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Back One White Lie Save as PDF
Chapters (59)
  1. COVER
  2. About the Author
  3. DEDICATION
  4. ONE
  5. TWO
  6. THREE
  7. FOUR
  8. FIVE
  9. SIX
  10. SEVEN
  11. EIGHT
  12. NINE
  13. TEN
  14. ELEVEN
  15. TWELVE
  16. THIRTEEN
  17. FOURTEEN
  18. FIFTEEN
  19. SIXTEEN
  20. SEVENTEEN
  21. EIGHTEEN
  22. NINETEEN
  23. TWENTY
  24. TWENTY-ONE
  25. TWENTY-TWO
  26. TWENTY-THREE
  27. TWENTY-FOUR
  28. TWENTY-FIVE
  29. TWENTY-SIX
  30. TWENTY-SEVEN
  31. TWENTY-EIGHT
  32. TWENTY-NINE
  33. THIRTY
  34. THIRTY-ONE
  35. THIRTY-TWO
  36. THIRTY-THREE
  37. THIRTY-FOUR
  38. THIRTY-FIVE
  39. THIRTY-SIX
  40. THIRTY-SEVEN
  41. THIRTY-EIGHT
  42. THIRTY-NINE
  43. FORTY
  44. FORTY-ONE
  45. FORTY-TWO
  46. FORTY-THREE
  47. FORTY-FOUR
  48. FORTY-FIVE
  49. FORTY-SIX
  50. FORTY-SEVEN
  51. FORTY-EIGHT
  52. FORTY-NINE
  53. FIFTY
  54. FIFTY-ONE
  55. FIFTY-TWO
  56. FIFTY-THREE
  57. FIFTY-FOUR
  58. Acknowledgments
  59. THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING

‘Bullshit,’ I screamed. ‘You’re a fucking liar, and you’re still pretending to be on my side! You had a key to my place. You took out a three-million-dollar life insurance policy on John. You told me John never cheated on you, but you knew the whole time, you even knew Claire was pregnant – you knew he spent the night with me! You lie, lie, lie, and then you cut people out of your life when they call you on it, when they try to tell you the truth. You made me think I was going crazy. You’ve been lying to me from the beginning.’

Vera’s expression faltered then, her lips pressing together, her eyes narrowing. ‘Did you?’ she asked weakly. ‘Did you really do it?’

‘Sleep with him? Of course not. We kissed – that was all – but it was still enough for you. Enough to blame me for everything. Enough to excuse it all.’

Her eyes widened, her face reddening. ‘You kissed John?’

‘Don’t pretend like you didn’t know,’ I said.

‘You acted like my friend, and you … you kissed my husband?’ Her face seethed with rage. ‘You whore.’

‘This is all an act,’ I said. ‘You knew. You –’

‘First night I leave you two alone,’ she said, her words coming fast, furious. ‘Seriously? You pretended like you needed a family, like we would be best friends, but you never cared about me, did you? You never cared about us.’ Her voice became shrill as she mocked me. ‘“Please don’t leave me, I don’t know what to do here without you, I’m so scared.” It was a lie, wasn’t it, just like she said? The minute you get the chance, you betray me. The minute you get a moment alone with him, you try to fuck my husband!’

It all happened so fast.

My breathing quickened and I felt hot all over, all the way up to my cheeks. Rage, rage for Vera, for John, for Davis, for Ellie, for everyone who had ever betrayed me, for my parents, for abandoning me when I needed them most. Leaving me raw and unarmed, ready to be taken advantage of by anyone and everyone. Rage. Rage that had to come out. She’d hurt me, just like they all had. And I always fucking took it.

‘You killed him!’ I rushed at her, lifting the bottle over my head. As I brought it down, I caught the explosion of fear in her eyes, just before it connected with her cheek. She stumbled, reeling, her arms reaching out for something to hold on to, but she couldn’t catch her balance – she fell to the floor, shrieking as her face hit the tile.