6
“Where have you been? You heartless brat!
The family’s falling apart, and you’re out playing around! Get back here now! The
Company needs you!”
My mom grabbed my wrist, not letting me go.
“Great. Just what I needed. If I’d known I was
going to see you, I would have stayed in and
paid the bill.”
I couldn’t hide my disgust.
My mom turned purple. She went to smack
me, but I dodged it and kept firing shots:
“You already cut me off! Why would I come
back to the company to make you more
money? People with your level of gall are in a
league of their own!”
“You…”
My mom sputtered, unable to come up with a
coherent response.
The day I quit, she’d posted a letter about me
on social media, saying she hated me to the
bone, as if I was keeping her from being
happy!
“Brooke, you’re being so insensitive! Mom
was just upset. She didn’t mean what she
said. She deleted it shortly after, so you can’t
く
blame your mom! The company needs you
right now, and if you go back, you’d be a
savior to our family.”
In Mandy’s mind, I was just a tool they could
sweet–talk into doing whatever they wanted.
“No thanks. Not interested in being a savior.”
I tried to leave, but they clung to me,
especially Mandy, who casually dropped a
bomb.
She was pregnant.
“If you’re still mad that Jake chose me, I’ll let
you have him! After our child is born, I just
need you to let Jake know to come take care
of the child as if he was the child’s father!”
<
She rubbed her stomach, playing the victim.
That was the last straw.
“Who wants to raise your love child? Besides,
Jake is garbage. I already threw him in the
trash. Why would I dig him out? That’s too
dirty!”
Mandy lost it. Her face twisted up as she
said, “You’re just jealous! You can’t have him,
so you hate!”
“That’s rich. Weren’t you the one saying you
were gonna die in six months, using your
death as an excuse to steal someone’s man?
You’re trash, but just because you’re trash,
doesn’t mean that I am. Have fun with the
trash, but don’t come after me with it.”
く
Mandy went red and charged at me.
If I even touched her, she’d trip, have a
miscarriage, and blame it all on me.
So I just dodged.
I stumbled backward, right into a broad chest.
I looked up, and it was Luke, face like
thunder.
“Quit slacking. Take me to the office.”
“Got it.”
Seeing Luke lit up Mandy’s eyes.
7
As she stepped up to introduce herself. Luke
didn’t even glance at her. He just walked
away.
Later, I found out that Mandy had seen the
picture of Jake’s stepbrother.
Luke, that was him!
Jake may have been playing it cool, but he
was panicking.
He’d hired a private investigator to research
his brother.
Luke had been his biggest competition, and
now he was going to be his blood brother.
He freaked.
When Mandy said she was dying, he decided
