Page 10 of Toxic Obsession

“Yup, bud, we’re going to come all over those gorgeous tits. Just have to get her an invite to the society first.”

Suddenly Adam’s words rang through my mind.Ruin her.That might be what Adam wanted me to do, but no way in hell would I seek revenge unless I knew for a fact that she was involved in that day.

After flipping through more images of her—at college, with her younger sister, walking into her house—I realized the file I was seeing was most likely from a PI. Maybe Adam was as invested in revenge as I was. Even when he was a piece of shit to Brody and me, he’d always been good to Bell. The piece of paper listed Wynter’s current school and the names of the people she had used to live with … one sister and her mom. She was five feet four and a hundred and five pounds. Tiny. Hell, I bench-pressed more than she weighed. It should be easy to fucking toss her in my trunk at some point.

Then the blood gelled in my veins. She’d attended Timber Creek High School in Forest Dale, Washington. Copies of school pictures were next. In most of them, she smiled and laughed with friends. Another page listed Wynter’s accomplishments while there: basketball cheerleader, track team, drama club, class president. All during her sophomore year. After that, nothing. At the bottom of the sheet was a note that she’d homeschooled until she graduated.

“I bet you did, bitch.” I snarled, racking my brain to remember if we’d had classes together, but it didn’t matter. After confirmation that we’d attended the same high school, I knew exactly who she was.

My enemy.

A liar and a coward.

Shock coursed through me as I picked up a newspaper article. Her arms were protectively folded across her chest and her eyes were rimmed with red. I held my breath, flipping through the next several pages. With each additional word and image I saw, a knife twisted in my gut.

“Fuck!” Adam wasn’t bullshitting me. She’d been involved. There was no way I could deny it, the proof was right in front of me. Pictures, witnesses, newspaper articles … everything. Adam might be a mean son of a bitch, but at least this time he wasn’t a liar.

My hands shook and my breathing came fast as I slammed the file shut, my heart pounding furiously against my sternum. Tears blurred my vision as I stood from my bed and began to pace. She knew. She fucking knew every detail of the day that ripped my world to shreds. Adam’s words echoed in my head, but I wasn’t about to try and send her running away from Whitmore.

No, I was going to do something much more satisfying. I was going to destroy her.

Chapter5

Wynter

“Do you miss me?” I fought against my tears as I looked at Janine on FaceTime.

She rolled her eyes. “Ego much?” She snickered. “I see a few weeks away from home has done nothing to change you.”

I laughed and fluffed a pillow on my bed before I tossed it behind me and leaned against the headboard. “It’s different,” I confided. “But it’s also good because no one knows who I really am.” I slammed my mouth closed, unwilling to speak the rest out loud.

Her face fell and sadness flickered in her gaze. “You need a fresh start.”

“How’s Mom been?” I honestly didn’t give a shit, but I did care about my sister and how much Mom was derailing her.

Janine gave me a half-shrug. “I’m not sure she knows you’re gone.”

Her words stabbed me in the heart. I swallowed over the pain, reminding myself that Mom would never change.

“Is she being halfway decent to you?” My forehead creased, my brain running rampant with horrible scenarios of Mom throwing empty alcohol bottles at her and knocking Janine out. I stared at the rubber band on my wrist. Propping my iPhone on my lap, I popped the rubber band and welcomed the sharp sting. Maybe I was a selfish piece of shit just like Mom. After all, I’d left my sister to fend for herself in order to focus on my life.

“Stop, Wynter.” Janine’s voice pulled me out of my quick descent to hell.

“Stop what?” I feigned ignorance.

“Remember when you found out that you got a full ride to Whitmore?”

“Of course, I do. I was fucking stoked.” I released the rubber band against my skin again, wishing it would hurt more.

“Yeah. The happiest I’ve seen you in a long-ass time. And remember the conversation we had that same day?” Janine crossed her arms over her chest and narrowed her gaze.

“You’re about to get bossy with me.” I pointed at her. “Don’t.”

“Wyn, you might be older than I am, but I’m not your average seventeen-year-old kid. When you were accepted to Whitmore, I willingly stepped up to the plate. It’s only for a year. Once I graduate, we’ll find a place to live and be roomies. We’ll be together again soon enough, but without a sorry excuse of a mom holding us back. I need this too, sis. I need that fresh start like you do. Living here is hell and not just because of Mom.”

She didn’t have to explain. I understood all too well.

“I need to know that we can still dream and build a new life. I’m in this with you a hundred percent. Let me handle Mom for a change.”

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