Page 132 of Bitter Rival

She shakes her head and laughs under her breath. “Now it all makes sense. You got exactly what you want, and our three months are up. So, you don’t need me anymore, do you?”

“This has nothing to do with you.” As soon as the words are out, I know it was the wrong thing to say.

Daisy’s face falls. “Right. My mother’s here after I told you I never wanted to see her again, and this has nothing to do with me. Didn’t you even stop to think that maybe, just maybe, you should have discussed this with me? This doesn’t only affect you, Beckett. It affects me too. You’re so driven by revenge that it’s the only thing you care about, isn’t it?”

“It’s not the only thing I care about.”

I care about you.

But I’m not about to say that in front of Astrid so instead, I shrug and say, “You knew who I was. I never pretended to be something I’m not.”

She takes a step back and then another. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. Silly me for thinking I meant something to you. Another lesson learned the hard way. Thank you both for all the lessons. I’d say it’s been a pleasure, Astrid, but we both know that’s a lie.”

Daisy turns to me and the stricken look on her face nearly kills me. “How could you do this to me?” she whispers, her eyes filling with tears. “I trusted you. I thought…” She releases a shaky breath and shakes her head. “That’ll teach me.”

She backs away then turns on her heel and hurries away while I stand on the terrace watching her go. I have a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach that I’ve just ruined something precious.

So I chase after Daisy and grab her arm to stop her. “Hey. Come on, princess?—”

She spins to face me and stabs a finger at me. “No. You don’t get to treat me like I’m overreacting. You don’t get to minimize my feelings. I am sick and tired of being used as a pawn in everyone’s twisted game. You promised you wouldn’t keep me in the dark. You promised you wouldn’t minimize my feelings. And you promised you wouldn’t lie to me.”

Her voice wobbles on the words and her shoulders sag but she forges on. “You promised. And I believed you,” she says through clenched teeth as she furiously blinks back the tears. “But your promises were all empty, weren’t they? Was everything just one big game to you?”

“No.” I reach for her but she holds up her hand and backs away, crossing her arms over her chest for protection.

“I’m doing this just as much for you as for?—”

“Stop! Stop lying. This was never what I wanted and you know that,” she says, her chest heaving. “I told you that if you lied to me or kept me in the dark that I was out. I told you that if my mother showed up here, I was out. How convenient for you that she waited to show up now. You got everything you wanted, Beckett so like I said, you don’t need me anymore. It was just sex anyway, right? No big deal. I’m sure you can find someone else to fulfill your needs.”

My jaw clenches. “I don’t want someone else. I want you.”

“You could have fooled me. When you care about someone, you don’t go behind their backs. You don’t lie and manipulate and use them for your own personal gain.”

“I didn’t lie to you,” I grit out.

“Right. So you weren’t plotting and scheming behind my back? And you didn’t keep me in the dark about your plans? Is that what you’re saying?”

Fuck. I shove my hand through my hair. “She wasn’t supposed to show up here. I was going to take care of this on my own and not get you involved. I was trying to protect you.” Why can’t she understand that?

“Wow.” She lets out an incredulous laugh. “Do you actually believe your own bullshit? You didn’t do any of this for me.” She stabs her finger at me. “You did it for yourself. You never once considered what I want. Everything you’ve done was for your own personal gain. But you’ve obviously gone to a lot of trouble to find my mother, and now she’s here. Well done.”

She holds up her hands and claps. “Congratulations. You must be so proud of yourself.”

With a shake of her head, she turns on her heel and hurries away like she can’t get away fast enough, and I stand in the hallway watching her go.

I’m tempted to chase after her again, but fucking Astrid is sitting on the terrace, and I need to finish what I started so I can’t chase after Daisy right now.

After I deal with Astrid, I’ll sit down with Daisy and we can discuss this rationally.

But for now, I have some unfinished business to take care of.

So I return to the terrace and take a seat across from Astrid, who is watching me with an amused smile on her face.

Unfortunately, she probably heard our entire conversation.

“It looks as if you and my daughter have gotten close. You’re smitten with her, aren’t you? All the boys are. Men, too.”

She’s trying to get a rise out of me, but I’m not going to give her the satisfaction, so I keep my expression neutral and lean back in my seat, regarding her for a moment.

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