Page 41 of My Ex-Fiance's Best Men
“I’m sorry, Phoebs, I really am. We don’t get to choose the family we’re born into. And it sucks, because you’re stuck between your loyalty to your shitty family and three men who want to treat you the way you deserve to be treated.”
“They want to help me,” I tell Penny. “They’ve got top-notch lawyers on speed dial ready to intervene, maybe even nip thisin the bud if it’s possible. I don’t know nearly enough about the legal ramifications here. But I do know that if I stay with them, it’ll just add fuel to the fire Mom is already trying to set.”
“It’s so unfair,” Penny shakes her head in dismay. “The one time you’re actually happy and she goes and does this. What kind of mother… actually, you know what? Helen doesn’t even deserve the title. And Crystal should be ashamed of herself. If Helen did that to her, you’d raise all kinds of hell to protect your sister, regardless of how complicated your relationship is.”
“True, but none of that matters. I’m the one being targeted.”
“Do you want me to talk to the partners at my firm?” she asks, reaching across the table to take my hand in hers. “Inheritance disputes fill up a large part of the firm’s portfolio. I can ask them what your options are.”
I nod slowly. “Yeah, that might not be a bad idea. Just in case it gets to that point, but let’s hope it doesn’t.”
“Have you been to work?”
“No. I took some more vacation days. I had plenty stacked up. Figured this would be a good time to use them so I wouldn’t have to worry about bumping into Mom or Crystal until I figure out what to do here.”
The pain in my heart is persistent. The sting of such betrayal is something I wouldn’t wish upon anyone, not even my worst enemy. A mother is supposed to love her children unconditionally. To protect them. Instead, my mother is choosing to take something precious away from me, just as I’m about to come of age.
My phone pings again. It’s a text from Dominic this time, asking if I’m okay.
I take a deep breath and text back to tell him I’m fine and need a bit more time to sort through some things, hoping it will at least render my phone quiet for a while. Looking around, I don’t know any of the other café patrons, yet every time they meet my gaze, I get the sudden feeling that they’re judging me.
“Penny, what do I do?” I ask my best friend. “How do I deal with my own mother?”
She takes a deep breath and sits up straight. “I think you’ll have to do the one thing you probably don’t think you’re capable of.”
“What’s that?”
“Stop treating her like she’s your mother. Stop expecting her to treat you like you’re her daughter. Start treating her like she’s your adversary, because that is precisely what she is doing with you.”
“Good Lord.”
“I know. It’s hard. It’ll tear you apart on the inside, I’m sure. But you’ll have to pull through and figure out a way to do it, girl.”
“Look what the cat dragged in,” Georgina’s voice cuts through the air and grates on my brain. I wince as I look over to see her confidently sashaying toward our table, her slim figure wrapped in a lacquered black jacket that exposes her long, spidery legs. “Didn’t know you hung out at this place, Phoebe.”
Penny gives her a sneer. “Who invited you to come over, Georgina?”
“Down, girl,” Georgina says with a giggle before setting her mean sights exclusively on me. “Word of advice, Phoebe. Be smart and do as you’re told. Lose some weight, get Matthew to take you back, and maybe you’ll at least be rich enough that it won’t matter if you’re miserable.”
“What is this, high school all over again?” I mutter and stand up, no longer in possession of any patience or civility for bullies. It takes Georgina by surprise, and she moves back a few feet.
“I’m just trying to give you some advice,” she replies with a careless shrug.
“No, you’re just being a bitch,” I shoot back. “Did Crystal put you up to this? No, even my sister has her limits where I’m concerned. Once a bully, always a bully, right, Georgina?”
“You make it too easy sometimes.” She shrugs and chuckles.
“Well, let me make it a little harder. You come anywhere near me again, and I will beat your face so bloody, there won’t be a surgeon skilled enough in the whole tri-state area that’ll be able to fix you,” I say with a remarkably calm voice.
I don’t know if it’s the weight of the threat or my tone, but Georgina is reeling long enough for me to think I might’ve gotten through to her, at least in some part.
She takes a deep breath, keeping her composure as she measures me from head to toe. For the first time in what feels like forever, I don’t feel ugly, unwanted, or less than. I feel strong and ready to deal with whatever she might throw at me.
“Just so you know—” Georgina starts, but Penny cuts her off with a groan of exhaustion.
“Do you ever just shut up?”
“Butt out, Penelope. This is between me and Phoebe,” Georgina snaps, pointing a finger at me. “Just so you know, I’m the one who ended it with Theo. He wanted to keep it going. He still texts me once in a while, and I keep every one of them. If you think you nailed some kind of triple whammy with those guys, you’re in for a rude awakening. You’ll never last with them. Someone will always want more.” She scoffs. “I told Theo that very same thing, and that’s why it didn’t work out between us. He wanted the four of us to figure out a way forward, but I didn’t want to get involved because I knew, eventually, one of them would want a bigger slice. Just something for you to keep in mind.”
