CHAPTER 083: Mrs. Hartley
CHAPTER 083: Mrs. Hartley
From the direction of Hunter’s gaze, I know he’s talking about Serena.
I move fast.
My heels clack across the asphalt as I walk briskly toward her. I don’t wait. I grab her
arm.
“Heyyy,” Serena squeals. “What the hell? Not even a hello, and you’re dragging me away?”
“Just walk,” I mutter.
She stumbles for a second but regains her stride. Quickly, I look behind us to see that Hunter hasn’t moved from his position. There’s a weird look in his eyes.
“Who was that?” Serena says. “The guy you were talking to.”
“A crazy son of a bitch.”
Serena lifts a brow. “Your boss? I know people only talk about their bosses that way.”
I want to deny it, say he’s just an arrogant bastard with a god complex and an old grudge. But if what Hunter said earlier is true, then yeah. He might actually be my boss soon. The thought makes my stomach tighten.
We reach my car. I dig out the keys and unlock it. Serena stops short, blinking.
“Whose car is this?”
“Mine.”
She whistles. “That’s an expensive–looking BMW. Did you rob a bank? Oh, wait. Gangster boyfriend. How could I forget?”
I roll my eyes and open the driver’s side door. “He’s not a gangster. Besides, I won the money.”
“In a lottery?”
“Betting. At an underground boxing ring.”
Serena stops, one hand hovering over the passenger door. “Since when do you bet? Or watch boxing? Next thing you’re going to say is you’re into crack now. Trap queen of your gangster boyfriend.”
“Get in the damn car, Rena.”
She slides in with a dramatic sigh. I follow, buckle in, and start the engine.
The drive out of the parking lot is quiet for the first few seconds. I still don’t know why she wanted to see me, and not kno Successfully unlocked!
gs makes me impatient.
“So,” I say, “what’s this about? Why did you want to meet up?”
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CHAPTER 083: Mrs. Hartley
“Because you’re the only one in the family I can talk to about the elephant in the room.”
“What elephant?”
“Jade. And your boyfriend. We can’t keep hiding this from Mom. She deserves to know.
I grip the wheel tighter.
“Why?” I ask.
She turns to me like I’ve lost my mind. “Are you serious? That’s our mother, Sloane. She can’t be married to a liar. Picture how she felt hearing about you and Knox. Now think about how she’ll react when she finds out he’s her husband’s boss. What does Jade even do for him? Play henchman?”
I sigh, already tired. I should have known this is the only reason Serena would want to hang out. Jade and Knox. For a couple of days now, I’ve been enjoying a peaceful and quiet life, where the only thing I have to worry about is if I need to send Knox a sexy picture of me naked or in lingerie.
“Look, Serena,” I say, “maybe it’s best if we just mind our own business.”
“No. Mom invited us to dinner on Sunday, and I’m telling her. And you’re going to be there to back me up.”
I glance at her, brows raised. “You’re really not in the position to be throwing stones right now. Have you forgotten what happened at the barbecue?”
“Oh my God, Sloane. You don’t actually believe Jade, do you? That I have a crush on
him?”
“I’m not one to judge,” I say slowly. “But you do hang around Mom a lot. Constantly going to her house. Spending the weekend sometimes. The other time, you offered to house–sit while she was out of the country.”
“Is it a crime to love my
mother?”
“No. But then I saw those Instagram posts–you in the jacuzzi outside Mom’s house, almost naked, Jade in the background on his laptop. I didn’t think much of it at the time. But then Jade said what he said at the barbecue, and it was… eye–opening.”
Serena falls silent.
But I’m not done. Not even close. Because at some point, people need to learn where their boundaries end and mine begin. They need to stop treating my relationship like a community project–especially when they’ve got skeletons rattling so loud in their own closets. And if anyone needs that lesson hammered in, it’s Serena. I’m starting with her.
“So what do you do exactly, Rena? Lie beside Nathan every night and think about Jade?
