CH.6

DELLA

Hayes's heavy boot slammed onto the brake pedal.

The anti-lock brakes stuttered violently, throwing both of us forward.

The seatbelts bit into our shoulders as the massive Maybach skidded.

Its tires tore into the asphalt before jarring to a halt less than two feet from a small creature huddled on the double yellow line.

"Stupid vermin. You should have kept driving, Hayes. The municipal council really ought to clear out these woods." Mireille cursed, smoothing her pristine skirt.

I wasn't listening.

My breath trapped in my throat, lodging like a shard of ice behind my breastbone.

The cat crouched low on the cold blacktop, ears flattened in terror. Its ribs protruded sharply beneath a filthy coat of patchwork ginger, white, and black.

On its left ear was a clean, distinct notch, the exact mark from a veterinary procedure three years ago.

Pippin.

"It's Pippin." A wave of sheer disbelief and overwhelming relief crashed through my chest and my hands shook in my lap.

"Don't be absurd. It's a feral stray. Drive on, Hayes." Mireille rolled her eyes with icy impatience.

"Stop! Unlock it, Hayes!" She didn't even bother to look out the window.

Raw panic seized me.

I clawed frantically at the door handle, my chest heaving. "Keep these doors locked. You aren't bringing a diseased street rat into this vehicle, Delphine!"

Mireille's face twisted in absolute disgust. Her manicured hand clamped down on the central locking control.

I didn't hesitate. I threw my weight over the center console, fighting my mother-in-law for the manual override switch.

Then I slammed my palm down on the unlock button, shoved my door open, and stumbled out onto the damp, freezing highway.

"Delphine, get back in this vehicle immediately!" Genuine, unbridled fury painted Mireille's flushed cheeks.

I ignored her. I dropped to my knees on the wet asphalt, heedless of the freezing grit soaking through my dark wool dress and extended trembling fingers toward the shivering animal.

"Pippin. Pippin, baby, it's me. It's Della."

Profound sorrow and fierce love broke my heart wide open.

Hot tears flooded my honey-colored eyes and spilled over my warm brown cheeks.

The cat hesitated, its skeletal body trembling violently. It sniffed the air, catching the familiar cadence of my voice, before letting out a thin, raspy mew.

Then it dragged its hind legs forward, crawling straight into the crook of my lap and pressing its matted, filthy face into the hollow of my neck.

I wrapped my coat around the tiny, fragile frame, sobbing openly as the creature began to purr with an agonizing, rattling vibration.

A heavy door slammed shut behind us and the sharp, measured click of Mireille's heels approached on the asphalt, stopping just inches from where I kneeled.

Hayes stepped out of the driver's side a moment later, lingering near the trunk. His face was tight, his pale eyes watching the scene with silent, heavy pity.

"Get up. Look at you. Groveling in the dirt over a dying stray. Toss that filthy thing in the ditch and get in the car!" Mireille's upper lip curled in absolute revulsion.

She looked down as if I were a piece of trash on the roadside.

I stayed on my knees, clutching Pippin close to my chest and looked up.

The pale morning sky framed Mireille's flawless cashmere coat and immaculate pearls, throwing the older woman's cold features into sharp relief.

"He isn't a stray." I barked. "You didn't lose him at a petrol station, did you? You dumped him out there." A raw, agonizing betrayal tore at my vocal cords as the reality of the cruelty settled heavily in my stomach.

A flicker of guilt passed Mireille's eyes for a brief second before it disappeared and her face returned to its usual disdain. "That wretched animal shed all over my upholstery and carried parasites from your parents' neglected house." She sneered.

"Did you honestly think I was going to allow an unhygienic beast to live on my property? You were too weak to part with it, Delphine. I simply made an executive decision for your own well-being." Mireille stood entirely unrepentant.

Her eyes flashed with cold superiority, delivering the admission with such utter indifference to the agony it caused that the world seemed to stop spinning.

I slowly pushed myself up from the road. I swayed but forced myself to stand tall, cradling the matted cat close to my generous curves.

"You are a monster. A cold, pathetic, thieving monster." A hollow, devastating shock settled deep in my bones.

The illusion of family was entirely dead.

"What did you just say to me?" Mireille's face twisted.

"You stole my mother's foundation and took over my inheritance under the lie of protecting me. And you threw away the only living piece of my family I had left because you didn't want hair on your leather seats."

Desperate, righteous anger finally pushed past my years of submission.

My chin lifted with newfound clarity.

"You ungrateful little wretch!" Mireille's face flushed an ugly red with volcanic rage as her arm whipped through the air, landing a blow with brutal force.