It was almost as if I was in a dream as I felt my feet moving. I could vaguely hear Tanner and Leo in the background calling my name. I hadn’t realized I was running until I was pushing out the glass doors into the garden.
I squinted as the brightness of the day assaulted my vision. I stumbled forward in search of one person and one person only. I was going to strangle my mother and enjoy every last second of it.
How could she do this to her only daughter? She knew how Chris had treated me while we were married and she continually took his side. But to throw him a fucking engagement party? Was the woman truly daft?
I walked forward as I scanned the immediate area for the bitch that birthed me. The garden was as gorgeous as ever. The thick bushes full of perfect flowers made the area smell sweet like spring. Little cauldrons of fire scattered across the area, making it seem cozier than I knew it to be. Everywhere you looked were servers in white coats and black pants holding silver trays filled with alcoholic drinks.
I walked down the flourished steps until my feet hit the plush grass covering the expanse of the ground around me. A server walked right past me and without thinking I reached out as quickly as I could. I grabbed the first thing I could on the tray before gulping it down. I tried not to cringe as the warm liquor slid down my throat and warmed my belly.
The server looked at me in horror before signaling someone behind me. One glance over my shoulder had me cursing. The fucking security guard rushed down the steps after me.
I held my hands up as he gripped my upper arm. “I’m just looking for Patricia,” I said as I handed the glass back to a very disgruntled server. I nearly laughed as they scoffed back toward the bar.
The guard looked me up and down as if deciding if I belonged there. That’s when I looked around at the other partygoers. Some stared at me as they whispered behind their hands while others openly frowned my way as if I were beneath them. All of them in summer dresses, slacks, and blazers. I knew these types of people. They all thought they were better than me in my jeans and t-shirt.
I frowned back as I started to raise my middle finger at them all. The guard grabbed my wrist and started to drag me back to the house. “You don’t belong here,” he whispered harshly.
“No shit, Sherlock. I just need to talk to my fucking mother and then I will leave. Trust me, I don’t want to be here anymore than you want me here,” I said as I tried to pull from his grasp.
He held me fast as he continued to drag me back the way I came. I glanced up as we continued and spotted another two guards holding Leo and Tanner back as they tried to come for me. Tanner was grinning like a madman as he seemed to play with his guard while Leo kept trying to push past his. I could practically feel his impatience to get to me from where I stood.
“It’s okay, she’s a guest,” a soft-spoken voice came from behind me.
I whipped my head in the direction the voice came from and immediately frowned. Who the hell is she?
The short woman with long bottle-blonde hair stood behind me. Her light-brown eyes reminded me of a doe. Prey-like. Her small frame was almost swallowed whole in the thick long-sleeved gown she was wearing. I raised my eyebrows at the weirdness of her attire choice. It was at least eighty degrees outside and yet she wore a gown more fitted for winter.
She smiled brightly up at the guard before extending her hand to me. “Emily, right?” she inquired with a small wink.
I looked between her and the guard before nodding.
She returned my nod. “Your mother asked me to fetch you.” She grinned before looking toward the guard expectantly.
The guard stammered as he released my arm as quickly as he had grabbed it. “I’m so sorry, miss,” he said to the woman before he took a step back.
“It’s quite all right, Henry. You were just doing your job.” The woman glanced over my head toward Leo and Tanner before nodding. “Can you please assure Emily’s traveling companions that she will be right out? They may wait where they are or go back inside but I’m afraid,”—she looked back toward me before raking a judgmental gaze down my wardrobe—“they are not fit to enter as they don’t adhere to the dress code.”
I scowled at the little doe and thought to myself that maybe she wasn’t prey after all. She had claws underneath that soft exterior she presented to the world.
“Yes, miss.” Henry gave a head nod before turning on a heel and heading back up the stairs. I looked after him until the woman gripped my wrist.
She was so much shorter than me, I almost felt enormous as I looked down at her. “Come this way.” She smiled up at me and I could have sworn there was a little darkness lurking behind those perfect teeth.
I nodded as I followed her away from the prying eyes of the party. She led me down the winding path that led into the closed-off area of the garden. Tall bushes and scattered fountains would assure nobody saw or heard what we spoke about.
This was just typical of Patricia. Rather than face her own problems head-on like an adult, she would rather send someone else to do her bidding.
Once we were in the closed-off area in the garden, my chauffeur stopped to admire the huge fountain at its center. I walked around her warily as I searched each seating area for my mother. When I came up empty-handed, I glanced back at Miss Perfect for answers.
“So, you’re the famous Emily. I have to admit, I didn’t think I would ever get the chance to meet you. You’re much prettier than I expected.” The woman’s voice held no small amount of awe as she pulled her gaze from the water back to me. I ignored her backhanded compliment and studied her closely. The look she gave me had me regretting my earlier thought. This woman was no prey. She was all predator and she had done such a good job hiding it.
“Who exactly are you?” I asked as I sidestepped away from her.
She laughed as if what I asked was the funniest thing in the world. “It figures you crash my party and you don’t even know who I am.” She grinned ferally toward me.
Her words dawned on me then. “Brittany,” I whispered.
“The one and only.” She held her hands out as though presenting herself. “What? No congratulations for the blushing bride?” Her eyes darkened as she studied me.
“You’re marrying Chris so I think the word you’re looking for is condolences,” I murmured as I really looked at the woman in front of me. I now noticed the slight darkening under her eyes that she tried to hide with makeup. If he was already hitting her, the long-sleeved dress was making sense now.
“What did you just say to me?” she gritted behind clenched teeth.
“I said my condolences. I’ve been in your shoes and I wouldn’t wish it on anyone,” I said as I straightened my spine.
