“No. Well, yes, probably. The balances are all tripled from when I looked at them last. That was only a few days ago.”
Whoever the hackers are, they’re powerful.
Devlin and Thea give me matching expressions, brows rising high. Blair whistles from the visitor’s chair across the room. I was close to my goal before, but this is beyond. With this much money, I no longer have to wait to escape Mom’s bullshit. A disbelieving laugh huffs out of me.
“Holy shit,” Thea murmurs. “That’s a lot of money.”
I already know what I’ll do with some of it. My gaze slides to her. Her dream is to open a bakery. I’ll make that happen sooner than she planned.
A commotion at the door draws our attention. Thea’s mom bustles in, arguing with the nurse on her tail. Thea tenses at my side.
“No, I will not stay out!” Mrs. Kennedy snaps. She takes one look at the two of us in the hospital bed and her lip curls. “Thea! Let’s go. You’re coming home right now.”
“I’m staying here.” Thea sits up, but remains by my side. “I’m where I belong.”
“You are not. Get away from that boy right now.” Mrs. Kennedy shakes her head violently. “When I heard from Maisy’s father what happened tonight with your teacher, hours later, I—”
“Mom.” Thea sighs and squeezes my wrist. Sliding from the bed, she goes to her mom, taking her by the shoulders. “You can’t keep smothering me. What you told me yesterday? The way you did it? You should’ve told me a long time ago instead of the way you handled it.” She lowers her voice, but remains firm and strong. “If you had, maybe I wouldn’t have questioned everything that was normal about myself. I didn’t understand why you were so strict with the way I dressed because you weren’t open or honest about your sister.”
“Thea,” Mrs. Kennedy whispers, throat working. “I only wanted to keep you safe, but you still ended up in danger.”
Swiping away tears, Thea goes on. Her voice quivers with emotion. “I’m not blaming you. Or myself. It’s no one’s fault but Mr. Coleman’s for manipulating and preying on me in a vulnerable state. He’s the actual monster to blame for hurting me. It was a perfect storm, but I can’t go back and change it now.”
Pride blooms in my chest watching my girl stand up for herself and not allowing what she went through to bring her down. She’s so strong, even when the world is crushing her. I didn’t think I could love her anymore than I already do, but the warm glow fills me up from the inside.
Her mom is rendered speechless, expression crumbling. “I didn’t hear from you and I was so scared.”
“I know. I’m sorry, it was a crazy night and I forgot to call you once it was all over. Learning about the truth and getting attacked by him on the same day was a lot to handle.” Thea rubs her mom’s arms as she collapses against her, crying into her neck. Thea meets my eyes over her hysterical mother’s shoulder. “I’m okay, I promise.”
“I’m sorry,” Mrs. Kennedy cries. “I’ll do better.”
“Okay. Shh, it’s okay,” Thea soothes. “Why don’t you head home? You’ve seen I’m safe. I’m not sure if I’ll come back tonight or stay here.”
“Will you call me?”
“Yes. We have a lot to talk about.”
Sniffling into the tissue Thea hands her, Mrs. Kennedy nods, calming down. The door opens again and my mother steps in, phone pressed to her ear. Dad’s right on her tail, going to sit in the visitor chairs with a weary sigh.
She gives Thea and her mom a dirty look. “Damien, I’ll call you back. Handle it.” Hanging up, she addresses the room. “Here’s the story when the reporter arrives in the morning—”
“Mom.” My severe tone cuts her off. “Take your image worries and your campaign and shove it up your ass.”
“Connor,” she hisses, attention swinging between everyone in the room. “Are you cranky from surgery?”
“Vivian, give him a break,” Dad complains.
Nice sentiment, but too little too late, Dad.
“The come down’s a bitch, but no. I’m done playing your political games. I’m not your dancing circus bear anymore, effective immediately.”
“We can talk about this later.” She sniffs importantly. “When you’re feeling better.”
“Now’s good for me. The thing is, Mom, you have no way to control me anymore. You want the car back? Take it. I’ll buy a new one when I move out.”
She narrows her eyes. “With what money?”
It’s clear from her expression. She thinks she’s got me.
I turn the laptop. “The trust fund from granddad is very generous.” He never told her how much he set aside for me. “And from personal investments. I don’t need you. You can’t keep me under your thumb. If you try controlling me, I’ll release the detailed documented account of your affair with your campaign manager.”
Color drains from her face and her smug look falls before she plasters another blank mask in place to cover for the slip. It’s not as detailed as I make the threat to sound, but my reputation precedes me. She believes my bluff. Still, I go for a final blow.
“Everything. I’ll leak it to your political rivals and the press.”
“Fine,” she snaps.
Thea returns to my side, taking my hand. Together we stand as a united front against my overbearing mother. Nothing has ever felt better.
Forty
Thea
The finishing touches on the sour cream donuts are perfect. They smell amazing and I can’t wait to see Connor’s face when I show him my awesome skills icing these gunshot wound confections, especially with my hand still a little sore from the cut on my palm. It’s almost healed now, along with my other bumps and bruises from that night.
The donuts are more gruesome than my usual style, but it’s worth it to make Connor smile. I set my piping bag aside and lick excess red glaze from my fingers. With the decorating done, I take off the apron protecting my sheer blouse and the high waist fitted goldenrod corduroy skirt with buttons down the front.
Another one of my resolutions: I’m no longer dressing to hide my body. Once I found out the reason Mom was always on my case, it chased away any remaining self-consciousness, allowing me to dress in whatever feels good. I’m moving forward, not letting anything that happened stop me from enjoying my life.
Every day Connor tells me how beautiful I am, echoing my inner goddess of confidence.
I don’t have to choose between Secret Folder Girl and myself, I can just be who I am because I’m enough.
Things are finally settling down. It almost felt weird to start the second semester after such a whirlwind over winter break.
When Connor was discharged from the hospital, we combed the internet, news stations, and talked to Maisy’s dad for any information on the people who took Mr. Coleman into custody. Almost a month later and we still haven’t heard anything.
Connor told me about the necklace he broke into the house to retrieve and how intense the hackers were about it. He is certain those guys killed Mr. Coleman for revenge. They did seem dangerous. But that man is a monster. He won’t be free to attack any other girls.