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“Actually, I don’t need you for anything anymore.”
I sucked in a breath at the finality of his words.
“What are you going to do, send me back home to my parents?”
“Well you clearly have no intention of getting better out here.”
“Why should I?” she cried. “So you can move on with someone else? After everything we’ve been through together.”
“That shit’s not going to work on me anymore. I refuse to be manipulated by you, or our parents, any longer.”
“I’m nothing like them,” she snapped.
“Take a look in the mirror! You’re the walking picture of your mother, with just as much venom.”
A slap ricocheted off the walls and I winced.
“How dare you!” she yelled.
The tension heightened as the silence grew.
“The Melanie I grew up with would’ve despised someone like you. She never would’ve lied and manipulated to get what she wanted, or hurt the people who cared about her. I have no idea who you are anymore.”
Her tone softened. “I’m your best friend.”
“No, my best friend died the day she made me believe she was having my baby.”
My thumping heart filled the silence that followed.
“Who told…”
“You should’ve told me!” he yelled. “I’ve lived with that guilt for eleven years! You made me believe I was responsible for you for eleven…fucking…years.”
The pain in his voice made my heart ache.
“But I didn’t have anyone else,” she pleaded. “You were the only one who ever cared about me.”
“Stop, just stop! I can’t listen to this any longer. I can’t even look at you,” he muttered angrily. “And as soon as Adam gets back from LA, I won’t have to.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Melanie cried, but Grayson’s footsteps were already fading down the corridor.
A prickly sensation rolled over my body, and I warily peered up into Grayson’s office to find Melanie’s mascara streaked face staring back at me.
She knows.
I lowered my eyes as she took slow purposeful steps towards my desk, and drew in my breath when she dropped my long-lost G-string in front of me.
“Aren’t I the fool?” she muttered, emotionless.
Squeezing my eyes shut, I prepared myself for a tirade of abuse, but there was only silence. “Mel, I’m sorry. I never meant to…” I lifted my gaze, but she was already storming down the hallway.
“Is anyone else fucking my fiancé?” she hollered as she reached the foyer. “Or is it just Josie?”
I winced. Perhaps no one heard…
***
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