- 9.
When the doorbell rang, I thought Maya had
forgotten her phone.
She always forgot something.
く
“Forgot your phone, huh?”
My words died in my throat.
It wasn’t Maya at the door. It was Jake,
dressed like a goddamn prince.
He looked me up and down, holding a bag of
bread.
I could tell he was up to no good.
I frowned and said coldly,
“How did you find me?”
Jake stared at me like I was an idiot.
“You didn’t know? This building is owned by
<
the Lancaster family.”
“And Emily gave me your address, of course.”
My hand tightened on the doorknob, my
knuckles turning white.
Emily, always Emily.
Was this her revenge for me chasing her all
these years? The harder I tried to run away,
the more I saw her.
Jake pushed his way in, waving the bag in his
hand, looking at me like I was a joke.
“What’s with the bad welcome? I even
brought your favorite bread.”
I tried to slam the door, but it wouldn’t budge.
I stared at him, gritting my teeth.
“You must be mistaken. I don’t eat bread.”
“How can I be wrong?”
Jake raised his eyebrows, pretending to be
surprised. He leaned in and whispered,
“I remember you begging for moldy bread.”
My heart lurched. Hearing that memory, every
muscle in my body tensed.
“You know?”
Jake saw that he’d gotten to me. He gave me
a satisfied smile, his words like venom.
L
“I know you got down on all fours and barked
like a dog for a moldy piece of bread. I know
they dunked your head in the toilet just for
fun.”
The images flooded back, and I felt like I was
back in that place.
Darkness, pain, humiliation.
I started to shake.
Jake held up his phone and smiled.
“I don’t just know, I have video.”
I lifted my head and looked at him, my eyes
bloodshot.
<
“You! Did you do this?”
Jake’s lips twisted in a grin.
“Yeah, I did.”
But the question that came out of my mouth
had nothing to do with that.
“You knew Grandpa was dying, didn’t you?”
Jake paused, then burst out laughing.
“You really cared about that old coot.”
“Yeah, I knew, and that’s why I told your
parents to take away your credit cards. And
when you called Emily, I was the one who told
her you were lying.”
L
I was shaking with rage. I raised my hand and
slapped him as hard as I could.
“He was your grandfather! How could you…?”
I wanted to hurl the worst insults at him, but
he was still Grandpa’s blood relative. I
sputtered for a while, but couldn’t say
anything at all.
Jake’s head snapped to the side. But he
didn’t let up. He kept taunting me.
“I’m the Stark family heir. I’m the one they
invested in. You’re just some hick from the
sticks. How dare you try to compete with me?
And that old geezer wasn’t worth a damn.”
“You’re the only one who cared about him.”
His words made something snap in my head. I
punched him in the face, and started
swinging, trying to kill him.
I couldn’t see or hear anything. All I could see
was Jake’s mouth spouting the most hateful
words.
How could he?
How dare he?
