But the way Beckett was acting, the things he’d said not just today but last night, made me believe I didn’t need to worry. That I didn’t need to hide the love I felt anymore.
While I was catching my breath from this spiral of revelations, Beckett responded, snapping out in my defense. “Let’s be honest, Chelsea. You aren’t trying to protect Maisey. In actuality, you’d get off on it if I broke her heart. You’re jealous because she’s always had the things you wanted and couldn’t have. Real friends. Love. A fucking soul.”
Chelsea laughed again. It was the kind of laugh that scratched down your spine like nails on a blackboard. “As ifIwould ever want or need anythingMaiseyhas. She’ll be forgotten as soon as she’s dead and buried, even by those she blindly serves, whereas no one will forgetmyname. I’m going to be remembered for generations.”
How was it possible for her to still slice me to pieces while supposedly looking out for me? How had I not learned before now to put her words in a box and toss them over a cliff? But I would. Right now, I’d take a stand. I had to.
I started to respond, but Beckett beat me to it. “Yeah, you’ll be remembered all right. As a soulless, cold-blooded carnivore who ate people’s hearts for the hell of it.”
“The villains always have the more intriguing roles. I’ll gladly sign up to play one whenever a part like that is offered,” she tossed back. But he’d gotten to her. I could tell because she tugged at her necklace the way I usually tugged at my hair.
Every last remaining thread of hurt and humiliation disappeared as my vision locked on the pearls. Fury emerged instead. I’d suspected she’d taken Mom’s box but had forgotten about it with the chaos of the last week.
I closed the distance and grabbed her wrist. “What the heck, Chelsea? You took Mom’s pearls?”
Chelsea ripped her hand away from mine, backing up closer to Gavin. “They were always supposed to be mine.”
“Mom never said that! And even if that were true, it didn’t give you the right to take her entire jewelry box. Dad was distraught! He accusedmeof stealing it.”
She laughed again. “Oh, that’s perfect. Saint Maisey accused of stealing. I bet that burned.”
“You need to give it back. All of it.”
She raised a brow. “No, I don’t. I really don’t. You got your cut. You’re wearing it on your face! This is mine. And besides, most of the jewelry was worthless. I barely got anything for it.”
She’d sold Mom’s things! That ripped through me with even more violence than her words. I hated that Chelsea had found yet another way to wound me. But I promised myself it would be the last time.
Beckett’s hand settled low on my spine, instantly comforting me.
Even if I was wrong about Beckett and what he’d been showing me over the last few days, even if I couldn’t convince him that we weren’t justmorebuteverything, what I experienced with him now would always be better than anything Chelsea had ever felt in her entire life. She was exactly what Beckett had said—a soulless, cold-hearted caricature of a human being. I didn’t think she’d always been that way. I wanted to believe the love I’d felt as a little girl was real, but she’d let bitterness turn her into this shell of a human.
“Go ahead and play the villain, Chelsea. It’s certainly a role that fits you. But you know what? The villains rarely get top billing, do they? Means you’ll forever be second-class. A ‘B’ actor, scratching and climbing but never reaching the top.” For the first time, maybe in my entire life, my words hit her. She flushed, rage coating her face before she wiped it away.
“I think this has gone far enough,” Gavin said, taking Chelsea’s arm. “You don’t need this, babe. You need to clear your mind for what comes next.”
She shook him off and pointed a finger at me. “When you have nothing left…no home, no money, no fake fiancé…don’t come crawling to me for help. I won’t have a tissue to spare, and I certainly won’t give you a dime of my hard-earned money. Not one single dime.”
She spun on her heel and started to walk away.
I called after her, “Hey, Chelsea?” She looked back over her shoulder, and I said, “The only favor I want from you is for you to delete my number.”
She stormed off, and Gavin looked at me with something that might have been sorrow. “She strikes out when she’s stressed. You don’t get the pressure she’s under, we’re all under.”
“Then she must have been stressed for the last twenty-eight years, because what you saw just now has always been the real Chelsea,” Beckett bit back.
Gavin brushed a hand through his hair and then hustled after her.
Beckett dropped our bags and pulled me to him, wrapping his arms around me, soothing me, protecting me as he always had. Because what we had was more than what I’d ever had with my sister. More than what I’d had with any other soul.
And that damn well meant something. Just like the spark that bloomed when we touched meant something. We’d spent so many years of our lives letting our childhoods convince us that we couldn’t have anything real, solid, permanent, that we’d wasted time we could have had together. No more. From here on out, I’d convince him we were worth fighting for.
“I’m sorry. Don’t let her ruin the rest of our day.” His voice was low, and the rumble of it vibrated through me, providing yet another reassurance.
Ten years ago, a year ago—hell, maybe even a month ago—Chelsea’s words would have ruined my day. They would have clung to me and followed me into my dreams and rattled all my worst thoughts awake.
But strangely enough, today, it didn’t feel like Chelsea had ruined anything. It actually felt like a weight had been lifted from my shoulders. As if removing the noxious burden of our relationship had brought into clear focus the relationship that really mattered—the one with Beckett.
People talked about how cutting toxic people from their lives had changed everything for them, and I’d thought too many people were too quick to cut ties when they should try to work out their problems. I’d thought you needed to give people the opportunity to change and grow and make amends. Now, I also saw there was a line you had to draw. A time and place to say, “No more.” I hadn’t expected crossing that line and making such a radical decision with my sister would bring such lightness and relief.