Page 1 of Betraying Bexley

Prologue

Three weeks ago...

Bex Iniguez stared at her reflection in the mirror of her high-school bathroom. She hated it there. Technically, she hated it everywhere. She didn’t fit in. She wasn’t like everyone else. She had quirks and blemishes. She had a fake leg and a shitty sense of balance. She didn’t talk much because she had a stutter and more than anything, even when she could talk properly, people would make fun of her anyway.

At least the cuts aren’t too bad...The one over her eye still oozed blood, but since her lip had been busted more times than not over the years, it was already trying to close. It would be swollen for a few days, and her eye would blacken up too, again, not anything she wasn’t used to.

She yanked a paper towel from the dispenser and wet it. She only had five minutes to clean herself up after being attacked once again by the vengeful three—Sasha, Valarie, and Marybeth. Those three bitches were the bane of her existence. They’d made her life miserable before, but after her father...

No.

Bex closed her eyes and pushed back the memories and the agony. The sadistic look on her father’s face seconds before he took the ten-pound sledgehammer to her shin while Julian held her leg out straight with a leather strap. She gagged. Bile coated the back of her throat as she willed herself not to puke. Her hands trembled as she took shallow breaths to keep the visions of her battered body from her mind.

Why me?

It’d been the question she’d asked herself when she woke up in the hospital room. What had she done so wrong in a previous life, to deserve a father who hated her and a mother she’d never met? The only person who seemed to care at all was Mr. Aquino, her history teacher, and at that, he could only do so much for her.

He couldn’t even stop the torture.

When she was sure she wouldn’t vomit her lunch, she dabbed her lip and eye. She hissed as the cut over her eye began to free flow again, sending a rivulet of blood across her brow and down her face. She’d need stitches, something she’d hoped to avoid when she’d stanched it moments ago. Going to any doctor or clinic alerted her father and the minute he found out, he'd come back. At first, when she was hurt at school, she thought his returning would be to care for her, instead, he beat her twice as bad. He reminded her she was an Iniguez and they protected themselves.

It didn't make sense to her. If Iniguezes took care of themselves, why did her father abuse her? And, why, when she'd hit puberty did it become worse? Again, she shoved the thought away. It wouldn't do her any good. She was at school after all, and she still had three more hours before she could go home.

‘Home,’ was a small one-bedroom apartment in the shittiest part of the city. Until two years ago, she had someone her father called a niñera. What she’d been, Bex figured out on her own, was a piece of ass for the two bodyguards her father left behind. The woman didn’t give a shit about Bex because no one else did.

Hell, the only thing her father did care about was Bex’s mathematics abilities. For as long as she could remember she’d been balancing the books for his business. It wasn’t until after he broke her leg that she figured out what she’d been doing—laundering money—and after the state her father left her in, there’d been no way she could refuse the work. She knew if she ever did, she’d be expendable, too, just like everyone else. Her father would kill her or worse, sell her like he did with all those other people in Mexico.

She found out about his clubs after listening to Julian and Rico talk about their experiences there. It disgusted Bex. She’d always known her father was an evil man but learning how depraved and malicious he could also be, rocked her. The worst part? She’d never be free of him. She’d thought about going to college and slipping away one night undetected by her guards and never come back, but three weeks ago, when her father called, all those hopes were dashed.

So, Bex came up with a new plan.

She focused on the sink instead of her reflection. If her father wouldn’t let her go, she’d let go of him. Sitting on her desk in her shitty apartment, was her letter to no one. Once she had everything in order, including the IP addresses of Sasha, Valerie, and Marybeth, along with a video metadata outing Bex as bisexual, she was going to kill herself. It was easier after all. She’d feel no pain. She wouldn’t be a burden to anyone anymore. She’d be gone, and she’d be free.

When she first thought about taking her life, she waited for the little voice in her head to tell her she had so much to live for, but even the little voice agreed with her. There was nothing left for her. There never had been. Her spirit hurt daily. Every inch of her physical body ached. Stuck in the fog of despair, she couldn’t come up with at least one good reason why she shouldn't do it. However, she could come up with several reasons why she would, and finally, she'd been at peace.

No one would miss her.

A toilet flushed behind her and a girl stepped out of the stall. “Damn, girl. Looks painful.” She walked over to the sink next to Bex and turned on the water. “You should get that eye looked at. Someone as pretty as you shouldn’t have scars.”

“W-w-what?” Bex stared at the girl. She’d never seen her before. She had full burgundy lips and piercing brown eyes. Her uniform shirt was a little tight and showed off her ample breasts.

The girl frowned. “Your eye, chica. It’s bleeding.”

“O-oh. Yeah. Happens. S-s-sorry.” Bex pressed the paper towel to the affected area.

“Iliana.” The girl held her hand out to Bex.

Bex stared at her. “B-B-Bex.”

“Bex.” Iliana grinned and her whole face lit up, stealing Bex’s ability to breathe. In a word, the girl was beautiful. “It’s good to meet you. I’m new here.”

“F-f-figured.” She closed her eyes, and mentally kicked herself for stuttering so bad.

“You’re adorable.” Iliana hooked her arm through Bex’s. “Let’s get you to the office, so you can have your eye looked at.”

"I-It's nothing. I-I-I can go back to class." Bex struggled to control the nervous energy flowing through her. She'd never had anyone besides Mr. Aquino show her even an ounce of compassion.

“Bex,” Iliana said. “If you don’t get that fixed, you’re going to bleed all over yourself.”

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