Forbidden Kiss: Carson Cove Scandals Page 14

  “Do you want me to fix you something to eat?” I put my hand on her arm.

  “No, I think I’m just going to go to bed.” She finished her wine and leaned forward.

  At least she isn’t crying anymore…

  I didn’t have an appetite either, so I decided to hide in my room. If Anna came home, she would see that I was upset and ask questions. I wanted to respect my mother’s wishes and if she wanted to wait, then I would let her tell Anna when the time was right—she wouldn’t be able to hold off very long. Anna would be curious when our mother didn’t go to work the next morning, and she might be able to explain a couple of days away, but eventually it would be too suspicious. I definitely needed to look for a job—there was no way to know how long it would be before my mother was able to find another one.

  I won’t be able to support our family on my own, but I can help out. I’m sure Anna will want to do the same thing…

  The three of us were forced to cling to each other after my father left—and it felt like we were going to have to do it again. We were too strong to give up, or maybe we were just stubborn. It wasn’t going to be easy to balance work and school, which is why my parents insisted that I wait until after graduation to start working. My parents never had much compared to the wealthy in Carson Cove, but they were good people—they saved every penny they could so that Anna and I could go to college without having to take out student loans.

  I waited until Anna was home before I finally went to bed. I was exhausted from worrying all day about Alexis, and the situation with my mother had left me completely drained, but I wanted to know that my sister was safe. I had just closed my eyes and started to doze when I heard my phone buzz on the table beside me.

  I don’t recognize this number…

  Unknown: Did you enjoy my gift?

  Taylor: Who is this?

  Unknown: Someone out of your league…

  Taylor: Alexis? Why the hell are you texting me?

  Unknown: It’s rude not to say thank you when you get such an amazing gift.

  Taylor: Leave me alone…

  Unknown: I thought you would be happy. Your mother will have so much time to spend with you now. Maybe she’ll keep you away from men twice your age…

  “What the fuck?” I sat up in bed and turned on the light—my stomach immediately started twisting into a knot.

  Taylor: You got my mom fired!?! You bitch!

  Unknown: You’ll get another gift from me tomorrow. If that isn’t enough to convince you to end things with Bryant Benson, then my third gift most certainly will…

  Taylor: Stay the hell away from me—and my family! I swear to god!

  Unknown: I know you’re probably thinking that you can run to your sugar daddy and have him fix everything, but that will not end well for you—or your family.

  Taylor: What does that mean!?

  Unknown: Your sister is such a beautiful girl, isn’t she? That boyfriend of hers… Star football player, right?

  Taylor: You’re a psycho!

  Unknown: Goodnight, Taylor. Sweet dreams.

  I was so angry that I couldn’t even think about going to sleep. Alexis Devereaux got my mother fired—and that was just the beginning of what she planned to do to me if I didn’t break up with Bryant. I thought about calling him, but I had no idea what I would say. He couldn’t make her back off—and if she found out I went to him for help, she might do something worse—I definitely couldn’t risk her doing something to Anna. It wasn’t like I could go to the police and show them the text message. I doubted Alexis was stupid enough to use her real phone. She wasn’t playing around—she was serious—and her first so-called gift was a clear indicator of that. I was definitely out of my league. I couldn’t risk my family getting hurt for a guy I should have never gotten involved with in the first place.

  I’m sorry, Bryant. I’ve put this off as long as I can…

  * * *

  The next day

  It was almost sunrise when the exhaustion finally forced me to close my eyes—and it felt like only a few minutes passed before my alarm was going off. I went downstairs and made coffee. My mother never came down. Anna asked questions, and all I could do was lie and tell her that mom had the day off. After Anna left for school, I went upstairs and checked on my mother—she wasn’t asleep, but she had no interest in getting out of bed. She insisted that I go to school, and while I wanted to stay there with her, I didn’t feel like I had much of a choice. I was going to be useless for the entire day, but I had already skipped a few of my classes after my confrontation with Alexis in the hallway—missing more would just put me behind.

