Total pages in book: 117
Estimated words: 113934 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 570(@200wpm)___ 456(@250wpm)___ 380(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 113934 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 570(@200wpm)___ 456(@250wpm)___ 380(@300wpm)
“Proves what, Charlie? That you drugged me and raped me?”
Charlie ran his hands through his hair and let out a frustrated sigh. “Skylar, I didn’t mean to ever hurt you. I’ve always wanted you so badly. I knew you’d never give me the time of day, and—”
“So, you drugged me? You were my brother’s best friend! He trusted you. I trusted you! I thought you were my friend, Charlie. You ruined my life!” Skylar screamed, causing all of us to jump.
My heart was beating so hard that I was sure Mitch could hear it. All I wanted to do was take Skylar away from here, away from the bad memories, and away from this asshole. It was killing me to stand here and see her hurting, to hear what that asshole had done to her.
“Skylar, you don’t know how many times I’ve wanted to tell everyone the truth, but my father won’t let me. He just keeps saying that I am going to be taking over the family business and that you probably wanted it anyway. I…I didn’t know what to say or what to do.”
I walked closer as I saw Skylar start to cry harder. She kept repeating how her life was ruined.
“Why don’t you be a man and tell everyone the truth, asshole? Now, with this picture out, it’s just going to get worse for Skylar, and you know it,” I said, walking toward her.
When she looked up at me, she caught her breath. For one brief moment, she had life in her eyes. She seemed relieved to see me. I wanted nothing more than for her to run into my arms. I wanted to protect her. I wanted to love her.
“Skylar,” I softly whispered.
The next thing I knew, she was running toward me. My heart slammed against my chest.
I held on to her as tightly as I could. “I promise you, everything’s going to be okay. I promise, angel. I promise.”
She was sobbing while she tried to talk. “It…it won’t, Wyatt. Everyone has seen that picture. Everyone!”
I glanced over to Charlie. He was leaning against a tree with his head in his hands.
What the hell? Is he crying? I’d really like to give him another reason to cry with my fist in his face.
“You know what you need to do. You need to tell the truth, Charlie. You owe it to her.”
He slowly looked up at me and shook his head. “I’ll go to jail. My dad will disown me. I’ll lose everything.”
Suddenly, Mitch pinned Charlie against the tree. “You motherfucker! You ruined my sister’s life. Do you think we give a shit about your life? You’re going to tell everyone the truth.”
Charlie pushed Mitch off of him. “Or what, Mitch? What are you going to do?”
Mitch smiled as he held up his phone. “I don’t have to do anything. You see, Charlie, this shit works both ways. I already sent Michelle the video of you saying you date-raped my sister, and you were too much of a coward to tell the truth. Oh, yeah, and it also shows your fucking father was in on the cover-up.”
Skylar spun around and looked between Mitch and me.
“What?” Skylar and Charlie said at the same time.
Mitch smiled at Skylar. “Thanks to Wyatt for coming up with the idea for me to turn the video on, I got everything. Everyone is going to know the truth, baby girl. Everyone is going to know what lying sacks of shit this asshole and his father are.”
Charlie’s face turned as white as a ghost. “No! My father is going to murder me. Why, Mitch?”
“I don’t think you want me answering that. I suggest you leave now before I beat your ass into the ground. Go enjoy what little freedom you have left.”
Charlie started to walk up to Skylar. She moved back and leaned her body into mine. When I wrapped my arms around her, I felt her shaking.
Moving my lips to her ear, I whispered, “He’ll never hurt you again, angel. No one will ever hurt you again.”
Looking at me and then Skylar, Charlie said, “For what it’s worth, I’m really sorry. I know you don’t believe me…but my father gave me no choice.”
Skylar’s body shook. “You had a choice when you put that drug into my drink. You had a choice when you took off my pants and raped me when I couldn’t stop you. You had a choice to tell the truth. I’ll never forgive you for what you did to me, and I hope you rot in jail. Get out of my face, Charlie. I never want to see or talk to you again. Ever!”
He looked at me before turning and walking away. Skylar’s legs gave out as she slid down toward the ground. Grabbing on to her tighter, I pulled her up and turned her to me.