"It just so happens that the hearing you had—which was a ridiculous event to begin with—was overseen by a judge who hated your father. And it was three days after the damn accident. Ever think about how weird and fast that was?" she continues, nailing the coffin shut as my world collapses around me.
I almost want to strangle her just to have an outlet. This isn't happening. This can't be happening.
My eyes scour the pages, needing one simple bit of proof for redemption.
"Her mother still lives in a trailer," I say in a hoarse whisper.
Her hand comes up to my shoulder again, as I sit hunched over, my elbows on my knees, my head hung low, and my hands clasped tightly in front of me.
"Because her mother didn't know. She divorced Ray Drivel the second she learned who he was, and she never contacted him again. Raya probably didn't get involved in his scams until she was older. Much older. Her mother was the only parent she had, so she had to walk a line. She refused to take tainted money, unlike Raya."
I swallow hard, fighting back tears for the second time in two days. Then the door opens and shuts, allowing an eerie crawl to invade the room.
"I'll handle this," Courtney whispers, but I shake my head, unable to form words as I still try to wrap my mind around everything.
"Kade, she'll screw with your head if she stays. You have to get rid of her now, because she knows your weaknesses. She'll have you wrapped around her finger by nightfall," she says, still speaking in a whisper.
She gets still and quiet beside me, and I feel, rather than see, Raya behind me. I don't even know how to face this.
"You need to go. Now," Courtney hisses, acting as though she's about to break out her claws.
I really don't need her here right now. Not for this. I need Raya to look me in the eye and tell me the truth.
"I'll let Kade tell me what to do," Raya says, sounding completely devoid of any emotion, making it all the harder to believe her innocence.
The Raya I know is fragile, and she'd already be upset. This Raya? This Raya already sounds a thousand times colder.
I keep my eyes trained on the floor, needing another damn minute to get myself in check before I lose it. "Go, Courtney. I need to speak to Raya alone," I murmur as calmly as possible.
"No. Kade, she's a con. She can easily manipulate you into making another mistake."
"Just go, Courtney!" I yell, feeling her jump beside me.
She stands and goes, but I don't even glance up. I hear the clicking of her heels slow as she gets behind me, but they don't stop completely. After a few seconds, the normal pace continues and the door shuts behind her.
Everything comes swirling around, crashing into me with truths I don't want to believe, but it's clear. Right now I feel like a puppet with too many strings attached to the girl I stupidly fell in love with.
"So you're a con?" I ask, finally looking up, feeling a piece of me break apart. "That's what all this was? You show up, find a way to weasel yourself into my house, and then what? Make me fall for you? Take everything I have?"
It all pours out of me as I rein in my tears, refusing to shed one over her. How could she? She's cold. Ice cold. Her face remains stoic as she stares me down.
"My father is a con. I'm just his daughter. But I think you've already made up your mind about me. There's nothing I can or will say to try to change your mind. I've seen that look before."
A glimmer of hope spreads when she says that, but it's not enough. The Raya I know would have already sat down and explained things to me. Or gotten fighting mad and called me a slew of names.
This Raya is frigid and clinical, not showing an ounce of emotion right now. And she's not even denying this was a con. She's talking around the subject and deflecting. She didn't just fuck me over; she fucked us all over. That one bottle of wine is worth more than half a million dollars.
"Deny it, Raya. Can you at least do that?" I ask in a deadly low tone, needing her to at least try to claim her innocence. "Can you say that you didn't play me? That you didn't work me over real damn well? And my father? And my grandfather? I should have fucking known he wouldn't have handed that bottle over for just any reason. You poured on the charm and he fell for it just like I did. Like we all did."
She stands completely still, not even gracing me with a flinch. It's as though this is all so easy. Watching me in ruins is easy for her.
"Yeah," she says at last, breaking another piece of my heart. "I talked those frat boys into bulldozing my house just so I could move in here. I cunningly whispered in your father's ear to plant the idea in his head. I conned him into buying me clothes and bringing me to Aspen. Is that what you want? I told your grandfather I love you just so he'd give me a bottle of wine he treasured. Happy? I told you I love you because I wanted to steal everything you have and disappear into the wind. There. Now you can feel good about doing this."
Sarcasm. Anyone guilty always uses sarcasm so they can admit their sins while slapping you in the face like you're an idiot.
She walks away, acting as though she has the right to leave here without giving me a real answer. All she has to do is tell me she didn't do this, that she never would, that she told me she loved me because she really does, and I'll believe her. That's all I want.
But instead I get this.