Page 78 of The Right Kind of Wrong

Hannah whimpered pathetically when Poison twisted her arm behind her. I winced, feeling the pain and squeezing my eyes shut.

“Let me tell you how this is going to work, hun, okay? You're going to apologize to Tessa for calling this place a whore dungeon. You will apologize to us for interrupting our meeting and then you will apologize to Evelyn here, for insulting her because she is the definition of class. Not whatever the fuck you are.”

“I'm not—”

“If you don't do as I say you will leave this place in a body bag. Your choice.”

I couldn't remember Hannah ever looking so humiliated. She did as was requested of her to my surprise, apologizing to the group and then Tessa. When she approached me, however, there was nothing but hate in her eyes.

Growing up I never thought we'd end up like this; feuding all the time, disappointed in each other.

“You don't have to say anything to me,” I said.

“Good.” She smirked confidently as if she hadn't just made a fool out of herself.

“But I don't ever want you to follow me again,” I added, just as she began to turn around. “Stay away from me, Hannah. You think you're so much better than everyone else when in reality, your superiority makes you worthless. I want you to stay away from me.”

She must have seen strength in me that I didn't feel because she nodded once and walked away. Somehow the brief encounter had left me feeling lost. I was in a daze of confusion, overwhelmed by the support Nathan and I had gotten despite them hardly knowing our circumstances.

“You okay?” Nate asked, gently running his hand over my arm.

“Yeah,” I whispered.

I took a seat, placing my hands over my face. I felt guilty in a way for doing this to her, even if she in many ways deserved it. Something told me that any chance of our relationship ever getting better was gone, especially now that she'd seen me and Nathan together. No matter how much I tried to push the horrible feeling away, I couldn't.

“And this, dear, is why you're different from her,” came Poison's voice from behind me. I looked up, surprised to find her there with a glass of water for me. I took a sip and set the glass down on the bar counter. “Do you realize that she came in only to hurt you?” Her voice was gentle, soothing. “She didn't care that you're her sister and simply did what she felt and hurt you purposely.”

“How do you know?”

“How do you not know?” she asked sadly. “Hun, I don't know the circumstances surrounding your relationship with Nathan and your sister, but it's clear who the mature one, who the one with the good heart is. Trust me when I say she probably is happy to have said what she said because she knew it would hurt you.”

“You got all that from just the brief visit?”

“I got that from interacting with you,” Poison stated. “People like her rarely change and if they do, it's after a lot of damage has been done.” She squeezed my shoulder in comfort, giving me a small smile. “You have a family here, dear. You've earned it. Don't be afraid to tell us if you need help.”

***

The rest of the day proved to be uneventful. I focused on catching up with my work in Nathan's studio while he busied himself with whatever he needed to do. I sighed, running my hands through my hair, getting his attention. Nathan frowned as he set his laptop to the side before beckoning me to him. I sat on his lap, burying my face in his neck, taking in his familiar scent.

He held me tightly, not bothering to ask any questions.

“I just want this to be over,” I whispered.

“I know,” he said. “The papers are being served tomorrow, though, so we'll be there soon, baby.”

I smiled against his skin, finding comfort in his arms despite our situation. If anything good came out of this, it would be our relationship and I refused to let it fail. Call it naivety, but I believed that this was it for us.

As difficult as it was to admit, I knew that Poison had been right. Hannah had been there only to humiliate me and yet to my surprise, I'd found people willing to back me up. Nathan tilted my face up and smiled at me, cupping my cheek in his hand.

“You are not what Hannah said you were, Evie,” he said softly. “I don't know why she would say something like that other than to hurt you, but you know you're not. Don't believe it for a second.”

“I know,” I replied. He kissed me then, gentle like he knew I needed. We spoke for a little while more until my phone rang, breaking the peace that surrounded us. It was my mom. I shot Nathan a nervous look, terrified that my sister had said something about Nathan and I.

Eventually, they would find out but I didn't need to be in that moment. Nathan accepted the call, placing it on speaker so that we'd both hear what she had to say.

“Hey,” I answered, trying my best not to sound anxious.

“Evelyn,” my mom said. “Are you busy? Oh, of course you're not.”

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