Prologue
Do not accept a friend request from Hormel Foods. It could be Spam.
-The only thing to make Theo smile in 4 weeks
Theodora
6 years ago
“You’re going to do it, and you’re going to do it now, or I’m going to make your life a living hell,” my sister hissed in my face.
Another slap, followed by a vicious right hook to my stomach.
The air whooshed out of me all over again, yet I still didn’t agree.
I wouldn’t.
I wouldn’t.
Not today.
Not this time.
“Did you know that Tyson is in town?” my sister suddenly hissed.
I felt my belly start to sink.
No.
No, no, no, no.
“You’re going to do it.” My sister smoothed a palm down my hair, her breath fanning my face. “If you don’t, I’ll go do the same thing to our brother.”
I wanted to say that she wouldn’t.
But she would.
Mostly because she had.
My brother, Tyson, was my one and only friend in life.
He was my confidant, and the only other person aware of the sickness that ran in our family.
He was the success story, too.
He thought he’d made it.
But in reality, the only reason that he was able to live a life that was free of anything remotely sick—i.e. my sister, father, or my other brother, Andy—was because I sacrificed my freedom for his.
He didn’t know it, though.
I’d made sure of that.
“W-what do you want me to do?” I asked softly.
“I want you to go sleep with someone.” She smiled. “And make sure you get pregnant when you do.”
I would’ve laughed in her face had she not been serious.
“I…I can’t do that, T,” I said softly. “That’s immoral.”
My sister glared at me. “You can, and you will, sister. At least the sleeping part. I’ll take care of the rest if you don’t end up making a baby tonight.”
She sounded so sure of herself that I realized she would figure out a way to make it happen.
“Why?” I asked softly.
“Daddy wants this man’s support.” She shrugged. “I’m just following orders.”
I looked away.
There was no way. None. I just wouldn’t be able to do it.
My virginity had been the one and only thing I’d been able to keep.
So she and I would agree to disagree.
“I won’t do it,” I said firmly.
God help me and my brother.
My sister smiled. “I was hoping you’d say that.”
***
4 months later
“Listen, Theo,” my brother, Tyson, whispered. “You need to take this money and go.”
I looked down at the money and shook my head at his sweet gesture.
My brother had found out that I was pregnant, and he’d cashed out his 401K, his savings, and liquidated almost all of his assets just so I could have a fresh start. But…it wasn’t enough and we both knew it. That money would buy me a year at most. A year. And that wasn’t enough. Not nearly enough, unfortunately. Not when it came to my father. Tara. Andy.
Ugh, how I wish life was different.
But it wasn’t.
The life I led was a sad one. One that didn’t have a happy ending.
“It’s too late for that, Ty,” I whispered, palming my belly. “It’s too late for that.”
Tyson looked down at my belly and I could see the frustration clear on his face.
“A baby will just be another pawn to them,” he promised. “You’re going to see. This isn’t going to go the same way that you think it will. That you’re hoping it might. There’s no good inside of them. Only hate, destruction, and in Tara’s case, nothing. They’re going to hurt you, and your baby, and where will that leave you?”
He was right. I knew he was right.
Yet, I couldn’t let that happen.
If I left, it would mean safety for me and my baby—maybe. There was absolutely no guarantee that I could stay hidden. But what I knew for sure was that it would mean the death of my sister’s child. The death of my brother. Because there was no way that my father, Andy, my brother’s twin, and Tara, my twin, wouldn’t figure it out. Wouldn’t realize that Tyson had helped.
And there was also nothing in the world that would be able to stop her from using whatever she could to get me to come out of hiding, even threatening the life she carried.
There were only a handful of people that even knew where I was. And none of them would betray my father but one.
I knew it.
He knew it.
Yet he was offering me this chance, anyway.
“I’m not going to do that to you, Ty,” I told him bluntly. “Then neither one of us will be happy. At least this way, you can go about your business, live your life, and be somewhat happy.”
Tyson gave me a quelling look.
“You’re my baby sister.” His voice cracked. “I can’t leave you here like this. It’s time for you to be free, Theo. Free to live your life. Free for your baby to live his or her life.”