Page 96 of Follow Me Down

“What I’m trying to pull?” I gawk at him. If I ever had any hopes of rebuilding the bridge between me and my father, he just took a match and lit it up in flames. I’m fully realizing what I’ve always known. He doesn’t care about me. Hell, I’m not sure he ever did.

I square my shoulders and take a steadying breath.

“You don’t care. You’ve never cared.”

“That’s not true...”

“It is true!” I cut him off. “I’m only a chess piece to you. And you know what, I’m done. I’m done letting you use me. I’m done!” I scream with finality.

“Do I need to remind you...”

“Let me stop you right there,” I cut him off again. “You may think you hold the upper hand here,Dad, but you just handed me all the cards. You want to come after me, after Titus, bring it on. Because if you do, I’ll go public. I’ll tell the world what that jackass did to me and how you refused to take me seriously because you were worried about how it would look. Endorsing the man whose son tried to rape your daughter. Let’s see how long you can hold your position once that news goes public.”

“You wouldn’t.”

“Oh, I would. And I will. If you force my hand I’ll burn this entire fucking shit show to the ground.”

His eyes widen at my language. In my eighteen years on this earth I have never spoken to my father the way I’m speaking to him now.

“Fallon, you’re being unreasonable.”

“I’m being unreasonable?Youhad Titus arrested.Youhad drugs planted in his truck.Youwere willing to let an innocent man spend years in prison for no other reason than you wanted to win. And you have the audacity to callmeunreasonable. You’re pathetic. And when all this goes away,” I gesture around the room, “you’re going to have no one. And you know what, that’s exactly what you deserve.”

I spin around the desk and head for the door, my father’s voice stopping me right as I reach it.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

I turn slowly, my resolve absolute.

“I’m leaving. And this time, you aren’t going to stop me. You aren’t going to come after me or Titus or anyone else that I care about. You’re going to forget I ever existed. And if you don’t, I will ruin you.”

“You can’t leave. What am I supposed to tell everyone?”

“Tell them whatever you want. Tell them I moved to Europe. Tell them I died of some incurable disease. I’m sure that one will win you some favor with the voters. I don’t give a shit what you tell them, as long as I never have to see your face again.”

“Fallon,” he hollers as I rip open the door, but I’m already sprinting out of the room and heading upstairs.

Grabbing my large suitcase out of my closet, I throw as many clothes in it that will fit, slide my favorite picture of me and my mom on top, and zip it closed.

Everything else I leave as it is. None of it matters to me anyway. My only thought is to get out of here as quickly as I possibly can.

Because the majority of the party goers are corralled in the back of the house, there aren’t many people around to witness my abrupt departure. With my suitcase in tow, I tear through the front door, leaving it wide open as I take off down the front steps of the porch.

I haven’t thought about how I’m going to get to Titus, only that I have to. I’m so focused on escaping that I don’t notice the person I pass on my way off the porch. That is, until his voice hits my ears.

It’s like the sweetest song I’ve ever heard.

I stop dead in my tracks, my head turning toward the sound.

And that’s when I see him.

Titus...

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