Screw My Childhood Sweetheart His Alpha Brother Marked Me First novel Chapter 40

I swiveled my desk chair so I was facing her. “He texted to say he wasn’t going to be home this weekend. I didn’t think it merited a response.”

Her jaw hardened. “It’s disrespectful not to return a message.”

I wanted to laugh. Disrespectful? Were we really concerned with appearances now? Mom never left the house except to refill the prescriptions that lined her nightstand. Dad wasn’t even bothering to pretend he lived here anymore. Did it really matter if I returned Dad’s text?

“I’ll keep that in mind.” I turned back to my homework

Mom gripped my chair and swung me back towards her. “You will do more than that. You’ll text him back right now and tell him you’re fine.”

The pieces started to come together. Dad had called her to check on me, and she was mad about the hassle.

“Fine.” I picked up my phone and typed out a text.

Me: Don’t need money.

“Happy?”

“You’re an ungrateful, little brat. I didn’t want to adopt, but your father just had to have another child. We should’ve taken it as a sign when I couldn’t get pregnant and left it at one.”

I sucked in a sharp breath. Her words stung like a million, tiny paper cuts. For the past six months, I’d done everything I could to hold on to my empathy for my mother, but I couldn’t keep my grip on it any longer. The only option was to shut down every feeling when it came to her, this woman who used to be warm hugs and kind understanding. Now, she was a stranger.

“Okay,” I said, voice flat.

“Okay?”

“I don’t know what else you want me to say. I’m your greatest mistake. I ruin everything. Okay. I can’t change your mind. I’m doing my best to stay out of your hair. You only have to deal with me for one more year. Then I’ll be gone. You won’t ever have to see me again.”

That truth cut, deeper than the nicks of her earlier words. What I knew as fact now carved itself into my bones. I pictured shutting off every avenue of care I had about my parents. It was the only way I’d make it through.

She blinked a few times. “Fine. But I’ll be keeping an eye on you. Your father doesn’t need any more stress worrying about you, and neither do I.”

She turned on her heel and left, slamming the door in her wake.

I slowly turned back to my desk. My hand trembled as I picked up my pen. I tried to focus on the words in my Spanish

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Screw My Childhood Sweetheart–His Alpha Brother Marked Me First!

34.8%

Chapter 40

textbook, but they blurred. After a few more tries, I gave up, pushing to my feet and circling the room.

The tugging sensation in my chest was back, only it was worse, more painful. My phone dinged.

River: Hey, haven’t heard from you today. Everything okay?

My fingers hovered above the keyboard as my chest ached. I wanted to tell him that I was as far from okay as you could get. I wanted to ask him to drive to my house, just so I could have a hug. So that I could assure myself there were people in this world who cared about me. Then I thought about how my mom had turned into a completely different person on a dime.

Me: Just been busy. Have a lot of homework.

Three dots appeared on my screen, then disappeared, and finally appeared again.

River: I’m here if you need anything.

A tear slipped free, splashing onto my screen. I wanted to lean into that, to reach out, but I couldn’t make myself take that leap.

I turned the phone on silent and put it in the drawer of my nightstand. I didn’t want to see any other messages, it didn’t matter who they were from. Instead, I pulled back the covers and crawled into bed. Switching off the light, I prayed for sleep.

It didn’t find me quickly, and once I slipped under, it was fitful. Full of tossing and turning and endless dreams.

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