubbling up inside me. “What are you talking about?”
“I already discussed it with your father. We need a strong public image for you and Alexander, and that starts with our closest friends.”
“You mean your closest friends,” I said scathingly.
“Oh, relax. You can have Clarissa there. You always got along with her.”
“Yes, but I have no desire to drag her to a boring lunch she will inevitably hate me for.”
She pursed her lips and shot me an irritated glare, as only my mother could. Except, when she did it this time, I recalled myself doing it just minutes ago. Oh, God. I was turning into my mother. I really did need to get away if I had any hope of not turning out just like her.
“Now, I’m assuming Alexander has a housekeeper or a cook?”
My cheeks burned red as I remembered seeing her just this morning in only his t-shirt. “I would assume so.”
“You don’t know? My dear, it is your job to run the house now. You can’t leave everything up to him. He has to secure your future.”
“I didn’t realize my future needed securing,” I muttered.
“If you think that apartment pays for itself, you need to learn a few lessons.”
I spun away, tired of hearing her rant at me. “I am well aware of how things are paid for.”
“You haven’t worked a day in your life.”
I laughed at that. “I fully intended to, but as I recall, someone didn’t think it was very ladylike for a young woman to hold down an ordinary job.”
“What would you have done?” she raised her voice.
Diana Wallace never shouted. She never lost control in public, and it wasn’t much different at home. But when she got worked up, she occasionally let her cool demeanor slip.
“I have a business degree, and even though I have no interest in business, I still could have gotten a job so I wasn’t reliant on you!”
“Oh, grow up. You’re an adult. If you really wanted a job, you could have gotten one. No one would have stopped you.”
“Really,” I scoffed. “You may not have stopped me, but you would have called every place I interviewed at to ensure I wouldn’t be hired.”
She didn’t have anything to say about that. Diana Wallace also didn’t back herself into a corner by lying about her motives.
“If you really want a job, you should talk to your husband. I’m sure he’ll have some idea of how you can be useful. Not that he needs any money from you.”
“If I get a job, it will be for me and no one else. I don’t need to talk to my husband about what I choose to do from now on.”
“You won’t have long,” she smiled. “Remember, you still have another job to fulfill before your contract can end.”
Ah, yes. The dreaded children clause. “And does that make you happy to know that your grandchildren won’t be born out of love, but because they were required to fulfill a contract?”
“So were you,” my mother responded, a cruel smile twisting her lips.
It shouldn’t have hit me so hard. I mean, it was clear my parents didn’t really love each other. They both saw each other as a means to an end. But to hear that I was nothing more than something than needed to happen…I couldn’t do that to my own kids. That was so heartless. I turned away from her, hating that I signed that stupid contract. How did I get myself into this? How had I not realized how much this would all hurt me?
“You should leave.”
“Fine. I said what I needed to. Don’t wait too long on moving. You may not care about what people say, but I do.”
She walked toward the door, smiling in victory as she turned back to me. God, I hated that woman. With the soft click of the door, I sank down on the couch and pulled out my phone. No messages. How was I supposed to make things work with James when he wouldn’t even pick up the damn phone?