  My life has turned into a nightmare…

  School was a blur—I managed to take a quick nap in my car during the time that I normally had lunch. I wasn’t in the mood to eat, so I slept until the phone on my alarm woke me up, and then drank more coffee so I could stay awake for the rest of the day. I had functioned on very little sleep before, but it normally didn’t come after an emotionally draining day—nor did I have to spend the whole day worrying about some random second gift from Alexis Devereaux. I made it to the last class of the day and was almost home free when my professor called me to his desk—and said that Dean Richart wanted to see me in his office after class.

  I have a bad feeling about this—but I can’t ignore him…

  I felt like was making a walk of shame—or taking my final steps before my execution—when I approached Dean Richart’s office. I had never been called to his office before. The only time I had interacted with him was when I was getting an award at the annual assembly. I hoped I wouldn’t have any more interactions until I was shaking his hand, the day I got my degree. It was rare for him to meet with a student personally—usually the assistant dean handled those meetings—that meant it was either really bad, or something totally out of the ordinary.

  “I’m here to see Dean Richart.” I walked up to his secretary’s desk, and clutched my purse in my hands.

  “Are you Taylor Abernathy?” She looked up at me with a scowl on her face.

  “Yes ma’am.” I nodded quickly.

  “He’s waiting for you.” She motioned to his office, and it felt like she was staring daggers at me as I walked towards it.

  That’s definitely not a good sign.

  “Dean Richart?” I pushed his door open and felt my stomach twisting into the tightest knot imaginable.

  “Taylor Abernathy.” His voiced sounded like gravel and the look on his face was far from kind. “Have a seat.”

  “Yes sir…” I walked over and sat down. “What is this about?”

  “I think you know what this is about—I’m just surprised you made it this far without getting caught.” He narrowed his eyes.

  “I—I have no idea.” I tried to swallow a lump that rapidly formed in my throat.

  “Plagiarism, Ms. Abernathy.” He picked up two sets of papers and threw them down in front of me.

  “I’ve never plagiarized anything!” I shook my head back and forth as panic swept through my veins.

  “Then explain how that paper right there has your name on it—and the one next to is from one of those websites where you can buy research papers.” He leaned forward. “They’re almost identical.”

  “What!?” I grabbed the first set of papers, which was my assignment, and quickly skimmed it before picking up the other set. “No sir, I didn’t plagiarize this. It looks like we used the same sources—but it’s an assignment on Picasso. How many sources are there!?”

  “Enough for me to believe this is no coincidence.” He growled under his breath. “You’re suspended—until your academic hearing.”

  “Dean Richart, I swear! I didn’t plagiarize this paper! Please, you have to believe me!” My hands started trembling—my breathing was so hurried it felt like I was going to pass out.

  “It’ll be up to the academic committee, Ms. Abernathy. We will need a few days to review the rest of your work and see if there are any other in
stances of plagiarism before we make a final decision, but this is a violation of the honor code.” He leaned forward a little more. “It’s enough to get you expelled.”

  “Oh my god…” I felt tears welling up in my eyes.

  “That’s all, Ms. Abernathy. My secretary will call you when we have a date and time for the hearing—until then, you are not allowed to step foot on campus.” He leaned back in his chair.

  I wanted to crawl under the chair I was sitting in and die—or fall on my knees and beg Dean Richart for forgiveness—forgiveness for something I didn’t even do. I managed to keep my composure long enough to leave his office before the tears started to fall—but I had to walk down the hall in front of the other students with them streaming down my face. It didn’t even register until I was outside of the building that my suspension was Alexis Devereaux’s second gift—she got my mother fired and she was going to have me expelled from school.

  I had no idea how I was going to face my mother and tell her that I had been suspended—or that I was about to be kicked out of school. If Alexis was behind my suspension, then the hearing was just a formality—my time at Carson Cove University had come to an abrupt end. I wasn’t going to graduate. I probably wouldn’t even be able to find another school to take me—I definitely wasn’t going to get credit for any of the classes I had taken that semester, which meant all of the money my parents spent was literally wasted.

