Shocking Tale! Mother reveals who the real driver was the night her son was nearly killed. Montana Oakley is innocent!
She went to the media.
The words bounce around in my brain. Why would Hanna do that? After I explained to her the damage that would cause, the publicity, the bullshit all coming back up.
“I didn’t…” I continue to whisper. I don’t know what to say. She might think I’m the one behind all of this, but I have no idea how any of this happened.
“Bullshit. I can’t believe you did this.” Her voice is dripping with acid, but I barely hear her. I’m still trying to figure out what is going on as I leaf through the magazine. How do they know all of these details? They’re even questioning the accident two months ago, and the police’s ability to actually investigate anything.
They have too many details about what happened to be speculating. They have a source who knows the truth. And there are only a handful of people who know all of it. My heart breaks into a million pieces when I realize who must have leaked the story, or convinced Hanna to leak it. Hanna had years to leak it and never did. Dakota and Bob would never betray me like this. Which only leaves someone from back in Montana.
But who would do this?
Was it Kade wanting me to finally set the record straight? To stop lying for Veronika?
Or was is Dad? Maybe he wanted revenge on Veronika for what she put him through over the years and keeping me away from him?
Maybe Lizzie did this for my father?
All options are breaking my heart, destroying every last trace of belonging and happiness I experienced while I was in Montana, but no one else has anything to gain leaking a story that’s seven years in the past.
“You’re a fucking bitch, Montana.” This time I barely twitch when she grabs my face so I look at her. Her sharp nails dig into my skin. “I’ll make you regret this. You’ll rue the day you went to Montana and told lies to people who care for you about as much as they care for the manure they use to fertilize their fields. You’re nothing to them. Nothing more than a vessel to do with as they please, using you for whatever gain they could. I bet that man of yours has already found someone else to warm his bed.”
Her words slash me open and leave me bleeding in a way her physical abuse never could. Usually, I fight to not let her see how much her words hurt, but I have nothing left to give, no strength left to fight her. Silent tears are falling down my cheeks, running over her fingers. I try to not let her words invade my mind, the trust I built with Kade and my father too fragile to withstand her cruelty. But she knows my weakness, my lack of self-confidence and trust in the love people show me, and her aim is true like always. Hitting where it hurts the worst.
“You’re nothing.” An evil smile twists her lips, the real her coming in for the kill. “You were never more than a mistake.”
I’m too numb to feel much of anything when she releases me, and I slide down to the floor, surrounded by the magazines responsible for shattering my trust. A delicate entity I’ve just grown used to possessing.
I don’t hear her parting words, unable to raise my head from the headlines breaking open my life, again. One worse and more provoking then the last.
I can’t believe I was so caught off guard by this. I’ve gotten complacent, thinking my life is finally falling into place, that I can be happy. That I deserve any of it.
Only to be reminded by my own mother it’s all a smoke screen. I shouldn’t have trusted people, let them in, thinking they’d be there through the good, the bad, and the ugly.
Tears are still falling in a silent scream for love, for understanding. Nothing the people in my life seem to be willing to give me.
I’m not sure how long I sit on the cold, hard floor staring at those magazines. Long enough to grow stiff, and for my tears to dry, leaving behind an empty shell.
Somehow, I knew going to Montana would destroy me—one way or another.
Chapter Twenty-Five
I don’t know how long I sit there, leaning against the wall, reading those headlines over and over until I have them memorized, when I feel a rush of air on my skin. Footsteps start running down the hall before a body drops down next to me and strong arms engulf me.
Her subtle perfume fills my senses, and I relax into the comfort only a best friend is able to give.
“Shh,” she mutters while gently rocking me back and forth like a child. “Whatever is wrong, we’ll fix it. It’s going to be fine, Mon.”
“It won’t,” I croak, my voice breaking on those two simple words.
“I’m sure it’s not as bad as—”
“They sold me out,” I interrupt her, pushing some of the magazines toward her so she can see. I can tell as soon as she realizes what she’s looking at, her body stiffening.
“What the… Why would they do this?”
I shrug, the tears have long since dried up, but the numbness has spread, now encompassing my whole being. I’m not sure how long it will last, but for now I’m embracing this feeling of nothing.
“Maybe this isn’t what it seems,” she tries to reassure me, but I’ve had a lot of time to think about what just happened while sitting here.
“People screw people over, many times for no reason. You know that. There are a few explanations, but they all lead
