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“That’s not true,” she mumbled, sinking back into the chair.
“You know it is. When your mom said she was calling Dr. Carmichael that night, you thought she was giving you up. You thought that because you know your parents will always choose the society over you, even though you’re their only daughter. So if I turn this recording in and get you into trouble, you could end up just like Amerie. Trapped and forced to pop out babies for the rest of your fertile years.”
Piper closed her eyes and sucked down a long, deep breath. “You won’t go through with this,” she said, shaking her head. “You can’t try to destroy the society, because you’d destroy yourself along with everyone else.”
“How so?”
Her eyes fluttered open. “If you manage to expose this stuff to the world, we’ll all go to prison,” she said in a hollow voice. “That includes you. You’re a society member whether you like it or not.”
“You might go to prison, but I won’t,” I replied, lifting a brow. “I haven’t actually done anything wrong, other than making a false statement to the cops the other day. But you… you’ve actively aided the society in their schemes, so you could potentially be in a lot of shit. But if you help me expose everything, you’ll more than likely get some sort of deal when it all goes to trial. Maybe even total immunity.”
“I can’t help you, Jensen.” Piper shook her head, suddenly looking exhausted. “Just drop it. Please.”
I shook my head and stood up. “It’s the right thing to do. And really, you don’t have a choice. Either you help me or I turn this recording in to the society and wreck your life.”
She looked back down at the desk. “I… I can’t do it,” she muttered.
I recognized the expression on her face and the tone of her voice. It was the same way she was in the car the other day, when she was on the knife’s-edge of a decision. She just needed a tiny push… and this time, I wouldn’t allow anything to get in the way of that.
I decided to switch tactics and appeal to her vanity, which I knew she had in spades. “Think about it this way,” I said, leaning back and lacing my hands behind my head. “If everyone knows you as the girl who helped expose the Rosmerta monsters to the whole world, you’ll probably become a media heroine. You’ll get a book deal. Primetime TV interviews. They might even make a movie about you one day.”
Piper let out a weary sigh and buried her face in her hands for a moment. Then she took a deep breath, clenched her jaw, and looked up at me. “You have no idea how much I hate to say this,” she said, voice dripping with disdain. “But… you’re right.”
My pulse instantly sped up. “What are you saying?”
“I’m saying I’m in,” she replied, lifting her palms. “I’ll help you.”
“Really?” My eyes narrowed disbelievingly. “What was it that finally convinced you? The book deal or the movie?”
She grimaced. “Neither. It’s like you said before—I don’t have a choice at this point. You have me right over a fucking barrel. Even if I tried to go behind your back now and turn you in to the rest of the society for the threat of exposing them, they probably wouldn’t believe me. Not after you made me look so crazy. So all I can really do is slink over to your side and hope for the best.”
“So you’re not just trying to fuck with me?”
“No.” Piper swallowed hard and lifted her chin. “I told you… I’m in.”
Amerie
I stared down at the first page of the book I’d taken from the mansion’s extensive library. The words all appeared to be jumbled together, and I couldn’t concentrate hard enough to make sense of it.
Frustrated, I threw the book aside and leaned back on my pillow, letting out a heavy sigh. I couldn’t concentrate on anything because my mind was constantly elsewhere.
My morning sickness had cleared up over the last week, but it had been replaced with a different kind of sickness—an ache deep in my heart that refused to let up for a second.
Jensen could be the father of the baby growing inside me, and he’d never know that. He’d never know that he had a child somewhere, made by the two of us but raised by two strangers. He’d never know how some silly little part of me lit up with joy when I discovered that he could potentially be the father instead of the nameless sperm donor Dr. Carmichael had picked off a list.
It was silly because it was pointless to be giddy over such a revelation. Whoever the father was didn’t matter in the end. The baby would be ripped from my arms the minute it was born and given to Congressman Roser and his wife, and then I’d never see it again. I’d never see Jensen again, either.
All that knowledge tore me apart, and I wasn’t sure if the ensuing ache in my heart would ever subside.
“Knock, knock!” Zara’s bright voice called out from behind the door, which opened a second later. “Morning, Amerie!”
“You could just knock like a normal person, you know,” I muttered, sitting up straight. I was sick of her speaking to me like we were old friends, rather than a captor and her prisoner.
“Oh, cheer up,” she said, smiling at me over the top of her takeout coffee cup. “It’s the weekend!”
I suppressed the urge to roll my eyes. Weekends didn’t matter here at the farm. Not when every single day was exactly the same.
“I have a surprise for you,” Zara went on.
