Page 66 of Cursed to Be Mine
So she can fuck Khalid to make it a beautiful set of three? So she can find another reason to march me out into the woods and execute me down on my knees?
My jaw clenches as rage burns away the last flickers of agony. Just when I decided to cut her out of my life, she goes and dies, getting in the last fucking word, making me care, making me feel guilty over finally standing up to her. Making me cry when she would not have cried over me.
The look in her eyes when she marched me through the woods assaults me. Wild but unwavering and without any regret. She looked into my eyes, my begging wet eyes, and pulled the trigger.
Bang!
My nails dig into my palms as the sound pierces my brain.
Bang!
It’s for the best, Gen.
Bang!
You deserve it, Gen.
Bang!
Another fucking excuse instead of an apology, Gen.
“I hate you,” I hiss, and I wish so fucking hard she can hear me over the crackling flames of her new home. “I. Hate. You.”
Khalid appears in front of me, crouched low, his hands covering my fists. He looks up at me in concern, but as his eyes flicker across mine, a calmness flutters through his. He’s no longer worried. He almost looks...proud?
But before I can be sure, a knock at the door draws him away from me. I lift my head, my gaze following him to the hall. He opens it to show the guy from the front desk.
Khalid says something to him, but all I catch is “Talon” and “footage.” My brain doesn’t care to piece the puzzle together, but when Khalid starts to hand him my keys, saying something about getting the car, I push to my feet.
“Wait,” I rasp. I don’t want to wait here any longer. I don’t want to exist in this bubble that is being controlled by my mother. I wanted to cut her out of my life. It should not matter that she’s actually dead.
My heart twists in my throat, but I force it back down on a swallow.
Itdoesn’tmatter that Mother is actually dead. If she were alive, I would have nothing to do with her. It’s only because she’s dead that I miss her. Now my dreams of a future reconciliation, of maybe her seeing a therapist and changing…they’re gone, never to see reality. And if I’m honest, that’s what hurts more. The death of hope rather than Mother herself.
She was dead to me as soon as she pulled the trigger.
Like I was to her.
I rub an arm across my face as I march over to the two men. My feet are heavy across the floor, but my shoulders are light. Ma’s no longer here to make me cower. To make me hate everything about myself.I hate you.
Stopping in front of Khalid, I rasp, “I’m ready to go.”
His eyes pierce me, looking past my facade of strength to see my shattered soul badly taped up.
Or maybe he sees something more.
Something less flimsy.
Because he nods at me without a flicker of worry.
The man in the hallway steps to the side, and Khalid leads me out with his fingers entwined in mine.
The light of the corridor washes over me, and for a moment I hesitate. The bubble is truly gone out here. The real world is all that waits.
Khalid stops and looks over at me. Completely patient, not rushing.
Taking a deep breath, I lift my chin, then carry on.
