Page 41 of Priceless
“You will. When I wear it.”
“I—”
“I’m not putting it back on. I can show you the picture later.”
Geneva, who was on the phone in the corner, hung up. “I’m glad you found something. While you’re here, would you like to look at some things for after the wedding?” Her grin told us exactly what she meant. “We have plenty of options here from Cheria.”
Laura snorted. It was under her breath, but we both still heard it. Geneva went to say something, and I stopped her. “Ashley is the one who found the dress. I don’t know how she picked it, but it was perfect. And she now has my measurements. So if she wants to pick some things for me, I’m fine with that.”
Her mouth was a firm line, but she nodded. “All right. As far as everything else, I’ll be in touch tomorrow. Let me know what you choose for the flowers as soon as you can.”
“I will. And thank you for everything.”
Laura was already on her way out of the salon, and I jogged to keep up. “Was she consoling you because I tell you the truth?” She sneered when I caught her at the doors.
I stared at my aunt. “I don’t understand.”
“What don’t you understand, Ocean?”
“Why you do this. Why you act like this. Why you treat me like this. What did I ever do to you other than have my parents die too fucking early? You act like I’m some kind of poison.”
She narrowed her eyes. “You didn’t have to do anything.”
“Then why?” Emotion was rising, as it did when I was tired and stressed. And after this, I just needed to know.
“Frank and I have worked for everything we have,” she said. “And we worked hard. You’re going to get everything fucking handed to you, just like your mother, and you’re already lazy as it is.” Her eyes ran over my body at that last remark. My aunt didn’t understand the concept of genetics and the possibility that some people were simply bigger than others. To her, if you were fat, it was a moral failing and always your fault.
Always.
“Did your mother give anything to us in the will? No. She gave everything to you. I’m her sister, and she didn’t give me a fucking cent while also declaring me the guardian of her daughter. Because I couldn’t have a child of my own, she gave me hers like it was a gift and not an utter slap in the face.”
“You have full access to the entire estate,” I said. “The accounts that aren’t my trust. That’s not nothing.”
“Only until you have it. Then what? Then we’re out on our asses and you get to flit around my house and play with your flowers and never do anything valuable with your life?” Her mouth twisted into an ugly sneer. “So if you want to know, that’s why. You’ve managed to take everything from me over and over again, while your very existence reminds me of the thing I was never able to have. So forgive me for not worshipping the ground that the last remaining Caldwell walks on.”
Pushing the door open, she stopped and looked back. “And I heard what you said to Geneva. Don’t bother buying anything for after the wedding. Because the idea that these men want you for any other reason than that you’re disposable is laughable. Get in the fucking car.”
It took me a few seconds to be able to move. Hurt pulsed in my chest. I never knew why, and now that I knew, it still didn’t make sense. But with the kind of hatred she threw at me every day, it was never going to make sense. There was nothing I could do to make it better or make me like her more. Frank was the same, though he wasn’t as vicious.
My chest lifted. All this time I thought it was something I’d done. But… no. There was nothing. And that in itself made me feel better. I didn’t do anything to deserve it, and no amount of trying was going to make it change.
Good to know.
I followed her to the car and put in my headphones, ready to ignore her on the long ride back to Clarity.
15
HELLEBORE
(CHRISTMAS ROSE)
MEANING: ANXIETY; RELIEF; TRANQUILIZE MY ANXIETY
OCEAN
________
There were movers in the house, and there were locks on the kitchen cabinets. There had been since after the bridal salon. The kind used to keep a child out of where they weren’t supposed to be, only amplified with padlocks. In a way, the scale of her pettiness was impressive.