  My mother doesn’t need any more stress—but I can’t lie to her…

  I walked to my car, and as I approached, I noticed something was wrong—it was tilted to the right. I started walking faster, and when I ran to the passenger side, I got another surprise—probably another gift from Alexis—both of my passenger side tires were flat. There were huge gashes near the wheel where someone had slashed them with a knife. All of my despair just formed a tight ball in my chest—my tears dried up—every bit of emotion left my body, and I just went numb. I opened my driver’s side door, sat down in my car, and screamed—I screamed as loud as I could—so loud that people stopped to stare—but I just didn’t fucking care.

  “You bitch! I fucking hate you! I’m going to fucking kill you, god damn it, I will not…” I threw my head back against the seat and screamed louder—so loud that I didn’t even hear my phone buzz, but I saw it light up with a text message.

  The same number as last night…

  Unknown: Did you enjoy my second gift?

  Taylor: Fuck you.

  Unknown: That’s not very nice.

  Taylor: You went too far.

  Unknown: Oh? I thought my second gift was quite charming. You’ll have plenty of free time to spend with your mother—after you find a way home, of course.

  Taylor: Go to hell, you fucking bitch!

  Unknown: My third gift will be even better if you don’t end things with Bryant.

  Taylor: Do you really think that’s going to happen now? You got my mother fired. You ruined my life. What do I have to lose at this point? Don’t even think about threatening my sister. This is between you and me—and one of us isn’t going to see the fucking sun come up.

  Unknown: You’re such a nasty, horrible girl. It’s unladylike.

  Taylor: You’re going to see how unladylike I can be real soon.

  Unknown: End things with Bryant and this will all go away.

  Taylor: It’s too late for that.

  Unknown: No, it isn’t. It’s just a series of mistakes that can be undone with a couple of phone calls—or they can become permanent mistakes. It’s your choice. Do it, or you’re going to find out that my third gift is the best one of all.

  Taylor: If I end things with Bryant my mother will get her job back?

  Unknown: Yes—and she’ll get a raise for this terrible misunderstanding.

  Taylor: What about school?

  Unknown: Another mistake. They’ll be eternally grateful for the opportunity to sweep it under the rug once they realize it was their error.

  I stared at my phone in disbelief. I had no idea if I could trust Alexis to undo all of the damage she had done, but if she had the power to cause it—she probably had the power to fix it. My conscious wouldn’t let me just ignore her, especially if there was a way to set things right. I could hunt Alexis down—I could pound her face into the pavement—and I would end up in handcuffs—on my way to prison. I wasn’t a violent person, even if my rage tried to convince me that I could actually go through with it—all it would do was make things worse. I certainly wasn’t going to throw what was left of my life away.

  I need to call a tow truck… I only have one spare tire, and that’s not enough to get me home.

  It took two calls to find a tow truck that could come and get me. The driver was a guy named Steve who tried to make light of the situation, which I really wasn’t in the mood for. He changed my good front tire with the bad one in the back so he could tow my car—then let me ride with him to the tire shop. I could only imagine how bad the bill was going to be, but I didn’t have much choice except to pay it. Thankfully, he stopped making jokes when he realized how upset I was, and the drive was filled with silence. That was almost worse than his jokes, because I was fighting back tears while seething with rage—neither of which were going to help with the situation at hand, because I already knew what I had to do.

  I have to end my relationship with Bryant and pray it’s enough to fix the damage it’s already caused.

  I sat in the waiting area at the tire shop, and my rage finally started to give way to rational thought. As much soul-crushing agony as I was already dealing with, I knew I had to endure one more shattering heartbreak before I could move on. I couldn’t go after Alexis on my own—I couldn’t let my mother lose her job if there was an option for her to keep it—and I couldn’t risk her going after my little sister. There was no doubt in my mind that she would be the next target—and the recipient of Alexis’ third gift. Once my car was done, and the bill was paid, I pulled out my phone so I could text Bryant.

