Page 74 of Bittersweet Revenge

He laughed. “No, I don’t think you do. I don’t think most of us do,” he added quickly when he noticed I was about to argue. “We’ve got it all, you even more than me. I don’t think I’ve ever been as happy as she is now. She’s free whereas we’re not, not really. We can fool each other as much as we want, but we wear those chains too.”

“Thanks for the game. Until next time.” I nodded at him and exited the room, leaving him behind. I didn't even know if he’d added something. I was just too busy thinking about how I could actually pull this off without completely destroying things with my father...and how I could do it without missing her too much.

Once more, I drank myself into oblivion. Since Esmeralda had entered my life, I’d really started to become a clinical alcoholic. Was this what feelings turned people into?

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I woke up with a banging headache way later than I should have. I reached for my phone, but it was off, so I looked at my watch, squinting.

Ten.I growled, forcing myself up. I wasn't sure any amount of coffee would save me.

But contrary to all odds, thirty minutes after a hot shower, my bodyweight in coffee, and two Tylenol, I felt human again. A beat-up one, but still.

I couldn’t stop thinking about what McAllister had said last night. That was the only solution. As much as part of me hated there was an actual way out, I could not spend a life with someone who didn't want me the way I wanted her.

Going to school was out of the question today. I felt functioning, but not enough to sit for hours during boring lectures. I had things to do, relationships to break, and I had to do all that before I changed my mind like the fickle man I was becoming. I had to do it before Esmeralda did something that would allow that insidious, poisonous hope to take hold of my heart once more.

I went home and was not surprised that Esmeralda’s car wasn’t in the driveway. She was at school, like the good little angel she was.

Now I just needed to go into my father’s office and find the contact details of the lawyer who could help me draft a stupid contract that would help her escape me. Something strong enough to protect her from me when I'd inevitably change my mind and chase her down. Something that will actually stop me from going to her when I was at my weakest.

I looked up the stairs wistfully. I should go to the office and get what I needed. Yet I hated that I’d returned the cufflinks. I never should have given them back. They were a memory of her, a present I wanted returned.

I rolled my eyes and went upstairs. Just a few minutes wouldn’t hurt the schedule. I wanted those stupid things back and they belonged to me anyway.

I had my hand on the doorknob when I was interrupted. “She’s gone.”

I tensed, turning around slowly to look at my mother standing in front of me in her silk dressing gown. A glass of white wine was in her hand. She looked like a leading lady from the stupid 70s shows that reran late at night.

I pointed to the glass in her hand. “It’s not even eleven, mother. Really?”

She shrugged, taking a long sip. “It’s five o’clock somewhere.”

I sighed. “And I know she’s gone. She’s at school.”

My mother shook her head, a small smile on her face. “Where you should also be, shouldn’t you?”

I snorted. “Are you trying your hand at parenting?” I raised an eyebrow with incredulity. A Greek tragedy showed more mercy than this woman had ever shown me.

She looked away, pursing her lips. “And it’s not what I mean. She left this morning with a suitcase.” She took a deep breath and nodded. “It’s best this way.”

“For whom?” I asked mockingly.

“Everyone.”

“We both know how much you loved her. I’m sure you’re heartbroken,” I taunted.

“About not having a teenage hussy roaming our corridors under your father's wanting eyes?” She snorted. “Hardly.”

I recoiled in surprise; did she know about father’s tendency to like young women?

She spotted my reaction and sighed. “I’m slightly impaired, son, not stupid.”

“Esmeralda’s not a hussy.” I didn’t know why I felt the need to defend her, least of all to my mother. That woman's opinion didn’t matter and had stopped mattering so long ago.

She shrugged one shoulder. “She gave you her virginity awfully fast.”

I tightened my hands into fists. “We are engaged.”

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