CHAPTER49
NOVA
My parents arein the same room, and they’re silent. If I don’t speak now, they’ll get going again and I’ll lose my chance.
“Mama. Dad.” I grip the back of one of the conference chairs with white knuckles. “I’m going to say something, and you’re not going to like, it but I need you to trust me.”
“What’s wrong, Pumpkin?” Mom stands, and we are back in a position we’ve been in a thousand times before. My parents squared off to battle, with me in the middle.
“The reason why I left is because I was blackmailed.”
“You were what?” Mom says, and Dad pinches his nose. “I thought it was just some pictures.”
“Blackmailed. They told me to disappear. They meant from the spotlight, but I took it literally. I didn’t want to ruin your merger, so I left. That’s where I met Zeke.” I rub my stomach and look at him, still there. He nods.
“This is ridiculous,” Dad mumbles, and I hold my hand out to silence him.
“Dad, please,” I say with a harshness in my voice that startles both my parents. “Someone is trying to hurt me by going after all of you.”
The confusion settles in again because I don’t know how it all fits together. Was Dru’s accident just an accident that she used to further her game, or did she do it on purpose… or am I just supposed to suspect her? I’d never thought about that angle, and it shoves me deeper into my doubt. What if it wasn’t her at all?
“Do you know who it is?” Mom asks, but her expression is doubtful. Like I might be making it all up.
“We think it might be Dru,” I whisper, clasping my hands in front of me. Mom sits back hard in her chair.
“That’s a serious accusation,” Dad speaks first, his words slow.
“I know,” I whisper, tears clinging to my lashes as it sinks in that my sister is trying to destroy me. But what if she isn’t? What if it’s deeper than this? The blackmailer wants me away from my family. Dru has been trying to convince me to come home.
“What makes you think that?” Mom asks.
“That photo that was released of Zeke. I didn’t take it. She did—”
“How is that proof?” Mom interrupts me.
“Let her finish,” Dad huffs, and Mom turns a glare to him. “Jesus, Ronnie, you don’t have to take over every conversation you’re in.”
“Excuse me? Nova is accusing our other daughter of blackmailing and threatening her.” Mom stands and puts her palms flat on the table.
“No one said anything about threatening.” Dad matches her stance.
The twisting pain in my head as I try to untangle the strings of this mess intensifies. I just need a minute to think. A quiet fucking minute.
“Mama.” I start. “Dad.”
They hear nothing. They see nothing through their hatred of each other. In moments they are arguing loudly enough that all I hear is a ringing in my ears.
“Stop,” I say, but no one hears me—no one but Zeke.
His gaze is on me, still and calm. He holds me to the room. He sees me. Through it all, he sees only me. Because he was the invisible one too. He knows exactly what it’s like. It gives me the strength I need to allow myself to feel what I’ve been holding back for years.
“Stop! Fucking stop it!” I scream, and both my parents lose their voices, mouths still hanging open, but no words coming out. “Stop fighting with each other and just listen to me.”
I heave out breath after breath, my limbs shaking. My gut aching. Pain ripping through my brain. I grip the back of the chair in front of me with power surging through my body. I’m done with this. I’m done with all of this shit.
“You two do nothing but fight over me. I’m not a kid anymore. I’m having a baby, for God’s sake. Just stop fucking putting me in the middle of your bullshit.”
Both my parents are dumbstruck at my outburst, and to be honest, so am I. I’ve been holding all this in for so long, even I wasn’t sure how I truly felt about it all.