Page 48 of Breakaway
"You really had to come ruin a family get-together?" Jeremy asks me as he walks up to the house.
I curl my nails against my palms, wanting them to cut into me so that I could at least distract myself from all of this bullshit. It's what I have to do to keep myself from responding to him. Nothing I say will make this go any better, so it's best to stay quiet until I can say my piece and leave.
"Seriously, Reese, not everything is about you."
Where that comment comes from, I couldn't tell a single soul, but I don't say that to Jeremy. No, he wants a reaction from me, and not in the way that Kolos just likes getting under people's skin for a laugh.
Jeremy is mean. He's always been mean, and for some reason, my parents see no fault in that. He's their perfect child after all, and I'm just the one who funds their entire life in the hopes I might get a scrap of affection.
"Mom!" Jeremy yells when the screen door to the house flops open.
He doesn't hold it open for me or Marr, but Marr is already stopping it from smacking into me. He catches my eye when I glance over my shoulder, and he looks thunderous. It's not embarrassment that I feel more in that moment, but a sense of vindication. I've spent so long trying to cater to Jeremy's feelings that I was starting to believe that maybe I was in the wrong, since no one else saw an issue with it. Marr being angry at how my brother's talking to me should feel somewhat bad, but I find myself smiling almost stupidly because I'm not losing the plot. Jeremy is shitty to me, and someone else is witnessing it and finding it as shitty as I do.
"What's wrong, Jeremy?" my mom asks, shuffling out of the kitchen. She's smiling at first until her gaze lands on me, and then she's giving what could generously be called a scowl. My mother's outward appearance is of a pleasant woman who enjoys baking and eating sweets. That pleasant outward appearance doesn't match her personality. "What are you doing here?"
Another low growl from Marr behind me, but the other two, thankfully, don't hear it. My father steps in from behind my mother, eyes darting between Marr and me. Even if my father wanted to throw Marr out, it'd be impossible for him. Marr has a good few inches on him and at least fifty pounds.
"You're already tired of the other one and had to bring a new man to my house?" my father asks as if I go through suitors like dresses at my shows.
I haven't been pictured with any men since I decided to become Empress, and the few trysts I had were as Reese with guys from matchmaking sites where I indicated I wanted one-night stands only. But that's not something anyone in my family knows about.
"I'm here to talk about the allowance," I say, getting straight to the point.
You'd think I just told them that I was planning on murdering Jeremy right here in front of them. My mother lets out a pitiful cry as she goes to Jeremy, who wraps her in his arms to comfort her, while my father's face turns ridiculously red in anger.
"I haven't even said anything else, and you're all already assuming the worst."
"What else should we assume from you?" My mother sniffles into Jeremy's shoulder. "You went and became famous and forgot all about us. What else are we supposed to think when you don't care about us at all?"
I take a deep breath, trying to keep myself calm. Usually, if my mother starts talking like this, I cave immediately, telling her I care about them and that I'll try to be better. Hearing it now, with Marr at my back, his presence heavy and looming behind me, her words sound ludicrous.
"No, let her take her money from whoring out her body," Jeremy says with a sneer. "We knew this was coming."
"I haven't said anything yet." I throw my hands up in exasperation.
"Don't take that tone with us, Reese," my father says.
My mouth opens, closes, opens again. And then I just laugh. I have to laugh or I am going to cry because this is insane. How did I not ever notice it before? Marr, as if sensing that I'm close to cracking, places his hand on my shoulder to steady me. You'd think he was fucking me with how everyone's faces screw up. They're cartoonishly villainous, and I was so stupid to think for so long that if I tried hard enough, they might like me.
"I'm leaving Earth," I say when I stop laughing. "I set aside a chunk of funds that should last you a while, but after it runs out, I won't be giving you more."
Jeremy rolls his eyes, patting my mother on the back as she tucks herself closer to him. "How fucking selfish can you be? You're going to cut off our parents?"
"No, I'm giving you more money than any of you have ever worked for in your lives," I tell my brother, speaking slowly like he's an idiot, because he is. He's a moron who hasn't worked a day in his life, and I've subsidised his lifestyle for him. I guess that makes me an idiot, too.
"Sorry, not all of us can be sluts for a living," Jeremy tells me. Again, it's nothing he hasn't said before, but it doesn't hurt as much this time. None of their reactions hurt, really.
"I just came to tell you all that I'm leaving," I say, shrugging. "Part of me hoped…" I let the words trail off. No need to sound pathetic to add on to how shitty this is going.
"When you decided to do this, we supported you," my father says, his face still burning bright red. "You went out there and made a fool of yourself and brought shame on this family with how you acted. Do you know what it's like to know that people think I raised you to behave that way?"
I don't say anything. When my dad wants to rant, it's best just to let him rant. Marr's hand tightens on my shoulder, though, a slight tremble in his grip that I know isn't from nerves, but something a lot more concerning.
"We knew she was going to leave us high and dry, Dad," Jeremy says, not paying me any attention. "Just let her go. She hasn't been part of this family in a long time."
And that's the truth of it. The truth I didn't want to accept for a long time. My parents liked the money I brought in, but they didn't like me. Was it because of Empress, or had they always preferred Jeremy? If I hadn't chosen to do what I did, would our relationship be different, or would it still be absolutely horrid, they'd just still be broke too?
"We should get going," Marr's voice rumbles low and deadly behind me.
