Collect
Chapter 6
I let out a bitter laugh.
And then stepped straight into the rain.
Cold droplets streamed into my eyes, stinging, sharp–like tears I refused to let fall.
I walked on, dragging my suitcase behind me, silently trying to figure out my next move. A hotel, maybe. That’d be easiest.
Because the truth was–I’d lied.
I wasn’t still living on campus. I’d already graduated, and the dorms didn’t allow alumni to stay. I had nowhere else to go.
As I reached the street outside the estate, the gates to the neighboring house swung open.
Julian.
He came running out from the Ford residence, calling after me.
“Claire! Would it kill you to just say something nice for once?”
He caught up to me, rain soaking through his collar.
“Harper’s such a sweet girl–why can’t you just get along with her?”
Of course. That again.
None of them ever stopped to ask the most basic question. If Harper was so good, so kind, so sweet… Then why couldn’t I get along with her?
Maybe because she wasn’t what they thought she was, Maybe because she smiled to their faces and stabbed behind their backs. But I didn’t say any of that.
Because for the first time, I realized something.
Julian–the boy I used to love with every fiber of my being–there was nothing left to say to him.
When I stayed silent, he lost patience and grabbed my wrist.
“Claire, can you stop with the dead–fish look already?”
“Just apologize to Harper. Tell her you’ll get along from now on. If you do that, I’ll agree to get engaged. Isn’t that what you want?”
I stopped walking Turried to look him square in the eyes.
“There won’t be an engagement, Julian,” I said quietly. “We broke up a long time ago. Remember?”
His expression hardened. He flung my hand away like it burned,
“You’re impossible. I should’ve never gone easy on you.”
“Keep pushing like this, Claire, and one day you’ll destroy yourself. Don’t expect anyone to come clean up the mess when you do.” He turned and stalked back toward the house.
And I
I kept walking
The rain had soaked through everything I wore. My fingers were numb by the time I reached the edge of the neighborhood.
This area was notoriously hard to call a ride in, but I got lucky. Just before my legs gave out from the cold, a driver finally accepted. He looked skeptical when I climbed in, dripping wet.
Chapter &
I handed him a generous tip.
“Just drive,” I murmured.
As we pulled off, headlights flashed across the windshield.
A black Bentley was parked at the edge of the block Logan’s car.
Of course
He probably came just to watch me tall apart. To see how far his once–favorite little sister had fallen.
The hazard lights blinked. A signal. A warning.
The driver glanced over. “You know him?
I shook my head. “Nope. Just go.
As the car rolled forward, I glanced back one last time.
Through the blurry windshield and pouring rain… I thought I saw his face. He looked panicked. Worried.
But maybe I imagined it.
Alter all–why would he worry about me?
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