Page 76 of Provoke You

“If you’re going to leave, just leave,” I mumbled. Maybe he hadn’t moved because he couldn’t. This was everything he’d been trying to get away from. The Coles had spent years trying to make him forget, and in one night, I made him face his past all over again. No doubt he was afraid he’d end up like his dad if he stayed. From this side of the room, I couldn’t even tell him that would never be us.

“Ela.”

“I said leave.” My voice carried way more strength than I really felt.

He was right. He couldn’t be part of this. I had to let him go. I sobbed into my hand. This was my fault. I did this to him. Dad came to stand by the window. Another spectator, another person who didn’t think I was worth saving.

By the time they moved me to the wheelchair, the needles were back inside my arm and Matt was gone. I’d been in this hospital more than once. That one was on me. But this time felt different. This time Dad was making good on his threat. He finally convinced them to put me in the special ward, a jail of sorts. He’d tried before, but the doctors always sided with me and opted to give me the second chance I asked for.

“Nurse, this isn’t necessary. What happened last night was a setup. There was a guy. He drugged me.”

She exchanged a look with Dad, who simply shook his head. “Enough, Ela. You need help. I can’t stand here and watch you throw your life away. You will stay here until the doctor says you’re well.”

He walked out behind me as they wheeled me out of the room toward the elevator bay. The nurse hit the Up call button, and he hit the Down one. How could he think this was what I needed? He took everything from me—the hotel, Matt, and now my freedom. How could he think this would make me better? How was he even doing this legally? He couldn’t keep me here. I was an adult.

I squeezed my eyes tight and pictured myself screaming at him for doing this to me. I saw myself punching the nurse in the face and escaping this place. But I didn’t have the strength to do any of that. Instead, I let my head fall to the side. What the fuck did they give me? I relaxed and forced myself to see a new scene: Matt’s smiling face. Matt sitting on the sofa in my cottage, working on a strategy to keep me safe. Matt tucking me in after we watched TV for hours.

My chest tightened painfully at the memory of Matt and the thought of what we could have had. I hugged myself and sat up straighter in the chair as the male nurse turned me around and pulled me into the elevator. Dad stood on the other side of the doors.

I glared at him, and for the first time I truly hated him. As if he could read my thoughts or maybe he saw the hate in my eyes, he shuffled back. For a fleeting moment, a smirk pulled on the side of his mouth. This was what he’d wanted all along. He told people I’d gone to Paris even after he’d found out I hadn’t left. He did it so no one would come looking for me after he put me in this place.

Kitt’s words came back to me. “I’ve seen people kill for way less than ten million.”

My bet would be that Dad had his head set on way more than that. He didn’t sell the hotel to make money. He sold it to push my buttons the way he’d always done. Except this time, I didn’t react the way I always did. Not that it mattered, he’d won anyway, and he knew it. What he didn’t know was that I wasn’t scared anymore. I wasn’t a spoiled brat.

“I’m coming for you,” I whispered. Through the small gap of the closing doors, Dad disappeared. I wasn’t a junkie, as they were trying to make me believe. Dad had another thing coming if he thought I would stay here and play the good girl. I still had Ben. He had the papers for me to sign so I could get rid of Dad once and for all. I’d been an idiot to think Dad would love me again if I let him run my family’s fortune.

I had to get out of here somehow and find Ben.

---