  Taylor: Hey. Can I stop by?

  Bryant: Of course. I would love to see you!

  Taylor: On my way…

  The tears returned when I started driving to Benson Estate. I was beaten down, destroyed, and my sanity was barely hanging on by a thread. It was going to get worse before I ever got a chance to heal. The memories I had with Bryant flashed through my head like an anguish-filled montage while I drove. I hated every bit of what I had to do, but it was the only path in front of me that made sense. Deep down, I knew it was the right decision, even if it tore me apart to think about it. Saving my friendship with Victoria wasn’t even a concern anymore—there was no way I would be able to look her in the eyes or come back to Benson Estate again after I drove Alexis’ poisoned dagger through Bryant’s heart—then plunged the poison-soaked blade into mine. I couldn’t even tell him why—all I could do was lie.

  I never belonged in the world of the privileged—so now it’s time for me to make my exit.

  “I thought I wasn’t going to get to see you again until next weekend.” Bryant walked out with a smile on his face. “I just found out I have to make a trip to the city—this may be the only chance we get to see each other until then.”

  The last chance—ever.

  “We need to talk.” I looked up at him.

  “Have you been crying?” He immediately walked over to me. “What’s wrong?”

  “Don’t be nice to me right now…” I rejected his attempt at a hug. “I don’t deserve kindness.”

  “Taylor, talk to me. Whatever is bothering you—we can work through it.” He took a step back when he realized I wasn’t going to let him hug me.

  “No.” I shook my head back and forth. “I came here to tell you that it’s over.”

  “Over?” He blinked in confusion. “Why? Are you worried about Victoria? I’m going to talk to her—I know she’s your friend and I know it will be complicated, but we have something special. We’ll find a way to make her understand…”

&n
bsp; “I’m sorry.” I looked down. “I’ve been thinking about it for a while, and I just—I can’t be with you. We made a mistake—I made a mistake.”

  I never thought I would call our time together that—but I don’t know what else to say.

  “Please…” He held up his hands and tried to approach me, but I took a step back. “Don’t do this. Tell me what’s bothering you and let’s talk about it.”

  “I said what I came to say. Bryant, I’m sorry—it really is over.” The tears were coming, so I turned away from him and started walking towards my car.

  “Taylor, wait!” He started down the steps after me—and I started running.

  I made it to my car before Bryant did, but not quick enough to get my door open. Bryant put his hand on it—and I was forced to look up at him. All of my emotions just flooded out—tears streamed down my face. Bryant pulled me in for a hug, and I didn’t have the strength to push him away. His lips found mine, and I melted into that kiss so fast my knees went weak. I was losing the battle again—the battle I absolutely could not lose. I just wanted to stay in his arms forever—even if there was a slight chance that we could survive—but I couldn’t. I finally found the strength to pull away and get my door open.

  “I’m so sorry—I really did care about you. It’s just—it won’t work.” I sat down in my car and Bryant grabbed my door before I could slam it.

  “Don’t do this, Taylor. I can see it in your eyes—this isn’t what you want. Tell me what’s really going on.” He tightened his grip on my door until his knuckles were white.

  “Please…” I started sobbing. “Don’t make this any harder than it is.”

  I pulled on my door until Bryant finally released it. He stared at me with a look of pain and disbelief on his face as I cranked up my car and drove away. I didn’t want to go straight home. My mother would be there—and she was dealing with something that would be fixed because I ended things with Bryant. I couldn’t hide my emotions from Bryant—I definitely couldn’t hide them from her. She was always able to read me like an open book—even when her heart was aching after the divorce. I sent her a quick message to let her know that I wasn’t going to be home—I didn’t get a response from her, but a few seconds later, my phone lit up with a message from Anna.