Chapter 2

My hand stopped over my phone.

My tongue felt numb.

"What does that mean?"

Damian looked tired now, almost bored.

"Sabrina and I were together for years. You really think your parents didn't know?"

He gave a humorless laugh.

"When I said I wanted to marry you, they fought me on it. They said you were rough around the edges. Unpolished. That you had no idea how people in their world lived."

He paused.

"They asked me why I would choose you when Sabrina was right there."

His eyes stayed on mine.

"Claire, haven't you figured it out yet?

"From the beginning, I was the only person who ever chose you."

There were cruel words.

And then there were words designed to kill something inside a person.

My phone slipped from my hand and hit the floor.

Damian tucked a strand of hair behind my ear, exposing my pale face.

"So just be good, okay?"

My throat hurt too much to answer.

Then his phone rang.

Damian stood.

"Sabrina needs me."

He sounded completely normal.

"Take your time with dinner."

I moved before I could think.

I grabbed his leg.

"Don't go."

My voice broke.

"Please. I need to tell you something."

My hand went into my pocket.

The pregnancy test results were still there.

It was my last shred of hope, one last stupid attempt to make him stay.

Damian was already impatient.

He pulled free and hurried out.

The drinks on the table spilled across me.

He didn't look back.

I may as well have been something dirty he couldn't wait to get away from.

I sat there and cried hard enough that servers and strangers began staring.

But I couldn't let it go.

I wiped my face and went after him.

His car stopped outside my parents' house.

When I entered, Sabrina's voice drifted from the living room.

"I'm scared. Claire isn't going to come here and attack me, is she?"

Damian answered lazily.

"She won't."

Then he said, "Relax. I told her everything. She won't dare say a word.

"She's got no leverage. She's not especially pretty, she's getting older, and she's already had a miscarriage."

He sounded almost annoyed.

"And sometimes the way she carries herself embarrasses me. She didn't grow up like us. You can see it in her clothes, her taste, everything."

Sabrina gave a fake little protest.

"Don't say that. She's still my sister."

Mom laughed, but there was regret in her voice.

"Sabrina, sometimes I wish you were my only daughter. Claire's mine, but I didn't raise her. Sometimes when I look at her, it just feels awkward."

Dad said nothing.

He sat in front of the television as if none of it involved him.

So that was it.

That was why they ignored me and overlooked me.

They didn't care about me.

They didn't like me.

They were sick of me.

A chill ran through my body.

Oddly, the pain inside me quieted.

I pushed open the door.

Damian, Mom, and Dad moved almost instantly.

All three stepped in front of Sabrina, as if I were dangerous.

Mom's face went pale when she met my eyes.

"Claire... we were joking. Sabrina had nothing to do with it."

Damian's eyes darkened. He blocked my path with one arm.

"Don't make a scene," he warned.

Sabrina watched me closely.

I could see the expectation in her eyes.

She wanted the screaming, the tears, the ugly scene that would make everyone pity her and despise me again.

I only nodded.

"Okay."

Then I walked upstairs.

All four of them froze.

Mom looked stricken. "This is all my fault. Why did I have to say all that?"

Sabrina gave a dismissive little huff.

"It's fine. What's she going to do about it? Right, Damian—"

She broke off, startled.

"Damian, where are you going?"

He didn't answer.

He followed me upstairs.