Eyes narrowed, Alex scowled. “Justice?”
“I want Phil behind bars.”
Alex scoffed. “You can’t call the cops on Phil.”
“Why not?” Sarah asked. “It’s not too late. I mean, sure, there’s probably not much DNA evidence, but there could be some. I still have the clothes I was wearing that night and I haven’t washed them?—”
“You can’t go to the police because Phil didn’t rape you.”
A jolt passed through Sarah. “What?”
“You heard me,” Alex said. “Phil didn’t rape you.”
“But Mia said?—”
“Mia doesn’t know the truth,” Alex said. “Mia knows what she saw. What she thinks she saw, which led her to assume. But that’s not what really happened.”
“What really happened?” Sarah asked, her heart slamming. “Who raped me?”
“That doesn’t matter.”
Gasping, Sarah covered her mouth for a few seconds, then dropped her hand. “How can you saw it doesn’t matter? It matters to me! I was violated!”
“Stop being dramatic.”
Sarah fought the urge to spit in his face. “You think I’m being dramatic? I was raped!”
“I’m not saying that what happened to you isn’t fucked up,because it is,” Alex said. “But we need to be smart about this. We have an opportunity to secure our future.”
“At what cost?” Sarah asked. “And at whose expense?”
“If you’re worrying about Phil, then don’t,” Alex said. “His father is a billionaire. His family owns banks.”
“But, still?—”
“I don’t need you fucking this up, okay?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, you’re either with me or against me,” Alex said. “If you’re with me, we can all benefit. But, if you’re against me, and you go to the police, then I’ll make sure everyone knows you’re a lying bitch.”
“And I’ll tell the police what really happened,” Sarah shot back, afraid of his threat, but even more terrified of giving in to him. “I’ll tell them who really raped me.”
“But you don’t know who raped you, Sarah,” Alex said, giving her his malignant smile. “And I’m certainly not going to tell you.”
Sarah looked away.
“Don’t be stupid, okay,” Alex said. “You know you need the money. Phil’s family has more than they can spend in several lifetimes. What they give us will be like winning the lottery for you and me. It’ll be chump change to them.”
“But Phil?—”
“Fuck Phil,” Alex growled through gritted teeth.
“I thought he was your friend.”
Alex sighed. “I’m nothing to him. None of us are. We’re just future cogs in the giant machine that Phil’s family and people like them own. We’re cattle. Sheep. Worker bees. Afterall, the comfort of the rich depends upon an abundant supply of the poor.”
Sarah sat up and stared at him. “What?”