Chapter 5: loving the wrong one

AUBREE

I made it back to the basement before the tears started falling. I pressed my back against the door and slid down until I was sitting on the floor, my knees pulled to my chest, my whole body shaking.

I hated this. I hated myself for crying over a man who had never once looked at me as if I was a person. 

Never once, had he ever once defended me. He had to kiss my sister right in front of my eyes without flinching.

Not even trying to save face or my emotions. And the worst part? The most humiliating, shameful part of all of this?

I still felt something when he called my name. I am a fool. The biggest there is. 

If only he hadn't stolen my first kiss. If only he had not kissed me so passionately that night, none of all these emotions would have started.

I pressed my palms against my eyes until I saw stars. What was wrong with me? Dominic had never made me a single promise.

 He had never whispered sweet nothings or held my hand or told me I mattered. He had never given me any reason to hope.

Except for that kiss he tagged a mistake that happened twice. No. Even with the kiss, he never promised me anything.

So why am I sitting on a cold floor, crying like a fool over a man who was probably still upstairs smooching with my sister.

He could even be laughing about something while I cried my eyes apart down here in the dark.

I dragged myself off the floor and staggered onto the bed. I lay on my back and stared at the ceiling, counting the small holes in the plaster.

Something I always did when I needed to calm down.

Six more months. Just six more months and I would walk out of this basement forever. 

I would forget this mansion existed. I would forget Dominic Winter's cold eyes and sharp jaw.

 I would forget the way his voice softened sometimes, just enough to give me hope.

I would forget all of it. Yes, I would forget all that mind-blowing kiss we shared. I would forget how he kissed his way down my shoulders and then fell asleep beside me.

I would remove how…My phone buzzed on my nightstand interrupting my wandering thoughts. 

I didn't move, plus I wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone especially today but it happened twice. I had no choice but to reach for it.

LILY: AUBREE!!! AUBREE AUBREE AUBREE!!!

LILY: Are you there??? I have the BEST news. Call me RIGHT NOW. I'm literally shaking!!!

LILY: Why aren't you answering? PICK UP YOUR PHONE.

LILY: AUBREEEEEE.

Despite everything, the corners of my mouth twitched into a smile. Only Lily could make me almost smile when I felt like the world was caving in on me.

I called her and she immediately picked up before the first ring finished.

"AUBREE!" Her scream was so loud I had to pull the phone away from my ear. "Oh my God, I have been trying to reach you for the past twenty minutes! Where were you?"

"I was..." I swallowed. "Busy. What happened? Are you okay?"

"Okay?" She laughed, high and giddy. "I am more than okay! Aubree, I got in! I got into the Harrington Veterinary Summer Research Program! The one in Boston that I told you about! I applied three months ago and I didn't think I had a chance but they just sent the acceptance letter and Aubree I got IN!"

I sat up on the bed. "Lily. That's... that's incredible."

"I know!" She was crying and laughing at the same time, the way only my Lily could. "They only accept twelve students from the entire country and I am one of them! Can you believe it? Me!"

"I can believe it." And I meant it. Lily was brilliant. She had always been brilliant. She deserved every good thing this world had to offer. "I'm so proud of you."

"I couldn't have done any of this without you." Her voice softened. "You know that, right? You sacrificed so much for me to even be alive right now. This is for both of us."

My throat tightened. I forced the emotion back down.

"Tell me everything," I urged. "When does it start?"

"That's the thing." Her voice changed slightly. I heard the hesitation creep in. "It starts in three weeks. And the scholarship covers the program fees, but it doesn't cover everything. There's the registration deposit and the accommodation and the travel from here to Boston and I need to pay for it all upfront before they confirm my spot." She paused. "I already asked Dad but he said the money is tied up right now."

Tied up. I almost laughed at that. Tied up my foot! Tied up and he gives Vivian money to get all the designers she needed.

"How much do you need?" I asked softly. Hoping and praying it wouldn't be too much on me.

"Around five thousand dollars. I know it's a lot and I know you work so hard already and if you can't do it I completely understand, I'll figure something—"

"Lily." I cut her off gently. "Stop. You're going to Boston. I'll handle it."

"Aubree—"

"I said I'll handle it. This is your dream. Nothing is going to stand in the way of that."

She burst into tears again, and spent the next five minutes thanking me in every way she could think of.

 I listened and smiled and told her she deserved it until she finally calmed down and we said our goodbyes.

After I hung up, my smile faded. Five thousand dollars.

I looked around my bare basement room. The broken mirror, the rusty pipes and the single window that occasionally let in any light.

Dominic paid my family a monthly allowance as part of our contract. A living stipend, his lawyer had called it. For my personal expenses. My family was supposed to be depositing a portion into an account set up in my name.

In three years, I had never once thought to check it. What was the point? I had nowhere to go. 

Nothing to spend money on and nothing to do but sit in this basement and wait for the next blood donation.

But five thousand dollars was five thousand dollars.

I opened the banking app on my phone. I found the account Mr. Cohen had set up in my name at the beginning of the contract.

The screen loaded and I stared at the number expecting something tangible but my heart stopped.

The account balance was two hundred and thirty-seven dollars.

Two hundred and thirty-seven dollars. After two years and six months. 

I sat there for a long time, unable to breathe. Then slowly, with fingers that had gone completely numb, I tapped on the transaction history.

Withdrawal. Withdrawal. Withdrawal.

Hundreds of them. Going back years. With consistent usage, taken out in amounts small enough not to be noticed at first glance but large enough to drain everything.

Thirty two thousand dollars, all gone. Every

month, almost as soon as the money was deposited.

Someone had been drying the account and I knew exactly who.