All attention shifted to Rebecca. Her attitude was fucking trash. I didn’t typically engage in catty confrontations. I hadn’t dealt with it in high school but was now forced to because this woman was threatened by my presence. I put my fork down and used the provided linen to wipe around my mouth.
“It’s sad you feel the need to be such a moody bitch for his attention. Is it working? Are you feeling noticed now?”
“It’s never worked and she’s not worth noticing. No one is as long as I have you.” He directed his coolly spoken words at Rebecca, reaching over to hold my hand.
Niklaus looked around the table with a wide grin. “Look at you, Cat. You fit right in.”
If this is what fitting in was, I could confidently say that I wholeheartedly preferred solitude.
“Ignore her. She’s like this with all—most people,” Zoe reassured with a friendly smile.
I shrugged again, not caring about any of this.
“You’re his girlfriend?” Amber asked. From her tone, I could tell she was genuinely asking.
“No,” I said at the time Alaric gave my hand a gentle squeeze and replied, “She’s my soon-to-be wife.”
His wife? It took all of my willpower not to openly gape at him. The table's attention shifted back to me. Immediately uncomfortable, I mindlessly reached for my water. The glass was cool to the touch. I brought it to my mouth and took a generous sip.
Patricia gave me a studious once over with the fakest smile, I’d ever seen painted on her overly red lips.
“I didn’t even know you were dating anyone, Doctor Schuyler.”
I almost choked on the current sip of water going down my throat. This was my first time hearing him called that.
“Alaric,” he corrected her. “And you wouldn’t. This is my personal life. We don’t have that kind of relationship, Patricia.”
What the hell? His light-hearted tone had me side-eyeing him. He caught me and winked, mouthing the word, see. I rolled my eyes and took another drink. I didn’t bother adding my input. I had no desire in participating in whatever this was. The whole charade was exhausting me mentally, more than I could have anticipated.
“Did you miss that he was once married too?” Rebecca questioned sarcastically. “Her sister is the one that made him a widow.”
Another look from Alaric had her hastily diverting her attention to her half-eaten salad.
Amber gasped dramatically. “Oh, I’m so sorry. We had no idea. As he said, we’re not close. Nik is the one that invited us.”
“I thought you two could use some good company,” Niklaus replied to her.
For this girl not to know about Meg, she and Alaric weren’t even acquaintances. Which again made me wonder why she and her friend had been invited tonight. They were coming off like patients of his.
I rubbed the back of my neck, physically feeling the effects of this evening. Sleep sounded wonderful right now.
“Uh, how about we switch to a more dinner-friendly conversation,” Kyle suggested with a short laugh. His attempt to lighten the mood went ignored.
“Yes,” Zoe agreed. “There’s no need to discuss that here and now, Bec. We all know the story.”
“It’s not a story it's simple facts. Why do you guys always hide what Meg did? It wasn’t any of our faults.”
“What did she do?” I was genuinely curious.
“Does anyone want dessert?” Zoe suddenly asked.
“She ruined his life and then her crazy ass had to take it a step further and off herself.”
I dropped the fork I had just picked up. The clatter of metal against porcelain was loud enough that I immediately reached for my water again to downplay the reaction.
Killed herself.
Meg killed herself.
All the food I’d consumed sat in my stomach like a slab of concrete, causing it to cramp. There was too much for me to take away from this confession.
My head felt heavy. The stares being lobbed my way prickled my skin.
Unable to meet anyone’s eye, I mumbled something of an excuse and shoved away from the table, hurrying out of the dining room. The speech in which I wanted to move and the one my body produced were drastically different.
“Get her out of my house.” I heard Alaric command someone. A commotion began directly after.
I kept walking.
Each step took more effort than it should’ve. I needed to get somewhere quiet, somewhere I could sit down. My entire body felt…off. I’d nearly made it to the bottom of the stairs when I was lifted off the ground.
I sucked in a breath and wrapped my arms around Alaric’s shoulders. “W-What are you doing?”
“You won’t make it up the steps like this.”
Like…this?
My head rolled to rest on his shoulder. “Don’t drop me,” I slurred through a whisper.
He cradled me like a precious doll that weighed nothing and carried me up the stairs. As my eyes closed I felt something wet on my face and realized I was crying.