AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Reese, please, stop. It’s complicated, but I’ve always loved your father. And he’s always loved me. We tried to do the right thing,” she pleads, pulling at my jacket in her attempt to protect my lying cunt of a father.
“All my life. All my fucking life you’ve all been lying to me,” I yell, my entire body shaking with anger.
“It’s not like that, Son.”
“Don’t fuckingsonme. I’m nothing to you but an inconvenience. No wonder you wanted me gone. Go on, admit it, you wanted me gone so you could play happy fucking families with her.” My voice doesn’t even sound like my own as I scream at him. I sound manic, unhinged. But everything I’ve been bottling up for weeks, months, is finally coming to a head, and it’s being aimed right at the man who promised me the world and then sent me straight back to hell to accept my fate.
“Did you ever love her? The woman who carried your kid for nine months? The woman who gave up her fucking life for you? Does she know you’ve been in love with her best friend all this time?”
Dad stares at me, blood trickling down his chin as he remains mute.
But I have no intention of hanging around for those answers. I can’t cope with hearing any more.
“Fuck this. Fuck all of this and your bullshit lies. I’m done. So fucking done. With all of you.”
I fly out of the house, my legs moving faster than my brain can register. Before I know it, I’m at the local corner shop and I’ve got two bottles of vodka in a bag, the promise of oblivion closer than ever.
I stumble down onto the beach and find myself a secluded spot in the dune, hiding away from the rest of the world. I twist the lid on the first bottle and chug it until my throat can’t take the burn any longer.
The nothingness doesn’t come fast enough, but when it does, there’s only one thing I can think about. One person. And before I know what I’m doing, my phone is pressed to my ear, its ringing cutting through the haze as I lie back on the sand, my need to hear her voice more desperate than I could ever begin to explain.
13
OLIVIA
It’s late when I get back to the house. Abigail was good enough to dry my clothes for me before I drove her home.
She’s not what I expected. But then, I guess I’ve never given her the time of day before. She’s smart and empathetic, and there’s a strength inside her that people don’t see.
I like her, and I meant it when I said we were friends. Or at least, I’d like to be friends with her.
Abigail isn’t driven by power or status or popularity. She’s just a girl trying to survive each day and find her place in the world. Something I can relate to.
“Olivia.” Fiona rushes out of the house the second I climb out of my car. “Thank God.”
“What happened?”
“It’s Reese, sweetheart. He took off and… his father called. Reese went to Lymington to see him but— oh dear.” Her lip quivers as she holds back the tears clinging to her lashes.
“What happened, Fiona?”
Lymington is almost a ninety-minute drive. So whatever has happened, it must have only just happened.
“We should have told him. I knew we should have told him, but it’s complicated and he’s so angry… I didn’t want him to find out like this. Have you talked to him?”
“No.”He won’t respond to my texts or calls. I swallow the words.
“Can you try to call him? I’m worried he’s going to do something stupid. He and Richard got into it, and Reese took off.”
“I don’t understand. What exactly happened?”
“Oh, sweetheart. It’s a long and complicated story. But let’s just say Reese found out that our marriage wasn’t the happy family he always thought.”
“I—”
My phone blares and I quickly dig it out of my pocket, hoping to see Reese’s name.
“Is it—”
