Total pages in book: 55
Estimated words: 54520 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 273(@200wpm)___ 218(@250wpm)___ 182(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 54520 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 273(@200wpm)___ 218(@250wpm)___ 182(@300wpm)
“That’s what this is really about, isn’t it?” she sneers, accusation laced in every syllable. “You don’t care about protecting me or my feelings. You’re just mad Finch chose me over you. Well, get over it. I’m tired of carrying all the blame for this. I liked him first, and you went out with him anyway.”
“Because I didn’t know,” I wail, sick of repeating myself. “If I had, I never would’ve touched him. But that’s the difference between us, Hattie. I’m loyal. I have dignity. You?” My gaze flicks over her, heavy with disgust. “You’re so desperate for attention you’ll spread your legs for anyone who glances your way, no matter who it hurts. That’s not love…that’s pathetic.”
Her face flames, eyes dilating with fury. “You bitch.”
The word detonates, setting off the fire that’s been simmering for years. A lifetime of resentment erupts all at once, spilling into the space as we hurl insults, shoves, and accusations, each one meant to cut deep.
It’s absolute chaos…until my parents appear out of nowhere.
“What the hell is going on here?” My mother wedges herself between us, arms thrown out like a shield. “Are you two out of your minds?”
Hattie and I glare at each other over her shoulder, chests heaving, clawing for air.
“Harlow? Hattie?” my father presses, his gaze shifting between us. “What’s this about?”
I stare at my sister, arching a brow. “You want to tell them, or should I?”
She stays quiet, eyes sliding from mine in rigid defiance.
The moment shatters when the sharp rhythm of footsteps echo in the near distance.
Finch barrels into view, his tie askew, and shirt rumpled, the maid of honor trailing right behind him.
“What’s with all the goddamn yelling?” he barks, irritation etched across his face as if he’s the one inconvenienced.
“That’s what we’re trying to figure out,” my mother says, turning her attention back to Hattie and me. “One of you better explain, right now.”
The fight has drained from my sister now, her eyes hollow with pain as she stares at Finch and the woman beside him.
It’s that devastation that hardens my resolve, and why I won’t let this go. I can’t.
“You want to know what’s going on, Mom?” My gaze cuts to the enemy and his accomplice. “I just caught the two of them screwing behind the janitorial shed.”
The hallway implodes, the air vanishing on a collective gasp. My mother’s hand flies to her chest, my father’s eyes widening. The maid of honor stiffens, but Finch remains unshaken…calm, cool, collected.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” he says easily, dismissing the claim with a smirk that only fuels my rage.
“The hell I don’t, you son of a bitch. I saw you!”
My father places a steadying hand on my shoulder. “That’s enough, Harlow.” His gaze shifts to Finch. “Is this true?”
The implication that I could be lying stings, but I swallow it back.
“Of course not.” The lie rolls easily off his tongue. “You know me, Doc. I’d never hurt Hattie like that.”
“Then where were you just now?” I question, refusing to let him off so easily. “Why are you even with her? Shouldn’t you be with your groomsmen?”
His confidence doesn’t waver. “Christina couldn’t find the bridal suite, so I offered to walk her here.”
The maid of honor bobs her head. “It’s true.”
I snort, their excuse so lame they may as well be reading from a bad script.
Finch crosses to Hattie, draping an arm around her shoulders. “Hattie knows I’d never do something like that. Isn’t that right, sweetheart?”
My father’s gaze settles on Hattie, weighted with uncertainty. “Honey? What do you think?”
Her tear-filled eyes find mine, as if reaching for something to hold onto.
Hope flares in my chest, fragile and desperate, as I silently offer her the lifeline she needs.
“You could postpone it,” my father adds. “Take some time to think it through.”
Finch stiffens next to her, clearly not liking that idea and that’s when I lose her.
My sister shakes her head. “No, I don’t need time to think it through. I want to get married.”
That decision pierces through me, severing what little remained of us.
I turn to my parents now, desperate for reason. “Tell me you’re not going to let her do this? It’s so obvious he’s lying.”
“Maybe you’re the one lying,” Finch cuts in smoothly.
My attention snaps back to him. “And why the hell would I do that?”
“Revenge? Jealousy?” He shrugs, hitting his mark. “I worried something like this might happen, that you’d find a way to ruin our day. But Hattie insisted you be here.”
The silence that follows that statement hits like a sledgehammer.
He breaks from Hattie now and strides toward me, his steps confident, eyes flat and cold.
For the first time, real fear prickles through me.
My father shifts, as if ready to move closer, when one voice shatters it all.
“Take one more step, Whitmore, and I’ll break your fucking legs.”