Page 119 of Beautifully Broken
“The two of you will not be spending any more time together. Any events you plan that need a photographer, you will need to book Andrew. If the clientrequests Trevor, you will hand off the event to myself to delegate to someone else,” she calmly tells me.
I scrunch my face. “Why?”
She purses her lips. “I’ve told you before, I’m not blind. The two of you have become very friendly and are spending more time together at work. I can only guess the few times you’ve been out of the house and not at work have been with him.”
I roll my eyes at her, not caring that she can see me. “Heaven forbid I have friends.”
“It’s not that you can’t have friends, Sophia. But you need to pick friends who are good for you and won’t bring you down. People who are doing something positive with their lives.”
Is she serious? God, she’s so damn judgmental. I’ve had enough.
I stand up and glower at her. “You don't get to choose my friends. I’m an adult who can make her own choices. I’m not a child who needs to be protected anymore. You don’t get to decide for me. You need to trust that you raised me to be insightful and make good decisions on my own.”
Her mouth opens and closes. Stunned. She has no words. But it doesn’t take long for her to recover.
She crosses her arms over her chest. “I will decide for you if Iknowyou’re making bad ones. Trust me, Trevor is a terrible decision. If you want to date, I can set you up with one of my friend's sons who will treat you right and be able to provide for you.”
I scoff. “No thanks. I don’t need you to set me up with anyone. My dating life isn’t your business as long as I’m not being abused. And for the record, yes, I do like Trevor. And you know what? He likes me too!”
“Enough!” She slams her hand on the island. “You like him? Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but he doesn’t really like you. You know how I know?” She pauses, taking in my wide eyes of shock. “I paid him off to stay away from you.” She gives me a smug look, as if she’s won.
There is no way he would accept money from her to stay away from me.
I shake my head. “No, he wouldn’t. You’re lying to me.”
She laughs. Actually laughs as if she’s the evil villain in a movie. “Nope. I offered him a check for ten thousand dollars. And he took it. Happily.”
She has to be lying. Why would Trevor do something like that? I thought we were friends at the very least. Let alone building a foundation to start something more.
“I don’t believe you,” I say just above a whisper, hands rubbing down my face.
She shoves her phone at me. “Here’s your proof.”
I snatch her phone from her and scroll through the message thread she has up. It’s between her and Trevor where he agrees to take the money. It’s from today and it was just before we met in the conference room.
I can’t believe this is happening.
“Why would you do this?” I ask, tears welling in my eyes.
“Because I had to show you he didn’t care about you, Sophia. If he did, no amount of money could tempt him. I’m sorry, but this is for the better.”
I laugh. I can’t help it. Her behavior has officially reached its limits for me. “Better for who?! You are just a judgemental bitch who is lonely. What’s the saying? Misery loves company. Well, I won’t be the company you keep there. I’m done. You don’t listen to me. You don’t know what I want out of life. It’s always what you want and what you decide is right for me. You talk about others caring for me, but you don’t even care! If you did, you would see how you talk and nitpick oneverythingabout me literally makes me sick. The panic and anxiety you cause me has me pushing a finger down my damn throat to gain some sense of control! But I can’t do it anymore. This was the last straw. I’m done!”
Before she can get another word in, I turn around and run to my bedroom.
I can’t believe I just stood up for myself.
Holy cow. I just called out my mom on how I feel and told her exactly how she affects me.
I roughly grab my suitcase out of my closet and pack my necessities. I refuse to live under her roof anymore and subject myself to being manipulated by her.
Once my suitcase is full, I make my way back downstairs, where she still sits in the kitchen.
She arches an eyebrow. “Where are you going?”
“Anywhere but here. Don’t expect me at work tomorrow and don’t bother calling me unless you’re ready to apologize and make changes.”
She scoffs. “Oh Sophia, you’re being so dramatic.”
