Page 17 of Entwined
“Vaughn, stop yelling,” Simone said, her voice firm but edged with concern. “What happened?”
Vaughn’s face twisted in rage as he waved his phone in the air. “Colson changed the will a few weeks ago. This bitch manipulated him,” he snarled, his finger pointing accusingly at me.
I frowned, confused and alarmed. “What are you talking about?”
“The will I have, the one written three years ago, is no longer valid,” Vaughn spat. “I called Xander Wilder, and he said changes were made that will affect the leadership of AFC.”
Simone turned to me, keeping her back against Vaughn’s chest as if to shield me from his wrath. “Did you know?” she asked, her voice cautious.
I shook my head, feeling a knot of anxiety tighten in my stomach. “No. He never said anything to me. I expected a minimal inheritance based on the prenuptial I signed.”
Vaughn let out a derisive snort, his eyes narrowing. “How many blowjobs did you give to make him change his mind?”
My mouth fell open, shock rendering me momentarily speechless. Before I could respond, Easton appeared in the doorway, his face a mask of fury. “Don’t fucking say that to her,” he shouted, his voice trembling with anger. “Dad loved her, and if he wanted to change the will, that was his prerogative.”
Vaughn’s eyes blazed with contempt as he sneered at Easton. “Shut the fuck up, pussy,” he growled through gritted teeth.
The tension in the room snapped like a taut wire. Easton lunged at Vaughn, slamming into him with all his weight. The impact sent Simone stumbling into me, and we both went sprawling to the floor as the brothers grappled with each other, their fists flying in a flurry of rage and grief.
Easton, despite being smaller, had the upper hand. He climbed on top of Vaughn, landing punch after punch, his face contorted with anguish. Vaughn fought back, managing to knock Easton off balance, and the two of them crashed into us again. I hit the floor hard, the breath knocked out of me as I clutched my stomach in pain.
“She’s pregnant! Get off her!” Vaughn yelled, his voice panicked as he scrambled to his feet.
Simone’s eyes widened in shock. “You’re pregnant?”
I couldn’t find my voice, couldn’t tell them the truth that had been eating away at me for days. The truth that the child I’d been carrying was no longer there, that I’d had to make the unbearable decision to end the pregnancy because the baby wouldn’t have survived.
“Joey, is that true?” Easton asked, his voice softer now, filled with concern as he wiped at his tear-streaked face.
I swallowed hard, the words catching in my throat. “Not anymore,” I choked out, my voice barely audible as the weight of my grief threatened to crush me.
The silence that fell over the room was suffocating as I slowly rose from the floor, one hand still pressed against my stomach. I could feel their eyes on me—Simone’s wide with concern, Easton’s filled with confusion, and Vaughn’s burning with anger. My heart pounded in my chest, each beat a painful reminder of the loss I had been carrying alone.
I took a shaky breath, trying to steady my voice. “The baby…” I began, my throat tightening as the words formed. “The baby had a condition… one that meant it wouldn’t survive after birth.” My gaze flicked from one face to the next, searching for understanding. “I had no choice… I had to end the pregnancy.”
The room seemed to freeze, the shock hitting them like a physical blow. Easton’s mouth fell open, his expression crumbling as the realization sank in. Simone’s hand flew to her mouth, her eyes filling with tears. Vaughn, however, just stared at me, his lips curling into a sneer.
“Oh, I see,” Vaughn spat, his tone dripping with disdain. “So, because Colson was dying, you didn’t want his baby either? How convenient.”
The venom in his words pierced through me like a knife. I felt the air leave my lungs in a rush, my legs giving out as I slid down to the floor, my back pressed against the cold metal of the refrigerator. Tears blurred my vision, hot and unstoppable as they streamed down my face. The weight of Vaughn’s accusation crushed me, turning my grief into something unbearable.
Simone whipped around, her face twisted with fury. “Vaughn, you’re such an asshole,” she snapped, her voice trembling with emotion. “How can you say that to her?”
Vaughn’s eyes flickered, but he didn’t respond. Instead, he turned away, his jaw clenched tight, as if holding back whatever cruel remark was on the tip of his tongue.
Simone knelt down beside me, her arm slipping around my shoulders in a comforting gesture. “I’m so sorry, Joey,” she whispered, her voice soft and soothing. “You don’t deserve this… any of this.”
I couldn’t respond, couldn’t do anything but bury my face in my hands and sob. Simone held me tighter, her presence a small comfort in the storm of pain and guilt that raged inside me.
“It’s okay,” she murmured, her hand rubbing slow circles on my back. “Let it out. Just let it all out.”
I leaned into her, my body shaking with the force of my tears. The kitchen around us seemed to blur and fade, leaving only the raw, aching emptiness that had taken up residence in my chest.
Easton hovered nearby, his face pale and stricken as he watched me break down. I could see the conflict in his eyes—wanting to help but unsure of what to do, how to reach me in this moment.
“I didn’t know, Joey,” he finally said, his voice barely above a whisper. “I’m so sorry… I didn’t know.”
Vaughn remained silent, his back turned to us as he stood rigidly by. The tension in the room was palpable, thick and suffocating as the reality of my loss settled over us like a dark cloud.
