Page 45 of Mark

His lips press together. “Whatever. My point is, no matter what has been said and done between us, I’m not callous. Your sister is a delusional bitch and you didn’t deserve what was said to you.”

My eyes widen. “You don’t even know her.”

“Don’t need to. But you do and you know I’m right. I saw something you missed this morning, by the way.”

“And what is it you think I missed?” I bite out.

“She saw the fiancé approaching seconds before turning the tables on you. I watched as a switch flipped inside of her. And those tears when she ran away? They dried up the minute she was alone.”

I tense at his words. If what he is saying is true, she wanted everyone to turn on me. I just don’t understand why. “How do you know they dried up?”

“Because after she told your mother and fiancé she needed space, I saw her walk off with a smug smile on her face.”

“Why are you telling me all of this? Why do you even care?”

He arches an eyebrow. “When did I say I care?” he questions. “I’m telling you because… I don’t actually know. I guess I feel bad for what you’re going through.”

“Well stop. It’s creeping me out,” I scoff.

His lips twitch. “Noted.”

A shadow looms over my legs and Mark, and I twist to see my mum standing at the end of the sun lounger with Dad at her side. Her straw hat and sunglasses cover most of her face, but I can see she’s not happy.

Dad smiles down at the little girl sleeping soundly in my arms. “Children always did love you.”

“Could we have a moment with our daughter?” Mum asks Mark.

“Sunday is sleeping,” I explain. “He’s her uncle.”

“It’s okay,” he assures me. “I’ll go wait over there until you’re done.”

“Are you sure?” I ask. “I don’t want to be accused of kidnapping her.”

“At this point, I think she’s kidnapped you,” he teases. He places the towel that was around his neck over her legs. “I’ll be back as soon as she wakes up.”

“Okay.”

Mum and Dad sit on the lounger he vacates. “He couldn’t take her with him? It’s not right to leave a child with a complete stranger.”

“Not a complete stranger. He lives in the flat opposite me,” I remark.

“So you’re friends?” Dad asks. “You seemed pretty angry at him before boarding the boat.”

I snort. “Friends,” I repeat, the word bitter on my lips. “Not a chance.”

“Well, we won’t keep you. We just wanted to come and speak to you about this morning.”

“Mum, I really don’t want to get into another argument with you, so can you drop it?”

“No. Your father made me realise we haven’t been fair to you in regards to Esther and Danny. Whilst I might not completelyagree with everything he has said, I do understand where you are coming from.”

“Mum, I don’t want to keep having the same argument with you. I’m over Danny and Esther being together. When I look at him now, I don’t see my ex. I see Esther’s fiancé. I won’t lie to you though, when I look at Esther, I see the person who purposely hurt me in the worst possible way. I don’t like that they both betrayed me. But never once have I wanted revenge. I got over it. I moved on. And I’m happy. I just don’t understand why no one will accept that.”

“Sweetie, it had nothing to do with you that they chose to be with each other. And of course we want you to be happy. It’s all we’ve ever wanted.”

I close my eyes to rein in my anger. When I meet her gaze, I don’t hold back. “Mum, they were sleeping together whilst Danny and I were still together. I’ve kept my mouth shut about a lot of things because I didn’t want to be seen as the scorned ex-girlfriend. It was already embarrassing for me to live with the fact they were together. She’s my sister, Mum, the one person I thought would never betray me in that way. But she did. And I was expected to be the bigger person and leave it be. So I did. I let them be. Now I want you all to do the same for me.”

“Okay. Okay. We can do that,” she promises. “Your sister just wants you to be happy.”

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