Chapter 4

My words came out sharp.

Diane was the first to jump in. She pulled Beth behind her and pointed at me. "What are you talking about?! I think you're just trying to get yourself off the hook!

"You threatened Beth, and now you're slinging mud.

"The family should kick out people like you. How could they ever let you onto the council! You're vicious!"

Before Diane had even finished, Beth started sobbing.

"Monica, what did I ever do to make you hate me this much?"

She wiped her tears, and Colton's eyes darkened.

He snapped, "Monica! How far are you going to take this?!

"Beth isn't well. Are you really going to push her until she dies?!

"Why are you so vicious?! I was so wrong about you!"

Colton was so angry his voice was shaking.

I didn't get angry. I just snorted. "Get it straight! She's the one who did something wrong first, and she's the one who made the first move! Not me!"

That only made Colton angrier, and Beth's sobs grew louder.

The whole place was chaos, and plenty of people passing by turned to look.

Then Gordon cut through the argument. He looked around at all of us, and his eyes finally landed on me. "Ms. Sloane, calm down.

"Whether you made false accusations or threats, we'll know once we've looked into it."

"Then please look into it properly." I said nothing more, turned, and left.

The moment I stepped out of the hall, Colton caught up with me.

He took hold of my wrist. He didn't grip hard, but it was enough to stop me. "Monica, what do you want?

"The family council is about to announce my name. If you keep making a scene like this, even my application is going to get rejected.

"Can you please stop making a scene?"

Colton lowered his voice, as if he were trying to reason with me.

I looked at him, my face blank. "Am I the one making a scene? Beth has been making a scene from the start.

"And let me tell you something. We're already broken up."

I didn't hesitate. I gave him a dismissive look.

Colton frowned and froze for a second. When he spoke, his voice was hoarse. "Are you sure you want to do this? I'm about to be on the family council.

"Think it over. If you break up with me, I won't recommend you when you apply again next year.

"After you smeared Beth like this, it'll be hard for you to get in."

I turned my head and smiled. "Fine."

Colton could see I was clearly unhappy. He held back his temper and added, "And that's me cutting you a break, since you helped with my application.

"Go home and think it over. If you don't want to break up, come find me."

I laughed softly. He'd finally remembered his own application. I walked away without looking back.

I went straight back to the old house to get the rest of my things. The group chat was blowing up, all about how Beth had been wronged today.

The story had spread on the family's private message board, too.

Lots of people in the family were bashing me in the comments under the post.

Before I even got inside, I found all my things had been thrown out.

Beth was standing in front of the pile of my stuff, crying hard.

Diane comforted her. "Don't be scared. We've already thrown her out. We won't let her come back."

I stood there. When Diane noticed me, her face got even angrier.

"What are you doing back here?! You're not welcome in this house!"

Diane pointed at me. "Get out!"

She was so loud that the neighbors came out to watch, their eyes fixed on us.

"Just wait for your punishment. The family is going to kick you out!

"You can't even keep track of your own application, and you blame other people!"

Without a word, I picked up my things and sorted them one by one while calling a moving company.

While I waited, Diane stood in the doorway listing all my "faults" and calling me names.

Once the movers arrived, I waited on the front steps.

I watched them load my things onto the truck.

I was about to turn and leave when Beth came toward me crying. "Monica, please don't be mad at me, okay?"

She cried as she talked, but I caught a nasty little smile on her lips. I frowned. I had a bad feeling about this.

The next second, she lunged at me with a scream.

I immediately stepped aside.