Chapter 3

Liam gently rubbed the top of my head.

"Just a friend, don't overthink it."

I had never been in love before, never really had close friends outside of a small circle.

So, I believed him.

And he completely, utterly betrayed me.

I reined in my thoughts and placed the divorce papers on the table.

Dragging my suitcase, I walked out the door.

Slap.

The moment I pushed the door open, my dad's hand connected sharply with my face.

I was completely stunned.

I stumbled back two steps before I could regain my balance.

Before anger could even register.

My dad flung a stack of photos right at my face.

"Have you no shame?!"

"If you're so itchy 'down there,' go scrub yourself with a steel wool pad! Mustard? You've completely shamed us!"

Those photos were of my intimate area, taken at the hospital today.

I felt like I'd been struck by lightning.

My mind went blank.

"I…"

My mom crumpled to her knees at my feet, sobbing.

"With a shameless daughter like you, who has no self-respect, how do you expect your sister to ever find a husband?"

"What will people think of us now?"

She looked insane, thrusting a bottle into my hand.

"Just drink it."

I looked down. It was a bottle of Paraquat.

My hand shook, and the bottle rolled down the stairs.

I looked at my parents, who seemed to want to kill me at that moment.

I started laughing, then suddenly cried.

"Are you two really my biological parents?"

My question stunned them for a moment.

My dad was the first to react, his face turning beet red with fury.

"You've done this to yourself, and you still have the nerve to ask if we're your real parents?"

"Now the photos are all over the internet, everyone has seen them! Liam is definitely going to divorce you, and we can't bear this disgrace!"

"If you don't drink this today, we'll force it down your throat!" All over the internet.

When those words flashed in my mind, I felt like I couldn't breathe.

A million tiny ants were gnawing at my heart.

Liam.

That doctor was recommended by Liam, and they knew each other.

So, the photos were Liam's punishment.

Because I hit Chloe.

My mom, hunched over, picked up the bottle, her trembling hand placing it back in mine.

She cried.

"Drink it, Aubrey. It's for your own good."