Total pages in book: 131
Estimated words: 125121 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 626(@200wpm)___ 500(@250wpm)___ 417(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 125121 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 626(@200wpm)___ 500(@250wpm)___ 417(@300wpm)
Mom held my hands. She was still dressed in the jeans and cream blouse she wore the night before. It was proof of how our life had been the last few months that it was odd seeing her out of pajamas. What was the same was the haggard lines around her mouth and tears filling her eyes. The only difference was this time it was for me.
“You never should’ve been in that position. This is my fault. You had no business in that awful place and I should’ve put a stop to it.”
“Mom, please don’t beat yourself up. If this isn’t my fault, it’s definitely not yours. Giovanni had a lot of stuff going on,” I said. “We’re not responsible for the enemies he made.” While he helped kill my sister and then covered it up instead of coming forward immediately.
“But that enemy attacked you too,” she cried. “Regalia has become such a nightmare. I don’t know where I’m living anymore. Jack and I are thinking about selling the house and moving. I won’t let this place take you too.”
“Mom,” I whispered. “It’s just a town. And it’s just a school. It’s people who did this to us—destroyed our family. They bullied Winter until she couldn’t see a way out and—and—doesn’t that piss you the fuck off!”
She reeled back. “Luna?”
I shoved the pancakes away. “I’m sorry, but every time I think about it, I get so angry I can’t breathe. People did this to her. They relentlessly attacked a kind and good person just because they could, and the thought of them getting away with what they did to her is so wrong, it just can’t happen.”
Her hands slipped out of mine, brows drawing together.
“No one paid for what happened, Mom. No one was expelled, or suspended, or even slapped on the wrist. Winter deserves justice and I’m not going anywhere until I get it for her,” I cried, chest heaving. “Because she would’ve done that for me.”
Mom stared at me for a long time—expression unreadable. “That’s why you did this, isn’t it? You enrolled in that school to find the people responsible.”
“Yes.”
“Why did you think you could do that, Luna?” The tears had stopped. “How did you plan to find them or get Winter justice?”
“I... I...”
I wasn’t expecting that question. Mom never knew Winter’s note to me said more than the one she sent to Mom. I knew exactly who was responsible, and my mother couldn’t know how I planned to make them pay.
“It’s a school, Mom. Students were there. They saw things. They gossiped about it, looked the other way, and even participated. Those cowards weren’t going to tell the cops or the dean about how they did nothing to help her, but when I have the truth, I will.”
She nodded slowly, face so blank unease settled in my stomach. “This meant so much to you, you agreed to marry Victor Wilson. Jack said you both came to an arrangement that secured your safety and his willingness to pay tuition. Marrying my child off at nineteen was the arrangement.”
“Mom...” I curled around her hand. Cold and flat-voiced, she was starting to worry me. “Don’t be mad at Jack. Now that I understand Regalia and the hierarchy around here, I see that he really was trying to keep me safe. People think twice about messing with me because I’m Victor’s fiancée. They don’t want his family as an enemy.”
She didn’t say anything.
“It was me who pushed him. I said I’d do whatever it took for the tuition. If he didn’t step in, I would’ve done something desperate, and I wouldn’t have had Victor’s protection. Jack was trying to do the right thing.”
“The right thing.”
I hesitated, feeling like I was digging the hole for me and Jack deeper. I didn’t want to cause any problems in their marriage. Jack was the one who stood by Mom’s side every day when her and my grief got too big to deal with, and I went away to the beach house. It also turned out he didn’t give up on seeking help for her. He loved my mother. I never doubted that, and most importantly, their love wasn’t meant to be a casualty of my revenge. Those bastards didn’t get to hurt my family any more than they already did.
“This was all me, Mom.” My tone was pleading. “It really was. Don’t be mad at Jack.”
Her gaze refocused, as if she drew out of her thoughts and remembered I was there. “I’m not mad at Jack, baby. Jack may have thought he was protecting you, but he is not your mother. I am.
“I should’ve put a stop to this engagement a long time ago, but I didn’t even ask questions about it. I abandoned you in every way that matters—”
“No, you didn’t—”
She held up her hand, silencing me better than a scolding. “You’re so young, my sweet girl. Losing your sister killed me, but you, you lost her and then you didn’t have your mother by your side. Comforting and protecting you the way I was supposed to. Of course you felt alone in your anger and grief. You thought you had no choice but to enroll in that school and do what I should’ve done—get justice for your sister.”