Page 86 of A Vicious Rumor

"Get off me, Zachary!" she screamed.

She ran into the corner of the room and grabbed her backpack. I stood up quickly and pointed at her. "Don't! She's got the folder!"

Zachary's eyes narrowed and he stood in front of the doorway. "Drop the folder, Kitty," he said in a tone I'd never heard come from him before. "Do it now."

She let out a scream of frustration but pulled the folder out of her bag and dropped it to the floor. She didn't say anything, just walked up to the door. Zachary moved aside and she left us there, both breathing heavily from the adrenaline.

"Grab it and let's go," Zachary said. I nodded sheepishly and stood up. I made my way to the corner of the room, grabbed the folder and stuffed it into my own backpack before following Zachary back to his car in silence.

"I already know it's bad if Kitty was trying to steal it," he said. "So, just tell me what it is," Zachary said, heading to the fridge of the club room back at his house and grabbing a beer.

He sat down on the sofa and put his feet up. I grimaced, but pulled the folder out of my backpack. I set it down on the little coffee table and opened it up.

And then stared at the contents in horror.

"Wait," I said, leafing through the pages. "This isn't it. This isn't right."

Zachary sat up and leaned forward. "What is it?"

"This isn't what was in the folder." My stomach dropped. "Kitty must have switched out the contents.

"What were the contents Lily?" he said, standing up and squeezing the glass bottle so hard I was afraid it was going to burst in his hand.

I gulped. There was no getting around this. "It was paperwork for an amendment to a birth certificate. Your birth certificate."

"What does that mean?" he said, his hand shaking slightly.

"They tried to cover it up, but Madeline King isn't your biological mother."

Zachary stared at me in disbelief. "That's impossible."

I shook my head. "I'm sorry you had to find out this way."

It was a horrible revelation. Actually, it was the same one that Tyson had to live through. It was ironic that the two boys hated one another so fiercely, because in many ways, their lives were the same.

"If what you say is true?" he asked with a gulp. "Then who is my real mother."

"I don't remember her full name," I admitted. "The first name was Helene. It's listed on the paperwork that Kitty stole."

"Which is your fucking fault," Zachary said, slamming his drink down. "Kitty knows now, which is worse than the fucking New York Times knowing, you get that right?" He started pacing around the room.

"I'm sorry," I said, but he cut me off.

"I don't care!" he yelled, and I flinched. "You know what? The whole thing's off. You didn't come up with your end of the bargain. Kiss that payment I promised you goodbye."

That got me really mad. Like really, really, mad.

"Like hell it is!" I said, finding a fire inside of me I didn't know I had. "I uprooted my whole life for this! I put my mother's job at risk for this! I did things that were so far out of my comfort zone, all for this! I did everything I was supposed to and for what? For you to come at the last minute and tell me that it's off?"

He took two big steps, and he was on me. I was caged between him and the wall. Gone was the carefree Zachary that the entire world saw. It was as if the mask had been lifted and an angry monster had been hiding behind it all along. "You did everything but one thing," he said, brushing his hand against the outside of my thigh. "You promised me the benefits that went along with being your stupid fake boyfriend."

He was so close to me now. I could smell the beer on his breath and it made me want to gag. "I saw that video of you and Tyson. Looks like you got everything you wanted and you were perfectly fine getting on your knees for him. Now it's my turn."

"Go fuck yourself, Zachary," I seethed. "I'm not doing that for you." I tried to stand tall and dug down deep for the courage I knew I needed. "And you're going to make the payment you owe me. You're going to do it right now, otherwise Kitty isn't going to be the only one going to the papers about your less than honorable origins."

His eyes narrowed as he looked at me. It was as if he were trying to determine how serious I was. I didn't flinch. I didn't blink. I just stayed there, staring back at him.

"You're all fucking bitches," he said, pushing off the wall and grabbing his phone out of his pocket. "You think you're different than Kitty, but you're just the same. Only looking out for your own personal benefit."

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