Page 41 of Fast Track to Forever
“Anyway auntie, Will and I are officially together now. I've moved in with him.”
“Oh?” The aunt is dripping with disdain. “Are you still planning to come back on the third of January?”
Kat looks up at me again. “Yes.”
“I'm coming as well,” I add. “I’ll help Kat pack up.”
“Pack up? What do you mean pack up?”
“She's going to move to Monaco with me for a while, before we decide where we want to live.”
Kat nods and leans into me.
“What about me? What about the shop, Kat? Are you going to abandon me after everything I've done for you?” Kat's aunt's voice is becoming shrill.
Kat leans into me, and her shoulders cave in. “Auntie, you know I’ll always be grateful. Perhaps when we're there we can take some photos of Will in the shop. People will flock to it. And I'll help you set up your online store.”
Kat is going back to people pleasing so I intervene. “Some concerning allegations have come to light. Kat's cousin and one of our oldest friends, Nikos, says you paid him to put a mouse in your sister's flour mill. And to review bomb my parents’ lodge.”
Kat's aunt shrugs, and wipes away large tears. “So? What good did that do? Kat is still not coming back to me.”
Kat drops the phone in shock, and I catch it, addressing her aunt. “You don't deny your involvement.”
Kat grabs the phone from me. “How could you? My dad is in hospital with angina, no doubt because of the stressyoucaused. Will's parents are lovely people who work hard. They don't deserve those fake bad reviews.”
Kat's aunt sniffs. “I'm sorry.”
Kat ends the call and tosses her phone on the sofa.
I wrap my arms around her. “Are you okay, liefie?”
She nods. “How could she be so unhinged? So duplicitous? How am I going to tell my mum that her sister is to blame? How are we going to tell your family that it was someone from my family?”
I squeeze her tightly. “Let’s do it now. No point in waiting.” I can’t protect her from the pain of her aunt’s betrayal, but I can stand strong by her side while she faces it head on. Together.
Chapter 17
The Next Day
Kat
I take a deep,shuddering breath as I try to calm my racing thoughts. The anti-anxiety meditation podcast needs to work its magic tonight. With a reassuring touch on my mother's arm, I try to ease the tension in my parents’ living room. "We finally figured out what happened with the flour mill fiasco and those terrible one-star reviews."
My mum's hand tightens around my dad's as he looks down with a grim expression. "Darling, it upsets your father to even talk about it."
"I know, mum, but we have to address this." I glance at Will for support, and he gives me a reassuring nod. Will’s knee touches mine on the sofa.
"Mum, Aunt Gem paid cousin Nikos to place that mouse on the factory floor. She even called pest control."
"What? That's preposterous. I don't believe it." My mother wipes away a few tears with her handkerchief.
"She did it because she didn't want me to stay and help with the flour mill. She wanted me to go back to York."
"Sounds like one of her ridiculous schemes,” my dad interjects bitterly.
Tears continue to fall from my mother's eyes. "Is this all because she hates me?"
"No, mum, I don't think she fully understood the consequences of her actions."
