Page 93 of The Secrets of a Sin

“What does Mr. Ben think of your hair?” She questions, causing my eyes to shoot open. Even though we communicated about me going back to him, the topic still felt raw.

“It’s his favorite thing about me.” I confess in a whisper as I connect with her stare. With her now directly in front of me, she removes her hand from my hair.

“And you believe him?” She questions with the tilt of her chin.

“Of course.” I respond, shocked.

She nods in disbelief. “How about his wife? What is his favorite thing about her?”

Stunned, I jerk back. “He’s divorced now.”

Why was she bringing that up?

“You sure about that?” She grins deviously as she takes a step away from me. “Men lie all the time, Phoebe. It’s what they do best.”

“What do you mean?” I ask, flabbergasted, as my lungs seize in my chest. “How do you know?”

Her eyes twinkle with danger, and I feel almost a sense of fear hit me. “What I mean is, Mr. Ben was tired of fucking his wife, and when he was getting attention from someone new and young, he jumped ship the second you offered that fresh pussy to him.”

“That’s…that’s not true.” I mumble, fighting back the tears that threaten to fall.

“Little raven.” She coos as if I’m foolish for not believing her. “Along with knocking you up, he’s brainwashed you.” She tilts her head and eyes me sympathetically.

“I’m not brainwashed.” I grunt angrily as I tighten my fists at my sides. “I love him, and he loves me.”

“You failed miserably, Phoebe.” She shakes her head as I search for an escape because this wasn’t her letting me into the group. This was her mocking me and letting me bathe in her cruel words. “I thought maybe this girl has a chance to really screw him over. To rip his fucking heart out and stomp all over it, but, boy, was I wrong.”

“What is your deal with him anyway? What did he ever do to you to deserve to be ruined like that?” I shout over tears as Annalise clearly looks amused.

“Oh, my problem isn’t with him, specifically. It’s with men in general. How they will twist a woman into obedience and make them into weak, fragile beings. It’s sickening the power they hold in this world and how everyone seems to be content with it. And it happens daily. How any man can just follow a woman into an eerie alleyway and prey on her just because he knows he can dominate her.” Her eyes light up with a fire that could burn down a whole city, and I cower. “He will strip her of her dignity, just because he knows he can get away with it.” Her eyes rip to beside her, and that’s when I hear footsteps getting close. “Well, I say fuck that.”

Suddenly Priscilla appears at Annalise’s side, and she’s also dressed in her uniform, but in her hand is a knife.

“We both say fuck that.” Annalise gazes at Priscilla, and then they both turn to me. “We’ve always wanted to bludgeon a man to death as his tainted blood coats our feet. But before he would succumb to his injuries, I would stuff his mouth with an apple gag sort of like a pig and parade him around the town for all to see.”

Appalled and frankly fearful for my life, I dart backward, but I’m quickly grabbed and restrained. “Where do you think you’re going?” Priscilla chuckles as her hands restrain mine around my back, and I feel her other hand grope my ass. “We aren’t finished with you.”

I cry.

I cry for my unborn baby.

I cry for Ben.

I cry for Arsen.

And I cry for myself.

What were they going to do with me?

“You would have made such a good addition to our group, little raven.” Priscilla flips me around until I’m facing Annalise. “But sadly, we don’t see eye to eye. And, unfortunately, we can’t have weak women like you roaming around, thinking that it’s okay to be with a man who defiles underage girls.”

I’m sobbing uncontrollably now. My eyes burn, and I can feel the handle of Priscilla’s knife pushing painfully into my side.

Why are they doing this? Were they planning to kill me?

I couldn’t breathe or even think beyond the fact that these could be my last moments on earth. That I’d no longer have Ben, that I would never have a chance to hold my baby, and I would never see Arsen again. Pain like I’ve never experienced rocketed through me, and I fought. I pushed, kicked, and screamed with everything I had, trying to escape, but I was no match for them both. We fell onto the ground in a loud painful crash, and Priscilla quickly straddled my body.

“Get off of me!” I frantically scream while thrashing my head back and forth. My scalp burned with each flail, but I was immune to the physical ache and focused on my getaway. Priscilla fights back, holding my arms down as I try to smack the knife out of her hand.

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