Chapter 4

I stopped where I was.

"Whatever there was to say, I already said it clearly at the bar. And honestly, I don't think we have anything to talk about."

Bryce sighed. "Kathy's only three months along. The pregnancy's still fragile."

"Can't you talk to your mother again?"

"Your mom did eight years. She's probably like you now, no steady job. Fifty thousand. I'll give her fifty thousand. Will that work?"

I looked at him, and slowly I smiled. "Bryce, eight years ago, when you people made my mother take the fall, do you have any idea what those years were like for her in prison?"

"You think a few thousand can buy back the time she lost in there?"

He frowned. "When did you get so materialistic? You never used to talk about money."

Then he suddenly reached out and took my hand. "How did your hands get so rough? What about the piano? Why did you stop playing?"

"No matter how much you hate me, you shouldn't just throw away the career you loved. Giving up on yourself like this is not rational."

I yanked my hand back hard.

"Don't touch me. You disgust me."

His voice quickened. "Your father is right. You and your mother, you're too stubborn, too selfish. You only ever think about yourselves and never once consider anyone else's situation."

My voice shot up. "Selfish?"

"Bryce, hand on your heart, tell me who's the selfish one."

"You loved Kathy so much back then. For her you could hit me, cut me off completely. So why didn't you go to prison for her?"

He froze, his lips moving. "I'm the only son in my family. Going to prison that young would have ruined my whole life. Besides, I don't teach at the school. My position couldn't have been covered by anyone else."

My voice shook. "So my mother deserved it, is that it? Her life was there for you people to throw into the hole, is that it?"

"Bryce, listen to me. For the rest of this life, no one is ever taking the fall for Kathy again. You and my father, both of you can give it up."

"And besides—"

Before I could finish, a phone rang, sharp and urgent.

He picked up.

The voice on the other end came sugary and clinging. "Honey, where are you? I'm home all alone and I'm a little scared."

I turned my head aside and my mouth twitched.

He hung up and looked at me. "I'm heading back. Paula, think it over. Or... let me talk to your mother face to face."

I didn't say a word. I slammed the door shut.

"Mom, they've pushed this too far..."

The next day, the moment I reached the bar, I saw Fran standing out on the curb, her face dark with rage.

"You rotten butchers! You animals!"

My stomach dropped. I rushed inside and stopped cold.

The counter was flipped over, bottles scattered across the floor, every table and chair smashed to pieces, red paint splashed all over the walls.

My father stood in the middle of the wreckage, his suit pressed and spotless.

"Paula." He spoke. "You still carry the Pruitt name. Hanging around a filthy dump like this, what future do you think you'll have?"

"This time, all your mother has to do is step up and help, and I'll set the two of you up for the rest of your lives. House, car, money, you won't want for any of it."

I glared at him, my eyes burning red.

"Did you send people to trash this place?"

He flicked his sleeve, careless. "A run-down bar, how much can it cost? I'll pay for it. I'll buy the whole thing if I have to."

"But you are not working here anymore. You embarrass me."

"What is going on with your mother? She won't take my calls, won't answer my messages."

"Paula, I'm giving you one day. Bring your mother to see me. Otherwise, don't blame me for taking drastic measures and going to find her myself."

He turned and walked out.

Fran was shaking all over with fury.

"What kind of person is that! Worse than an animal!"

I looked at the ruin covering the floor, and my chest ached.

"Fran... I'm sorry. I dragged you into this."

She grabbed my arm and let out a heavy sigh.

"I'll be going after them for damages. Those bastards aren't shorting me a single cent."

"Sweetheart, what are you going to do?"

I dragged out a slow smile.

"All of this. It's time it had an ending."

On the appointed day, I walked into a five-star hotel.

Kathy wore a long white dress, smiling sweetly. A fair number of reporters had turned up.

She turned, saw me, and her eyes lit up. "Sis! You actually came?"

"Are you here to celebrate my birthday?"

"Where's Auntie? Why didn't she come?"

My father stood a short distance off. When he saw me, his face went cold. "Come with me to the lounge."

I followed him in.

Bryce was leaning back on the sofa. He glanced up, past my shoulder. "Where's your mother? Has she come around?"

I sat down, picked up the teacup on the table, and took a slow sip. "Who said my mother was coming?"

My father's face changed in an instant. "What do you mean? You're playing me?"

In the corner, a little red light blinked on a machine.

The lounge was being broadcast live in real time, feeding straight to the big screen in the banquet hall.

I looked at my father, my voice level.

"Greg, eight years ago, Kathy embezzled five hundred thousand from the funds during her internship at the school. To protect her, you made my mother confess. You put her in prison for eight full years."

"In all those eight years, in the dead of night, did you ever feel you'd wronged her?"

His face was ugly. "Why bring up all this old history? Kathy was only twenty back then, so young! Your mother was already getting on in years. What was so wrong with her carrying it for a while?"

"It's not that I never thought about making it up to you! But your mother? After she got out, she wouldn't take my calls, wouldn't leave an address, wouldn't see me at all!"

My eyes went hot, my lips trembling and I couldn't stop them.

"Because she's dead!"

"My mother is dead! She was gone less than two months after she got out!"

A photo appeared on the big screen.

Black and white.

My mother's memorial photo.

Kathy had just come out of the restroom. She looked up at the screen and screamed in fright.

I pushed open the lounge door and walked, step by step, into the very center of the banquet hall.

The whole room fell silent. Every camera turned toward me.

I lifted my head, and my voice carried across the entire hall.

"I want to file a report."

"Greg Pruitt, Bryce Henson, Kathy Pruitt. They gamed the justice system and framed an innocent woman."