It doesn’t matter though. I don’t want his pity, his protection, his guilt. I want nothing from someone who thought I was a liar up until they heard it directly from the source. I just wish I could convince my heart to feel the same. I’m pretty sure I was falling for him… even with all his antics.
“Did Henry threaten you?” she asks next.
“Would it matter if he did?” My eyes fall to the floor.
“Of course it would matter, you’re my daughter and I love you very much. It might not always seem that way, but I do. If Henry did something, I want to know.”
“Then, yes, he did threaten me.”
Her mouth pops open, shock overtaking her features.
“What happened? Why would he threaten you?”
“I told Vance something, something that Henry lied about.”
“In what way did he threaten you?”
“Look, it doesn’t matter.” I pull my hand out of hers. “It’s done and over with.” Shoving off the bed, I walk toward the window.
“It most certainly does matter. I will not have my daughter staying in a hotel room. You’ll come back to the house with me and I’ll get all of this sorted out.”
“It’s not that easy, Mom.”
“Please, Ava. Please, come back to the house with me. I’ll talk to Henry, get all this sorted out. You’re doing so well, and you seem so happy.”
I want to laugh. Happy? If she was paying attention at all, she would’ve seen how miserable I was. The only time I wasn’t truly miserable was when I was with Vance. When I was with him, I felt like I was whole, like the storm inside me calmed. I was the hurricane, but he was the eye of the storm and together we barrel toward the shore.
“I… I don’t know, Mom.”
I can’t stay in this hotel forever, I know that, but I also don’t know what the hell to do. Being around Vance is going to be hard, especially when I know that he is going to do everything he can to make up his wrongdoings to me.
But being around Henry is going to be even harder. He showed me his real self yesterday and I doubt I’ll ever be able to see him in a different light. How can I live with someone like that? Someone so selfish and careless that he would lie and deceive the people closest to him.
“Just…just do it for me, sweetie. I promise I’ll do everything I can to make things better for you. I don’t want to lose you again. You just got here.”
The sadness in her voice breaks through the perfectly built walls surrounding my heart. I want to say no, but it’s not like I have any other options. At least not until I figure out another solution. I can’t go back to my father, but I could find a job and get an apartment.
“Okay, I’ll come home with you, for now,” I sigh. My mom’s shoulders sag in relief. “But I’ll be looking for a job and getting an apartment as soon as I can. I love you, but I won’t be living in that mansion with him forever.”
She nods her head but doesn’t protest even though it looks like she wants to. If I’m going to stay, I’m going to have to find a way to get out from underneath Henry’s thumb, and away from Vance. He’s already broken my heart… but I’ll be damned if I let him break me.
Chapter Eighteen
Vance
Blood trickles down my hand and onto the white marble floor. I should clean the wound, patch it up, but I don’t give a fuck. The only thing I give a fuck about right now isn’t in this house, and that terrifies me. The thought of her never coming back. It’s a real fear, something I never expected to feel when it came to her.
How could I be so stupid? How could I be so wrong…so blind? I’ve never wished to turn back time as much as I do now. The mistakes I made. The way I treated her. All those things are unforgivable. I’m so ashamed and the guilt is eating me alive, but the worry I feel for her right now is strongest of all. I’ll take whatever pain I have to, bathe in it, so long as she’s okay, so long as I get to see her smile again.
Sitting down on the cold stairs, I stare at the huge wooden doors in front of me, willing her to walk through them. I don’t know where she went or where she is now. What if she’s so hurt that she decides that she never wants to see me again? Fuck, I couldn’t even hold it against her if she did. I fucked up. I fucked up so bad.
Thinking back at the words I spoke, the threats, the way I took her body. I curl my hurt hand into a fist, my physical pain reminding me of the emotional pain I caused her. I wish I could take all her pain and make it my own. I would gladly do so if I could.