Chapter Twenty-Three
“Can you wait for a few minutes, please?”
“Sure, miss.”
Amber thanked the cab driver and got out. The first thing she did was look up at the house she’d grown up in. She’d been happy the first nine years of her life, but after her father died, there had been nothing but pain and misery.
She almost thought she would be better off if she’d never left because, for a short time, she’d been happy, and now that was taken away. Now she felt the sorrow and loneliness more. Or she would once the numbness wore off.
She planned on getting some clothes and then having the cab take her to a hotel. It couldn’t be expensive because she didn’t have a lot of money with her and just her debit card, but she needed to hide a few days until she could think straight and make plans.
The front door closed quietly behind her. The last thing she wanted was to run into her mother or sister.
“Look what the cat dragged in.”
Amber sighed and turned to face her sister. For the first time in her life, she hated her and wanted to smack the condescending grin off her face.
“Did you crawl home thinking we’d let you stay?”
“Actually, no. I’m here to grab some clothes.”
Bianca laughed and then stuck her bottom lip out. “Aww, is poor Amber feeling sad because she lost the man? You do realize you never had a chance with him, right?”
God, this was the last thing she wanted to talk about, so she stayed silent as she made her way to the steps.
“You’re not going to find anything in your room. Mom got rid of all of it.”
Amber glanced at her sister but continued to walk up the steps. She heard her call out to her mother.
“Mom, the little slut’s home,” Bianca said.
Amber stopped at the top of the stairs and pressed her fingers over her eyes. God, what did she do to deserve this? She made her way to her bedroom and opened the door. She shouldn’t have been shocked since her sister warned her, but she hadn’t expected all the furniture to be gone.
She walked into her bathroom and closet to find them empty, too.
She pressed a hand to her stomach and leaned against the counter.
“What do you want?”
Amber jumped and turned to face her mother.
“Answer me, you stupid girl.”
“Nothing. I want nothing from you.”
“Good, because you’re not going to get anything. Now, I want you to leave.”
“I want the memory box of my father.”
Her mother laughed. “Sorry, but I had it burned.”
Oh, God, no. Every picture and note she’d gotten from her father was in that box, along with little mementos he’d brought back for her from when he had to travel.
“What is wrong with you?” Amber was as shocked as her mother when she yelled at her. “How can you be as heartless and selfish? What the fuck happened to you to make you so despicable?”
A red tide of anger covered her mother’s face. “Get out,” she screamed. “Get out and never come back because I never want to see you again.”
Amber wondered if the numbness made it so she felt no pain at her mother’s words or if she expected them.