AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Laura never thought of me as a daughter. As if selling this house wasn’t enough, she wants to sell me too.
Her betrayal hurts so bad, I have to clutch my chest. Tears pour down my cheeks as I think of my dad. I can only imagine the pain he’d be feeling if he was watching this scene right now.
My stepmother’s shrill voice grows louder. Footsteps come closer toward me but I remain stoic like a statue, standing still at the threshold.
A loud gasp makes me look up.
Laura stands by the door with Pete. She’s wearing a tight black pencil skirt that stretches unflatteringly across her pot belly. Her dirty-blonde hair is styled into loose curls and there’s bright makeup on her face.
She must’ve gone out to a lawyer’s office or a mobster’s den to have changed out of her usual tight pants and leopard-print kimono tops.
“What are you doing here?” Laura asks, her mouth crumpling into a frown.
“This is my home,” I choke out the answer. “Where else would I be this late in the evening?”
Laura looks like she’s about to throw an insult at me but Pete lays a hand on her shoulder. Something passes between them as they glance at each other.
My stepmother wipes the scowl from her face and forces a smile on her coral-painted lips. Her fake expression sickens me.
“How long have you been home?” she asks.
“Long enough to have heard what you’ve been planning to do with me.”
Her face pales immediately. She glances toward her boyfriend who looks just as worried as her.
Turning away from the pair, I stomp down the corridor.
“Winter, wait!” Pete shouts, coming after me.
When I continue walking away, he grabs my elbow. “I told you to stop!”
“Why should I stop?” I shout, throwing his hand off me. “I was a fucking idiot to trust people like you. How could you think about selling this house? How could you even think about selling me?”
Laura comes forward. “You’re taking this the wrong way, honey,” she says in a sickeningly sweet voice. “You should’ve allowed me to explain the arrangement instead of eavesdropping at our door like this. Then, you’d have understood why we’re doing this. It’s all for your benefit, sweetie.”
“My benefit?” I hiss.
“Luciano is a powerful man in this town,” Laura says in a grim tone. “He’ll keep you safe.”
I scoff. “Why would he care about me? He doesn’t even think of me as a human being. I’ll just be an object he bought off you. He’ll throw me away the moment he gets tired of me.”
“You’re too young to understand what’s good for you.” Stepping closer, she grabs my wrist. “Just do as we say. You turned eighteen last year, so you can legally pass on the property to me so I can look after it better.”
A hollow chuckle escapes me. “Look after it? You’re going to fucking sell it!”
She gapes at me. I rarely curse, keeping it all inside my head even when she and her daughter piss me off. They make me do every chore around the house from cooking dinner to doing everyone’s laundry. Most days, I took it in my stride, telling myself they were still my family.
Laura broke that misconception today. I’m not going to let her get away with her evil plans any longer.
Turning away from her, I march downstairs to reach the living room.
“Winter, wait up!” Laura calls out from behind me.
“We’ll sell the house to a construction company who wants to turn it into a bed-and-breakfast,” she keeps talking. “I’ll let you keep a portion of the money,” she adds, thinking that would be a good enough bribe for me to let her have the house.
Moving toward the table, I grab the pamphlets and throw them on the floor. “I’m not signing over anything to you. If you don’t like living here, you can leave.”
Next moment, Pete steps forward and strikes me across the face.
