“Miss Taylor has officially been dismissed from her duties and will be escorted out of town within the week. Her stay in Calloway has been rescinded,” Mr. Calloway explains. “Now, what did she say to you?” he probes.
I dig my nails into my palms, preventing the smartass remark on the tip of my tongue. “She said the Bradford line should be eliminated and that she didn’t care who my mother and father were. She was going to kill me.”
My Dad’s jaw clenches, and Mr. Calloways brown eyes darken.
“Thank you, Emma. You’ll have three etiquette training sessions to help you learn how to handle yourself in situations like this- you’re dismissed,” Rowan’s dad instructs.
I bite the inside of my cheek until I draw blood before I look at my father, and he gives a quick shake of his head, signaling me to go.
Turning, I storm out of the room but carefully shut the door before pressing my ear to it, hoping to overhear something.
“Miss Bradford, there’s a camera on you,” I hear Rowan’s father sigh.
Shit.
Accepting defeat, I skulk down the hall and try to make sense of their reactions.
AUGUST
Vivian being fired and forced to leave town is the perfect cover-up for what she has coming to her.
“I think we should go grab Emma,” Sebastian suggests from the passenger seat.
My gaze whips from watching Vivian pack her car with suitcases to the only idiot left among us. “I thought you were ‘keeping your distance.’ Why would you want Emma to come to the farm?”
I wanted to throat chop his Adam’s apple a few weeks ago after their date. Emma was sullen for almost a week over his fuckboy behavior. We’ve all given him hell for it since then. He’s supposed to be the most mature of the five of us- Sebastian is acting like an emotionally stunted goofball.
A wry grin lines Sebastian’s stubbled jaw. “Something she mentioned in my office before Christmas break.”
“Were any of them in reference to your extreme case of douchery?” Karl asks, making me snicker.
Seb sighs, “Seriously, how long are you all going to keep this shit up?”
“As long as it takes for you to realize your fuck up. Now, what did she say?” Liam inquires.
I turn back to the window. Vivian’s loading the last of her things in the passenger side of her car. She closes the door before turning back to speak with her parents. “Is the audio on?” I ask when I see her hands moving animatedly.
“Give me a second,” Liam says, and I hear his fingers fly across the keyboard.
“You two didn’t even fight for me to stay,” Vivian yells.
“This is for the best, Vivi. You’ll be better off away from all of this,” Mr. Taylor reasons.
“If you didn’t let all your delusions blind you, you wouldn’t be here now. This falls on you, Vivian.
You slept with Sebastian’s father, you married his best friend, and you threatened a Selected- one of your own students, no less. What’s there to fight for? Salvage your dignity and move on with your life,” Mrs. Taylor scolds.
That woman never bites her tongue.
“I always liked Mrs. Taylor,” Rowan chimes.
“He is coming- Sebastian is going to be mine. I was fucking promised,” Vivian screams. Her next words are mumbled, but the drone’s audio is magnified. “She fucking promised me.”
“Did you catch that? Rewind it,” I demand.
Liam replays her words.
“She knows something. I fucking knew it,” Seb growls, slamming his fist on the armrest.
That comment makes me turn from Liam’s computer screen. “Care to fill the rest of us in?”
Sebastian sighs, “It wasn’t anything concrete- just a gut feeling. The timing of her move- her willingness to take whatever bullshit I slung at her- fuck, the ways she always would claim I’d be hers.”
“I wouldn’t beat yourself up over any of this. We just had her in the crazy ex category as well,” Liam adds. “All of her background checks cleared- even the more extensive one I had Colt run on her.”
Sebastian doesn’t look at all appeased.
Karl turns from the window, “Doesn’t matter either way- now we get to kill her for more than just fucking with our girl.”
I look back to the computer and watch as Vivian gets into her car and pulls off, exiting her driveway. We watch the drone follow her, driving through town and crossing the town line.
“She gets seventy-two hours- that’s it, not a millisecond longer. We need her to be seen, so they don’t suspect foul play once she goes missing,” Liam begins. “Seb, tomorrow you’ll call her and tell her to meet you up at the farm to talk things out. Once she arrives, we’ll question her and decide the rest from there.”
Sebastian nods before he says, “We need to bring Emma, but I don’t think she needs to be there for the zesty interrogation portion of the evening- just for what comes later.”
My auburn brow arches, “Why exactly does she need to be there?” I question. We’ve all agreed to keep her as far away from this shit as possible.
Sebastian turns, the smirk back on his face. “She told Vivian the next time she messed with her, she’d fuck me in front of her, and I, for one, think that’s an excellent send-off for Vivi- don’t you?”
The cackle that escapes me can only be classified as hysterical. That bitch karma always gets her due.
* * *
“It’s time to wake up, Vivi,” I taunt, pouring the water over her face.
She splutters, fighting for air as awareness settles in.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.