جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 10

Victor Weller's gaze moved over the dust covering my work clothes, and his voice mixed pity with contempt."I admit I treated you badly back then, but after disappearing so dramatically, how did you still end up living like this?"I adjusted the lens without interest."If you still want the session, please hurry. The deposit isn't refundable."My mother, Lorraine Weller, wiped her eyes over and over and reached for me."A family portrait should have the whole family in it. Remy, come stand with me."I stepped away from her hand."The booking says four family members: three people and one dog. The dog's already in position, so could you please go back to your seat and cooperate?"My father, Martin Weller's face darkened immediately."Disgraceful."His finger nearly jabbed my forehead."You cried for years because you wanted to be in these pictures, and now you think you're important enough to turn us down?"I was about to call security when Victor stood quickly and tried to

He wasn't hiding. He was lying in the bathtub with a shallow cut across his wrist that had already started closing.A note sat beside him.It said, "Remy called me stupid, weak, and useless. He said I don't deserve to inherit the Weller family and that I should die."My father scooped Victor up and ran outside, his legs going so weak he nearly went down twice.My mother lost all the color in her face. She pressed both hands over Victor's wrist and screamed for help as they rushed for the hospital.They were so frantic that they knocked into me on the way past and sent me down the stairs without noticing.The pain nearly kept me from standing, but terror carried me to the hospital on one bad leg.The second my mother saw me, she crossed the hall and hit my face again and again.The blows left me unable to breathe."If Victor had never gotten sick, you'd have had no reason to exist."How dare you say something like that to my son?"Her voice drove into my ringing ears like a n

My father recovered first.He pulled Victor behind him and put his smile back on."Ms. Fairchild, please, sit."When he got to me, his mouth opened like he couldn't decide which name to use.My mother hurried to pull out a chair."Remy, sit down."Elena lifted her eyes. "I'd rather you called my fiance by his new name. Miles Weller."Miles ahead of where he started, with the whole road still in front of him."What a coincidence, too. Miles mentioned the connection today, and only then did I find out that the supplier my company has worked with for years is owned by my fiance's biological parents."I'd always been told Mr. Weller had one son."My mother dropped her eyes, embarrassed, and waved over a server to add more dishes."I never expected Mi... Miles to build such a good life, or for us to run into each other like this."Miles, these were your favorites when you were little. Eat more. You've gotten so thin."I looked at the liver and the oysters set in front of me. Ev

"Miles, it's Mom. Victor put those stories out because I didn't stop him. Your father already hired people to take them down. I hope they didn't hurt you. I'm sorry."I didn't reply. I just shut off the screen.When I jumped off that bridge, I meant to die.But the water flooding my nose and ears hurt more than I could stand, and right as I started to suffocate, something enormous in me refused to go.It forced me to fight until I broke the surface.The current carried me downstream into an empty stretch past the city limits.I lay on the bank with exactly two thoughts in my head.The river stank.Why should I end my life in water that smelled like that?I wasn't willing to go out that way.Anger is what kept me alive.Broke, I picked up whatever work I could and saved every dollar, putting my last hope in Southmark's working-holiday visa lottery.Maybe somebody decided I'd suffered enough. My name came up, and I moved to a small Southmark town, worked three jobs a day, and

The wedding came on schedule. I had no family to invite, so Elena quietly reached out to the friends I'd made over the previous five years.They put themselves forward as my groomsmen and filled the whole day with noise and jokes and warmth.During the ring exchange, I caught sight of Lorraine near the entrance.She'd gotten lost in it, half risen beside the floral display without realizing, staring at me with tears shining in her eyes.I looked away and carefully slid the ring down Elena's finger.As the room broke into cheers, the nine-tier champagne tower beside me tipped straight toward me.Elena reacted instantly, yanking me behind her, putting her much smaller body between me and it.Bottles and glass came down, and something hit her back hard enough to force a groan out of her.Flying glass cut my face. Elena bent to look at it and never saw Victor come out behind her and throw a lit flame into the alcohol-soaked decorations.The fire went up at once, and it had us surr