Page 32 of Cruel Revenge
“Only if you can drop some of the attitude,” Courtney snapped.
Carey cleared her throat and softened her expression. She sat up straight again and put her hands on the table, fingers woven together as she waited with a serene smile that didn’t reach her eyes.
“My apologies, Ms. Lane. I’ve just been hoping to understand more about your choices for a long time.” Carey said sweetly.
Only a fool would buy the act.
“I bet your father falls for that,” Courtney said, shaking her head.
“No, but I respect him enough to only do it jokingly.”
That made me snort, which got a glare from Courtney.
“You must be so pleased with this, having alienated my own daughter from me,” Courtney hissed, but it wasn’t very impressive. Humans didn’t hiss as well as I could. Her words toward me erased what momentary humor I had gotten from Carey.
“I didn’t need to alienate her from you,” I growled. The bitch’s face paled as I spoke. “You weren’t around for me to actively hate, much less talk about. When I met Carey, we were both busier trying to keep heralive. And since then, we’ve been busy living our lives, which I promise are far too busy to waste more than a fleeting thought about your existence.”
Courtney sank back a little by the time I was done.
“Ms. Lane, Jackyreallyisn’t the person to piss off,” Carey said, waving her biological mother to look back at her. “Like, you need to leave her alone and just let her be here.”
“How do you do it? Living with monsters?” Courtney asked her.
“I’m not justifying that question with an answer,” Carey said, her face twisting back into anger. “They’re my family, the one you left me with.”
“I didn’t leave you with her,” Courtney snapped. “I left you with your father because I knew I wouldn’t be able to keep you anyway, and if you had been a werewolf… you’d need him.”
“You could have stayed just to know me.”
“Heath would have never allowed that,” Courtney said.
“Don’t try that lie with me!” Carey’s volume went up as she kicked the table in clear frustration. It was the most I had ever seen her physically act out an emotion. “We both know it’s not true. He never took you to court to rip your rights away or anything! You could have come back at any time! You just didn’t want to be associated with sleeping with him, and having a kid would prove you had!”
I could smell Courtney’s anger. There wasn’t a lick of shame for her choices.
“Please forgive me, Carey,” Courtney said, her eyes going wide. “You have no idea what people were like back then. Even now! Sleeping with a werewolf as a human? The things people are called! I… I knew you were better off with him!”
That’s real. She really is wrapped up in how people see her. Carey was an afterthought.
“But now I want a real relationship with my daughter,” Courtney said, pleading. She reached out to try to grab Carey’s hand.
There’s the lie. The smell of her desperation is real, but the words are a lie…
“But I’m not your daughter,” Carey said, pulling her hand away. “And if you don’t want to actually answer my questions without trying to manipulate me, then we don’t need to keep talking.”
“You need a mother! I’m sorry I was late, but?—”
“I have one,” Carey said, frowning.
“What?” Courtney stopped reaching, her hand dropping onto the table.
I looked at Carey, tilting my head to the side in confusion.
“She’s saved my life more than once. She helped me learn to drive and picked me up from school when I needed someone to get me. She taught me how to do the right thing. She’s what I imagine when I think of a hero.” Carey blinked several times, then pointed at me. “I’d call her Mom if I didn’t think she’d freak out.Jackyis my mom, and when Dad marries her, it’ll finally be official.
“The only thing I’m looking for from you is closure. That’s all. I know you didn’t leave because I was unlovable. You left for you andonlyyou. Dad, Landon, Richard, Jacky, and so many others loveme. I know you didn’t love me, and I know it wasn’t my fault. I guess coming here was my way, and trying to do this was my way of… making sure I was right about that. And I am!”
My heart was pounding as my eyes watered. I was never going to forget those words. They weren’t directed at me, but they were going to live in my heart until the end of time.
