Page 161 of Under the Lies

When my mom said she was throwing me a birthday party, I didn’t expect her to roll out a gold carpet in my honor, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t expect some kind of decoration. Anything to show that it was a party for her daughter.

Instead, I get a wait staff in tuxes and people dressed to the nines while a string band plays in the foyer.

It doesn’t feel like a birthday.

It feels like every other party my mother has thrown here. I don’t even know if any of my friends are going to be here. So far, I’ve only seen my parents’ friends. Some have even stopped to ask me where they were. Not an utterance of a happy birthday on their tongue.

And now I can’t help but stare at the art that hangs on the walls, at the vases and china locked away in a curio cabinet, at the imported tile on the ground.

All the money your family has is dirty, Sayer. Blood money.

Maybe that’s why I never liked having it. Not because I feel holier-than-thou, but because it never felt like mine to have.

“You’re here for answers,” Noah reminds me.

Right, I nod. My parents owe me answers to the questions that have been burning in my head for two days since I found out my granddad was a thief.

“You can do this, Sayer,” Noah encourages, offering me his elbow, which I take. Nodding my head again though I don’t believe it myself.

Since finding out, Noah’s been different around me. More open. But not open enough for me to know where I stand. With him. With his life.

Where do I go when Harlow is caught and my stalker is dealt with?

“You okay?” Noah asks.

I look up at him, realizing I’ve stopped walking, too lost in my thoughts, and nod. “Yeah,” I feel myself say, but not feeling my lips move in the process. “I just don’t want to be here.”

“We can leave after you talk to them.” His thumb strokes my lower back. “I’m here.”

But for how long?

I bite my tongue to keep from asking, instead I nod again, feeling like a bobblehead.

His words are meant to provide comfort, but they bring a hole to my chest instead. Those blue eyes that penetrate my soul stare at me, knowing something is off.

But he doesn’t get a chance to call me out on it because someone wraps their arms around me from behind, shouting in my ear, “Happy birthday!”

I wince at the ringing in my ears, turning around to see Brin’s wide, smiling face before she tackle hugs me. We fall back into Noah, whose hands go to my waist, laughing.

Over Brin’s shoulder, Thea stands behind her, waving. I break away from Brin and Noah, to hug her. “What’re you two doing here?”

There’s a high chance my mother invited Brin since our parents are friends, but I know for a fact that she wouldn’t have invited Thea.

It now makes sense why they never liked the circle Harlow ran around with. Because they all could expose them for the frauds they were.

Maybe I’m being a little harsh. My dad is a very successful lawyer so I’m sure not all our money is from crime, but there is no doubt in my mind that the people my parents call friends wouldn’t turn their backs on them the second they found out.

“Noah invited us.” Brin looks over my shoulder at a scowling Noah. Always with the hard faces.

“You did?” I look up at him.

“You don’t have to sound so surprised.” He rights his askew glasses.

Thea giggles. “He doesn’t want you to know he did something nice.”

“Why?” I ask Noah.

“It’s your birthday, Sayer. I didn’t want you to not have some friends of your own here.” He shrugs like it’s no big deal. It is a big deal though, and he knows that. Which is why he’s watching me, trying to gage my reaction.

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