Page 102 of Under Southern Stars
“Jackson.”
Charlotte’s voice, cold as lake water in winter, slices through my spiraling thoughts. I turn to find all three of my sisters standing in a loose semicircle behind me. Emma’s face flushes with barely contained fury. Lily’s eyes fill with disappointment—somehow worse than anger. Charlotte, the eldest, stands with perfect posture, her expression like carved granite.
“Not now,” I say, my voice rough. “Please.”
“No.Now.” Charlotte’s tone leaves no room for negotiation. She nods toward the vineyard. “Walk with us.”
It’s not a request. In the McKenzie family hierarchy, Charlotte has effectively replaced our father as the authority figure years ago. Even Mum defers to her on most family matters.
I follow silently as Charlotte leads us away from the main house, down a worn path between rows of Pinot Noir vinesheavy with fruit. The harvest will begin in days—another family tradition I’d abandoned.
When we reach a small clearing with a view of Lake Dunstan, Charlotte stops. The spot is familiar—our childhood hideaway, where we’d come to escape Mum’s social gatherings or Dad’s vineyard lectures. A neutral territory of sorts.
Charlotte turns to face me, her CEO mask firmly in place. “You manipulated her for months, Jack. Months.” Her voice is controlled but vibrating with rage. “God, no wonder you left New Zealand, you wanted to try out being poor for a while.”
“That’s not what happened—”
“Isn’t it?” Charlotte cuts me off. “You play at being a working-class hero while knowing you have millions in the bank. Do you have any idea how insulting that is? Not just to Sophia, but to people who actually have to worry about paying bills?”
Emma steps forward, tears already streaming down her face, her anger never far from the surface. “She trusted you. Madison trusted you! She was calling you her stepdad!”
“No, she wasn’t—”
“To Chloe, she was!” Emma shouts. “Your girlfriend’s child was telling her friends you were going to be her stepdad someday. I saw the texts when she was showing me pictures! Do you even see what you did?”
The revelation hits me like a physical blow. Madison had been imagining a future with me in it—a future I’d now probably destroyed.
“I didn’t know,” I say weakly.
“Of course you didn’t,” Lily says, her voice quiet but cutting. “Because you were too busy playing pretend to see what was happening right in front of you.” She takes a step closer, her normally gentle demeanor replaced by something harder. “This isn’t just about her, Jack. It’s about you never believing someone could love you for you unless you curated the version they saw. That’s cowardice.”
“Look, you know what happened with Vanessa,” I say, my voice tight. “After what she did, how she planned to use me, use the family…I was terrified of—”
“Oh, don’t you fucking dare,” Lily cuts in, her quiet demeanor vanishing instantly. “Don’t you dare use Vanessa as an excuse for this.”
“I’m not—”
“Aren’t you?” Charlotte’s voice is ice. Her voice takes on a severe, mocking tone. “Poor little Jack got his heart broken by a social-climbing parasite, so naturally he had to lie to a single mother who probably hasn’t had a vacation in years.”
“That’s not—”
“Vanessa was one woman,” Emma says fiercely. “Yes, she was a manipulative cow, we all agree. But that was years ago! Are you going to let that one bad apple poison every chance you have at happiness? Did Sophia give you any indication—any at all—that she was like that? That she’d value your bank account over you?”
I open my mouth, then close it. “No.”
“So instead of trusting the woman you claim to love,” Charlotte continues relentlessly, “you decided to manipulate her reality based on your own baggage. Classic.”
“You’re nothing like Vanessa,” Lily says, her voice gentler but no less firm. “She was calculated and cold from the start. You’re just…scared. And that’s almost worse, because you know better.”
The comparison stings because they’re right. Using Vanessa as justification is weak, and I know it.
“I was trying to protect—” I begin.
“Protectwho?” Charlotte interrupts sharply. “Her or yourself? Because from where I’m standing, all you did was set up Sophia for maximum humiliation when she inevitably discovered the truth.”
“You lied to her while she was raising a daughter alone and saving lives,” Charlotte continues, her voice gaining intensity. “Who the hell do you think you are?”
“I never claimed to be—”
