Page 53 of Unfinished

“Don’t let Melissa or Elaine win. Liam loves you, he’d marry you tonight, he’d disown it all to be with you.”

“Bas, stop,” I didn’t even turn to look at him, “It’s going to happen again and I can’t go through this while I’m in the middle of finals or trying to work. Fuck, his mother …” I stopped myself from saying more.

“What did she do?” Bas asked, his tone eerily similar to the dangerous tone I heard from Liam a few hours ago when I almost blurted out his mother’s threats.

“She’d do anything to remove me from Liam’s life,” I said quietly.

My eyes began to burn again, my facial muscles tightened and the tears came fast, hot, and hard, blurring my vision entirely. I turned my head into my pillow and sobbed.

“Hannah?” Ashley’s voice was filled with concern. The bed dipped as she laid down next to me and wrapped her arms around me.

“Hannah, we will find out what she did eventually. Tell me now and I can do something about this,” Bas said.

“Even if I… I told you, how long until the next girl ta— takes advantage or someone else pulls… something to split us up? This is jus— just the start of a lifetime of hatred,” I sobbed, unable to hold back the tears or heartbreak as it ripped through me.

“Bas, please go,” Ashley demanded. Bas sighed before his footsteps creaked on the floor heading away from my room.

Ashley ran her fingers through my hair trying to soothe me. When the tears finally dried up again, I went back to staring at the window.

“What did she do?” Ashley asked.

“You can’t tell any of them.” Needing to tell someone, I turned to Ashley needing her to keep it all a secret. No one needed to know what Elaine did but I needed to tell Ashley, because of all people, she would understand why I broke up with him.

“I promise, sandbox to grave.”

“Elaine tried to pay me to break up with Liam. I told her I couldn’t be bought. So she told me she would use every contact she has to ruin my scholarship, my job prospects, and would even go after my dad and you. She got my dad fired.”

“What?” Ashley gaped.

“I broke up with Liam to make sure you, my dad, and I would be okay. I can’t risk everything I’ve worked for, you’ve worked for, and what my dad does, for a relationship.”

“Babe,” Ashley whispered, but she was speechless beyond that. Just like I was speechless when Elaine threatened me.

“You have to tell him,” My dad said from my doorway.

“I’m sorry, daddy,” I cried as the tears started up again.

“You have nothing to apologize for, but you need to tell him the truth.”

“No, I won’t risk a fall out over this. I can’t risk anything more.”

“Firefly, your happiness is more important,” he insisted.

“My happiness is getting my degree and having a good job too. My happiness is Ashley doing what she loves to do. My happiness is you being happy. Liam was one part of my happiness and if I have to let him go so that I can have all this other happiness, then that’s what I have to do.”

My dad sighed before he turned and walked away. Turning back to the window, I laid back down. Ashley laid down next to me and wrapped her arms around me. We may not be blood related, but Ashley was still my sister and I’d do whatever was necessary to protect my family from some rich bitch with connections.

“We would have figured it out, you love Liam,” she said.

“I do, but I can’t risk you two suffering because I fell in love. What’s one summer of love compared to my entire life with my dad and our friendship?”

“It’s love that both your dad and I want you to have.”

“There will be others.”

“Not like this,” Ashley said after a moment and I knew she was right.

We laid there for a few minutes before Ashley sat up, “I found this letter on the front door when I came home.” She handed me an envelope with just my name on the front. I sat up and opened it.

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