Total pages in book: 24
Estimated words: 22674 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 113(@200wpm)___ 91(@250wpm)___ 76(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 22674 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 113(@200wpm)___ 91(@250wpm)___ 76(@300wpm)
“Katie caught them having sex in the bathroom a few days ago,” I continue.
“Bullshit!” Kyle roars, rising to his feet.
“And then he tried to bribe Katie into marrying him so he could get the money.”
“I did not!” His voice is panicked. He’s sweating.
“And we have the proof,” I reply.
My eyes focused directly on my son, I press the button on Katie’s recording app.
“I will give you ten thousand dollars if you go through with the wedding...” Kyle leans forward and grips the table to keep himself from falling when he hears his voice crackle through the speaker. Everyone else is in shock as the conversation continues to play. “…you don’t have to sleep with me. I can get that from Clarice. I just need us to be married. On paper.”
Holding Katie’s hand, I let the recording play until the end. No one says anything. We all just sit there in silence for what feels like an eternity.
Finally, my mother turns to her grandson, her eyes shooting daggers at him. “How dare you.”
I lean in and kiss my angel on the cheek.
“I love you, baby,” I whisper. “We did it. We did it.”
9
KATIE
My whole body is jumpy as I walk outside, leaving the house behind for what will be the last time. Robert said he’ll send someone to get my things from my room, and after that, there will be no reason for me to come back here.
Robert is still inside, going over things with his mother, his daughters, and the lawyer. He told me he wouldn’t be long and I should go wait for him.
Despite everything going just as we’d planned, I was still trembling. Now with the sun on my face and a nice breeze, I’m starting to calm down. Still, I feel like I just climbed a mountain and then skied down the other side.
That was definitely the tensest moment of my life. But now I’m a free woman. Free to spend the rest of my life with the man I love.
My phone buzzes. It’s Deena. I cannot wait to tell her about this.
“You have no idea what just happened,” I blurt out as I answer.
“You killed Kyle?” she jokes.
“No,” I laugh. “Better. Wait until you hear this.”
I go through it with her, piece by piece, step by step, all the way up to Robert’s family’s jaws hitting the floor when they heard the recording. I can just picture her face, a mixture of shock and awe, combined with joy for her best friend.
“Girl, you are amazing!” she laughs.
I laugh back. “God, I wish you were here.”
“We need to get together soon,” she says.
“Seriously. It feels like a year since I saw you last.”
It may have only been a few days, but Deena and I usually don’t go more than two without hanging out.
“I…also have something exciting to tell you about,” she says. Her voice is softer than usual, and because we’re so close, I know exactly what she’s insinuating.
“You met someone,” I say.
There’s a pause. “Maybe…”
My heart actually starts racing. “Like…someone who might be serious?”
Another pause. I can hear her smile through the phone. “Maybe…”
The door behind me opens and shuts, and I whirl, expecting to find myself staring at my wonderful man. Instead, I see Kyle marching toward me like an angry bull.
“Deena, I have to go,” I say. “But I’ll call you back.”
I hang up just as Kyle reaches me. He raises his right arm up over his head, and for a second, I think he’s about to hit me.
Instead, he points a furious finger straight at me. “What the fuck was that!? You recorded me?”
I shrug. No sympathy whatsoever. “Did you seriously think you could bribe me to marry you, Kyle?”
“But you said you would!”
His voice falters. He sounds like a little boy who didn’t get what he wanted for Christmas.
“Kyle, you cheated on me, your fiancée,” I reply. “With your dad’s girlfriend. And you want to talk to me about honesty?”
To my surprise, a look of despair comes over his face. Almost like he’s going to break down and cry or something.
“Bitch…” he mutters under his breath.
I shouldn’t care what he says. This man means nothing to me now—not like he ever did. But for some reason, maybe it’s because of everything he put me through exposing him, just hearing this word from his mouth causes something inside me to snap.
“What’d you just say?” I ask, stepping forward. Kyle looks shocked at the tone of my voice. “Did you just call me a bitch?”
He takes a step back. “You’re fucking my father!”
“What the hell do you care? We were never anything more than an arranged marriage anyway!” My blood is boiling. “And you know what? Robert makes me happy! Happier than you ever could, that’s for sure.”
Kyle raises his hands up like he’s trying to calm an angry animal or something.