She crossed her arms over her chest and scoffed at me. “You don’t know shit.”
“I know that it starts small … I bet it’s already started, hasn’t it?” I asked. If I hadn’t been studying her so intently, I would have missed the way her shoulders bunched at my words. “First, he’s quick to get angry with you over small things, like that one time you may have forgotten to pick up the dry cleaning,” I continued as she glared at me. I could tell she hated me. Whether she was told to hate me or she just truly made her own judgments about me didn’t matter. What mattered was her safety.
“Then it turns to explosive anger, screaming at you for not doing as you’re told. All that is mild compared to what happens when he gets really comfortable. When his cruel words turn into rough hands.” I didn’t miss the way Brittany rubbed her wrist as though it pained her. My bet was there was a dark bruise that marred the skin there. “Might be an arm yank here and there, maybe he will shake you a little too hard.”
I stepped toward her now. Coming closer and closer to the woman that was now residing in my old place. Even if she was nasty to me, that didn’t mean she deserved what was going to happen to her. “Even that is easy compared to the first time the back of his hand flies across your cheek the one time you stick up for yourself,” I whispered as I tried to grab her hand.
She jerked away from me and stared up at me like I was her enemy. “I would never do anything to upset him the way you did,” she hissed at me. “I have heard stories about you, Emily,” she said my name as though the words soured on her tongue. “You weren’t a good wife. You never treated Christopher the way a wife should treat her husband.” She raised her perfect nose to me as if I was the crazy one here. As if she were better than me.
I gritted my teeth before stepping into her space. Even though this woman pissed me off to no end, I wouldn’t be able to leave unless I knew she had a way out.
I used my size to my advantage as I gripped her elbow and brought her closer to me. “You don’t have to believe me now, but when it starts, if it hasn’t already,” I whispered before handing her a business card from my purse, “call me and I’ll help you.”
Nobody deserves to be abused by the person they’re supposed to be able to trust most in this world.
I watched her eyes widen as she studied me. She swallowed thickly before looking at the card in my hand. She didn’t look me in the eye as she took it from me. I sighed as a little relief coursed through my body. At least she had a way out.
“What in the hell are you doing?” a shrill voice caused Brittany to jump and I released her. The woman behind the voice may have scared her, but it held no such power over me. Not anymore.
The sound of high heels clicking against the stone path filled my ears as I turned to face the true monster of my past—my mother.
“You come into this party, uninvited, and accost Christopher’s fiancée. What was your plan, Emily? To scare her into not marrying him?” Patricia’s shrill voice made me cringe as she approached us.
“I mean, that isn’t a terrible idea. But no, I’m just making sure she has a scapegoat for when she needs it,” I said calmly as my mother grabbed my wrist.
“Oh, really, Emily, you’re still on this. You and I both know Christopher treated you like a queen. He didn’t abuse you. If anything, you did the abusing when you decided to cheat on him with that man.” She referred to Leo as if he was the gum beneath her shoe. Her hazel eyes that looked too much like my own were full of so much hatred.
I yanked my hand away and stalked closer to her. I took satisfaction from the brief glimpse of fear I saw in her eyes.
“That man is the only person to ever treat me with the love I deserved. He is the reason I didn’t kill myself when Chris refused to give me a divorce. He was never the villain in this story, you were,” I seethed.
Patricia had the common sense to back away from me. She shook her head as she turned around and headed back toward the party. I followed closely.
“Oh, what? Now you have nothing to say to me?” I bated her as she walked faster down the path. “You’re the one that told Chris I hired Leo, and do you know what he did to me?” I asked.
She didn’t stop walking as I continued, “He beat me, Mother. He left me bruised and broken on the floor as he taunted me with pictures of Leo and me together.” We rounded the corner and the rest of the party came into view. I gripped Patricia’s wrist and jerked her around to face me. She winced as a pop sounded in the joint and I had to smother my grin of delight.
“Are you happy with what you’ve caused, Mother? Do you have anything to say for yourself?” I yelled so that everyone would hear me. These people were bloodthirsty vultures for any tidbit of gossip they could find, and I would be the one feeding them tonight.
Patricia wrenched her arm away from me before facing me. “You spoiled little bitch!” she screamed and I smiled. “Do you have any idea what Chris is worth to this family? You were going to fuck it all up because he was a little too rough with you. Boo fucking hoo.” She sneered at me. “I had to do what I did to make sure we could still cash in on that wealth. Telling him you were the one to hire the PI and that you were fucking him was the only way I could make Chris trust us again,” she admitted.
“So, you’re the one that told him I was sleeping with Leo too. Why am I not surprised?” I said.
I saw red as Patricia started to laugh. “Who do you think gave Chris the pictures?”
Before I could stop to think about my actions, I raised my hand and slapped her across the face as hard as I could. The crowd behind us gasped as her whole body snapped to the side. My palm screamed at me, but that didn’t stop the surplus of satisfaction coursing through my body as I saw the red mark appear along her cheek before she covered it with her hand.
“You’re a wretched, heartless bitch and I hope you rot in hell,” I gritted out as I stepped around her. I was done with this life. I had gotten the admission I came here for and I could finally put it all behind me.
“Don’t you walk away from me, Emily! You stop right now or I will cut you off permanently. Do you hear me? You are no longer a part of this family!” she screamed behind my back.
I rolled my eyes and smiled to myself as I stopped at one of the fire cauldrons. I found my wallet and removed that little black card I’d enjoyed abusing all these years. Without a second thought, I tossed it into the fire.
“I have my own family, I don’t need yours,” I announced as I walked toward the front drive and smiled proudly at the gawking faces.