She snaps her head toward me. “You think you’re some kind of moral police? Please.
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CHAPTER 083: Mrs. Hartley
All the guys you’ve ever dated were just Finn look–alikes. I remember them. Same build, same height, same hair. All of them had girlfriends. Just like Finn. The only difference was they were willing to leave their girlfriends for you, something Finn wouldn’t do. And then you’ll just ghost them after a couple of dates because they weren’t Finn.”
I flinch, but she keeps going.
“And what about Joseph from across the street? Why’d he stop calling you? Right. Because you called him Finn in bed.”
“Shut up, Serena.”
My voice is low, shaking. I should have known better than to start a fight with a shrink.
“Oh, no. Let’s discuss morality, Sloane. Did you or did you not find Knox irresistible because he’s the Finn you can get?”
That does it.
“Are you insane?” I say. “Why would you even throw around those kinds of assumptions? What I feel for Knox is real. You can’t compare it to some silly crush I had for Finn. That would mean I’m just using him, and I’m not. I care about him.”
She shakes her head. “But that’s what you do. You use people. You don’t care about anyone but yourself. You never even cared about Finn, let’s be honest. You were obsessed with winning him over from Delilah because at one point in your life, your mother chose someone else instead of you, and now you’ll do whatever it takes to be chosen over somebody else. Deep down, you’re still that little girl who felt replaced. By Mom. By Dad’s new family. By everyone.”
“Shut up,” I whisper.
“It always has to be a competition for you. A competition to steal a man whose heart belonged to someone else, just so you could feel worthy. And now you enjoy watching him fall apart while you’re screwing his brother. He came to me, you know. Finn. You‘ ve ruined him. And I think you very much deserve a man like Knox. Because the two of you aren’t so different after all. You’re just as cold–hearted as any gangster. You’d let Mom be deceived by a man just so you can keep fucking his boss without anyone interfering. Because for once, someone chose you. And that’s all you’ve ever wanted. All this time, you’ve been waiting for someone to pick you when you’ve never chosen anyone but yourself.”
My vision blurs with unshed tears.
“I’ll need you to get out of my car, Serena,” I whisper.
“I’m not going anywhere, Sloane. You’re my sister, and we’ll figure shit out through thick or thin.”
“Fucking get out!”
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CHAPTER 083: Mrs. Hartley
I slam on the brakes.
Right then, an impact jolts the entire car. Something has hit us from behind.
“Oh my God,” Serena says. “What’the fuck was that?”
I whip around to see we’d collided with an Aston Martin.
Serena’s already out of the car, yelling at the driver. “Hey! Are you blind?! You just hit our car, asshole!”
The man behind the wheel is yelling too, waving his arms. I don’t hear the words. My ears are buzzing. My eyes are still wet. I reach for tissues in the glove compartment and wipe my face.
Then I see him.
Hunter.
&
He steps out of the backseat, calm as anything, a slight smile tugging at his lips.
No way. That sly snake.
I throw open my door and get out.
He’s already near Serena, trying to calm her down, standing way too close.
“Hunter,” I say, voice sharp.
He turns.
“What a pleasant surprise, Sloane.”
“Were you following me?”
“Why would I-”
“Cut the bullshit. First you eye–bang my sister, now you crash into my car?”
“It’s not my fault you can’t drive for shit, Sloane.”
Serena’s looking back and forth between us, a million questions written on her face.
Before I can respond to Hunter, someone steps out from the other side of his car. I’ll recognize that pretty face and elegant style anywhere.
Victoria Hartley.
Knox and Finn’s mother.
Her eyes lock on mine. I see it instantly. The recognition.
“Well, I’ll be damned,” she says. “It’s you.”
“Victoria,” I murmur, for lack of anything else to say.
Her chin rises a little.
“It’s Mrs. Hartley to you now. You can’t call me by my first name after you shattered my
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CHAPTER 083: Mrs. Hartley
son’s heart.”
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