Page 56 of Battling the Enemy
Chapter 34
Delaney~
It’s been five days, and the wound was still fresh. And I’m not talking about scabbed up with the edges itching either. I’m talking about still bleeding fresh.
Luckily, I’ve spent the past few days receiving furniture deliveries and have exhausted all my time-and Ava’s time-furnishing my new home. It’s been kind of fun actually, and we’ve managed to avoid any and all social media.
I got an email finalizing my high school diploma, and it’ll be mailed to me in a couple of weeks. I also got my period yesterday, and the relief had swept my legs right out from under me. It was the only time I’ve cried uncontrollably since that first night.
I’ve ignored all calls from my parents and Winston and the only reason I was back at my parents’ home was because I needed to finally pack up the rest of my belongings. Admittedly, there wasn’t much, but I had lots of memorabilia I wanted to take with me.
There were countless photos of me and Ava throughout the years, academic awards, and even some sports trophies from my younger years.
I had driven over this morning, and it was taking me longer than I thought to pack, but with the housekeeping staff used to being invisible, no one questioned what I was doing home.
My parents still weren’t any wiser to the fact that I had emptied my bank account because I had received a notification of a recent deposit. The deposits were set up to deposit into the account bi-weekly, and so if my parents had any inkling as to what I’ve been up to, they would have put a stop to the deposits. I had no shame, though. The second the notification had come through, I had driven to Sands Cove and withdrew the recent deposit. This time I had been dealing with a different customer service representative, and since I didn’t look like death warmed over like last time, she was a little more leery about my withdrawal. It won’t be too long before someone at the bank notifies my parents of the account activity.
Everything came to a pause when Winston’s car swerved into my driveway during one of my many trips to my new car.
I left the trunk open, not bothering to hide what I was doing, and watched Winston get out of his car and slam the door shut.
When he was standing in front of me, he barked, “Where in the fuck have you been?”
I stared up at the boy I once considered a friend and all I saw was greedy betrayal. He had conspired with my parents to break me and Deke up, but he had done more than that. He had helped destroy everything I believed love to be. Sure, he couldn’t have guessed things would turn out as viciously as they had, but that didn’t matter. He chose to join my parents in being deceitful and I couldn’t look at him the same anymore.
I crossed my arms over my chest. “That’s none of your business,” I replied coolly.
He ignored my response. “You just leave New Hampshire and tell no one,” he chastised. “Your parents were worr-”
I dropped my arms. “Oh, stop it, Winston,” I snapped. “You and I both know my parents couldn’t care less where I’m at or what I’m doing. They were just pissed their little ambush didn’t work.”
“Jesus Christ, Delaney,” he swore. “Why can’t you just stop it? Why can’t you just stop being so selfish for a second and think about what you’re doing to all of our lives?”
“Me, selfish?” I screeched. “Are you serious? I’m being selfish because I want to be happy in life? Are you kidding me, Winston?!”
And then he confessed something I had no idea about. “Your parents are broke, Delaney,” he yelled, revealing the ugly truth. “Your dad has a gambling problem, and he’s on the verge of losing everything.”
“You’re lying,” I whispered, stung and hurt.
Winston ran his hands through his hair, and lifting his face to the sky, roared to the Heavens, and I knew he was telling me the truth. He looked back down at me and said, “It’s true, Delaney. He has a gambling problem, and your mother either doesn’t know or doesn’t care.”
I tried to process the words, but in the middle of realizing he was telling me the absolute truth, something else occurred to me. “What do your parents get out of this, Winston?” I asked. “What do they get out of this besides the partnership they always hinted to?”
“Delaney-”
“Tell me!”
He was quiet for so long, I didn’t think he was going to answer me, but he finally said, “There’d be no pre-nup, Delaney. Your father changed his will to leave every patent and discovery to you. Our marriage gives my dad the right to everything medical breakthrough your father has ever been involved in.”
I shook my head. “No,” I whispered in denial. “If it’s all mine, then it would go to our children, or you if-”
This time, it was Winston shaking his head at me. “As your husband with no pre-nup, I’d have the right to sign everything over to my dad.”
The breath left my body and the edges of my sight faded in and out. My parents were broke, and Winston’s parents were going to bail them out using me as the currency. This wasn’t an arranged marriage to strengthen two dynasties.
This was extortion.
Oh, it might have started out that way when we were ten and the agreement was made, but Winston’s father was clearly more craftier than my own.
