Chapter 3

I turned to walk towards the study.

"I didn't say you could go," Jake said, his voice sharp. He moved to block my path.

"Get out of my way, Jake."

He grabbed my arm. "You're not going anywhere until you learn some respect. Your mother would be so disappointed in you right now."

I froze. He was using her. Even now, after she was gone, he was using her to try and control me. It was his favorite tactic. For years, every time I wanted to leave, every time I stood up for myself, he' d bring up my mother. He' d remind me how much he was doing for her, how her well-being depended on his generosity.

But she was gone now. He had taken that leverage away from himself. He had nothing left.

The realization hit me with the force of a physical blow. I was free.

Jake didn't see it. He was still living in the past, where his threats worked. "Brittany is our guest," he said, his grip tightening. "You will be polite to her."

I looked at his hand on my arm, then back up at his face. "I was always polite," I said, my voice barely a whisper. "I was polite for five years. I was polite when you stood me up for her. I was polite when you bought her gifts with the money you were supposed to be saving for our future. I was polite when you brought her into our home."

My voice grew stronger. "I was polite while my mother was dying and you were on vacation with her."

"That's enough," he snapped, his face turning red.

Brittany stepped forward, her face a mask of fake concern. "Jake, don't. She's just upset." She reached out and touched a small, leather-bound sketchbook on the console table by the door. It was filled with my preliminary sketches for my art, ideas I had been working on for years. "Chloe, we know you're hurting, but you can't take it out on us."

Then, as if by accident, her hand slipped. The sketchbook tumbled from the table, landing in a puddle of water from a potted plant that had been knocked over.

"Oh, my God!" Brittany gasped, her hand flying to her mouth. "I am so, so sorry."

I saw the flash of triumph in her eyes before she hid it. It wasn't an accident.

Something inside me snapped.

I didn't think. I just acted. I pulled my arm free from Jake's grasp and slapped Brittany across the face. The sound echoed in the silent room.