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Standing up, I paced the room, biting my thumb, the pain distracting me from the hurt I felt at only being a piggy bank to her.
I didn’t know my dad, and I doubted my mom knew who it was.
“How much?”
“Ten K.”
Biting down on my thumb with too much force, I cursed, shaking out my now-throbbing finger.
“Are you crazy? Why do you need so much money?”
“I just need it. Now, are you going to help me or not?”
The bubbling rage caused my vision to waver and my breathing to speed up. I’d been doing plenty of thinking over the last week. It was time to make some changes in my life, starting with cutting ties with the person who had been using me my whole life. She’d never been a mom and never would.
The realization was hard to accept.
“Not.” I ground the word out, readying myself for the abuse that was sure to follow.
“You ungrateful little bitch. I let you live with me. Fed you. Clothed you. And this is the thanks I get? Just because you spread your legs for a rich bastard doesn’t mean you’re better than me.”
And there it was. “Youletme live with you? I think you mean to say thank you to me for paying rent. For making sure the water and electricity didn’t get cut off. For working even though I had to go to school. For continuing to give you money even now.”
My voice kept rising until I was yelling into the phone, my breathing choppy.
“How dare you.” Her voice now matched mine in volume, and I cringed at the high tone. “If you don’t transfer the money, I promise I’ll have a chat with your husband. I’m sure there are things you’d rather he not know.”
One thing nobody—including my mother—realized was that William knew everything there was to know about me. I’d had to agree to a thorough background check, a medical exam, and sign an ironclad prenup and nondisclosure agreement before we married.
“Go for it. Now I think it’d be best if you lost my number.”
After I hung up on her screaming, all strength left me. The phone seemed too heavy, and I dropped it to the wooden floor with a loud thump.
I wondered if I’d forever be haunted by a past I thought I’d escaped.
Familiar arms wound around me, and I turned, burying my head in a comforting chest. William must have heard me yelling into the phone. Lucky for me, because he gave great hugs. And he was affectionate with those he cared for. Even though he didn’t love me the way I wished he did, I knew he loved me nevertheless.
A sob cut through the silence, and William tightened his arms around me. “She’s not worthy of your tears, darling.”
His words only made me cry harder.
She’d never cared about me. Mostly resented my existence. There was no reason I should try over and over again to build a relationship that simply couldn’t exist.
William somehow steered me to the bed without letting go, then laid us both down, wrapping his body around mine.
If this was all I could ever have, it would have to be enough.
3
ARCHER
“Newbie, meeting room in five,”Devon called across the office.
Standing up so I could glare at him better, I gave him the finger. “How long are you going to call me ‘newbie’?”
“Until fresh meat shows up. But don’t worry, we don’t take on many recruits, so you’ll have the title for a while longer.”
Gathering my computer and files, I made my way to the meeting room. My thoughts were already on the workout I planned to do as soon as I finished for today.
