Total pages in book: 109
Estimated words: 101796 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 509(@200wpm)___ 407(@250wpm)___ 339(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101796 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 509(@200wpm)___ 407(@250wpm)___ 339(@300wpm)
But that got her, at least a little. I know it did. “I’m fucking talking to you.” Grabbing a dinner roll from the basket between us, I hurl it straight at her head and watch it bounce off before hitting the floor.
That got her.
Her head snaps up, and I am almost salivating over the tears I know I’m going to see behind those ugly glasses.
Only there are no tears. There is nothing but cold, hard hatred, only magnified by her lenses. I’m so surprised I almost swallow my tongue.
Where does she get off looking pissed? Who does she think she is? I would ask, but Dad and Irene come back too soon. They both hold two small plates, each with a slice of cake. I’m surprised Irene will even let Elliana have one, but it’s pretty thin.
“A night like this calls for a little celebration,” Dad announces, turning my stomach. “And just think—in only a few weeks, we’ll be cutting into a much bigger cake in front of all our family and friends.”
I don’t know if I should laugh or cry. The poor bastard. He’s even looking forward to his public humiliation.
It’s not his humiliation I care about right now. It’s the humiliation of the cold little bitch across from me, who has gone back to staring down at her plate, barely picking at her cake. She has everything she could ever want, but she can’t be bothered to be grateful.
It looks like she needs a lesson in gratitude. Not to mention instruction in good manners.
It just so happens I have nothing better to do than teach her.
TWO
Elliana
Why won’t this end? What did I ever do to be tortured like this?
I don’t want the cake. It looks beautiful—three layers, thick chocolate frosting—but my stomach turns at the sight of it. Really, this cake is like a symbol of my life. Now that we’re living here, now that Mom is married, everything looks beautiful on the outside.
The inside? That’s another story.
“This is delicious,” Mom gushes, because that’s all she does anymore. She gushes. Everything is the best, everything is perfect. Nothing has ever been as great as it is right now, this very minute. “What do you think, honey? This is the bakery in charge of our wedding cake.”
I didn’t realize she was talking to me. She never calls me honey. But when I get another kick under the table, I force myself to look her way. “It’s good.”
“I was starting to think you forgot how to talk,” Carter mutters while Mom talks about cake fillings or whatever it is she’s interested in.
He’s a bully, and I know how to deal with bullies. It’s just like trying to fight a fire: deprive it of oxygen, and it has nowhere to go. I don’t know what his problem is with me, but it’s nothing new. He’s not even original.
“I don’t know. I like a nice raspberry filling. What do you think?” Paul asks Carter, who is barely picking at his slice.
“Whatever you want. It’s your wedding.” Somehow, he manages to make that sound like a great big, fat fuck you.
The sharp look Paul gives him tells me he already told his idiot son to behave himself, but Carter doesn’t feel like it. He hates us, and he’s not trying to hide it. No, he wants us to know. He wants to make us as uncomfortable as he can.
The thing is, he doesn’t need to try. At least, not with me. I’m uncomfortable enough already. Every day. But especially now, when I can’t look at this bully for fear of what he’ll see in my eyes when I do. It’ll be like blood in the water. He’ll know exactly how scared I am. Not of him, especially, but of everybody.
Even Paul, and he’s at least been nice to me. He’s gone out of his way to be kind and welcoming. He wants so much for us to work as a family. But when he came too close to me a few times today while he was directing the movers, my heart stuttered, and I froze. The man was only passing by, but I almost lost it, when he’s never been anything but overly devoted to Mom’s happiness.
It’s such a shame he doesn’t understand. She’ll never really be happy. Nothing is ever enough. I’m not enough of a daughter for her. A simple courthouse wedding wasn’t enough, and she’s already thinking about redecorating the house. I don’t know if he’s aware of that yet.
But a man with all his money can afford it. That’s what Mom says, anyway. I wonder if he knows. I wonder if he would care if he did. He’s completely infatuated with her. I hope for her sake it lasts.
The sound of Carter’s fork hitting his plate startles me, and I jump a little, my heart in my throat. All he does is give me a funny sort of look while Mom laughs. “I swear, it takes nothing to make you jump. Why in the world are you so tense all the time?”