Total pages in book: 117
Estimated words: 116760 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 584(@200wpm)___ 467(@250wpm)___ 389(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 116760 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 584(@200wpm)___ 467(@250wpm)___ 389(@300wpm)
“Too little too late?” he guessed.
“I feel bad about that too. About the fact that every time he asks me to come around to dinner, I say no. But that’s less about him and more about . . .”
“Your mom?”
“Yeah. I’m sorry. We should get down. Go get ready for the day.”
“Not yet.” He reached out, putting his hand on her knee before he quickly drew it away.
No touching.
“Why are you sorry?” he asked, instead of pulling her into his lap and holding her tight like he wanted to.
“Uh, because I’m sure you have better things to do than sit here and listen to a poor little rich girl complain about her life. I mean, what right do I have to moan? I wasn’t abused. My parents didn’t starve me. I had a roof over my head and food to eat. Clothes and the best school money can buy.”
“You think that’s all a child needs to thrive? To grow? To be happy?”
“No,” she said quietly.
“And abuse can come in many different forms. It’s not just physical.”
Bebe sucked in an audible breath. “I wasn’t abused.”
Yeah. They had differing opinions on that.
“My biggest regret is doing the show. The Benner Life. Mother put a lot of pressure on me. She wouldn’t have been pleased if I had said no. But my dad took me aside and told me I could refuse to do it and he’d back me. It’s the one time I could remember him putting me first. It felt like he actually cared about my well-being. It felt good. But I was sixteen and thought it was my ticket to fame and fortune. Plus, I think a part of me wanted to please my mother. I just wanted her to like me.”
“There’s nothing wrong with that,” he told her quietly.
“No, but it led to me doing things I now deeply regret. I don’t want to be rich and famous.” She huffed out a bitter-sounding laugh. “All I want is for everyone to forget about that stupid show. Strange how people think they know you when they see you on the television. They all seem to think that what they saw is the truth. That it wasn’t manipulated and guided and a huge fucking setup.” Another huff. “Sorry.”
“Stop saying sorry for things that aren’t your fault.”
“You’re employed to be my bodyguard, not my therapist.”
“Do you have one?” he asked.
“A therapist? With all of these issues I have? You bet your butt I do. Only problem is I can’t afford him.”
Corbin opened his mouth to ask her why, but then he shut it again. Why did he think she had money? Just because her parents did? The same parents that she barely had a relationship with.
“Have you watched it?”
“The Benner Life?” he asked, not really wanting to answer but knowing he had to.
“Yep.”
“Ahh, yeah, I watched some episodes before I came here.”
“Wanted to see what you were getting yourself into, huh?” she said dryly.
“I’ve learned not to believe everything I read or see on a screen,” he told her.
“Well, I’m glad some people think that way. Most don’t. They believe what they want to believe. And I was too young to see the damage it was doing to me until it was too late. I wanted out. I was about to go to my father when I overheard Ericc telling his friend that he was only dating me for the fame. That he’d never wanted me. I was a means to an end and that he had an actual girlfriend he’d hidden from me.”
“Fucking asshole.”
She snorted. “Yeah, he was a total dropkick. The thing is, I thought I loved him, I really did. And I would have done anything for him. My heart was utterly broken and I thought I wouldn’t get over it. I went to my mother and I told her I wasn’t doing any more episodes. My contract was up and she’d been pressuring me to re-sign.”
She shook her head and let out a deep breath. “She tried to convince me to stay, but I told her no. I was done. So to punish me, she aired the footage of me hearing Ericc say he was using me.”
“Wait. You’re saying your mother chose to air that footage? To punish you?”
Bebe smiled sadly. “Yeah, that’s what she does when she doesn’t get her way. She’ll find some way to punish me. It’s a talent, really. Finding a way to punish someone without being completely obvious about it. Still, I don’t know how my father doesn’t see through her after all these years. Guess love is blind, huh?”
“I don’t believe it’s that blind. How can you not know what your wife is doing? Especially to your daughter.”
“I don’t think I’ll ever forgive her for that. It was the most-watched episode of the series. There were memes made with my shocked, upset face. It . . . it was so bad and I don’t think she even understood why I was so upset. Can you believe that shit?”