Total pages in book: 67
Estimated words: 68576 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 343(@200wpm)___ 274(@250wpm)___ 229(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68576 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 343(@200wpm)___ 274(@250wpm)___ 229(@300wpm)
—Atlas to Pepper as they watch Ariel
ATLAS
This had been the worst day of my life.
Honestly, I’d thought it couldn’t get worse.
But then Pepper had started talking.
She’d told me everything that had happened from the moment Sage had turned into a ‘monster’ as she’d coined her sister.
She ended it with what she thought had happened the night that Sage had entered my life.
“There’s a lot to address here,” I said into the silence, my eyes on my son, still unmoving on the bed.
The doctor had explained to me that until he was off the sedation meds, he would appear to be in a coma.
He wasn’t.
The doctor just wanted to monitor his brain, and keep him comfortable, while they did that.
“She abused you,” I said softly.
“I have proof,” she immediately replied. “Anything you need. I have proof.”
“And you said that all of her psychological evaluations were good?” I pushed.
“Yes,” she said. “It’s like she’s the world’s best psycho. She can literally adapt to any situation. Kind of like her newest obsession with the police department. It’s just unreal how well she can blend in and act normal. It surprises everyone when she starts to turn into this person they don’t know.”
“And your brothers, your family, will corroborate this?”
She pulled out her phone and immediately dialed her brothers.
They both answered on Facetime, happy to see Pepper’s face.
They instantly knew something was wrong, though.
Everest on the left, the younger of the two, said, “What did Sage do now?”
Pepper looked over at me with a forced smile before she told them a little bit about what happened today.
“Doesn’t surprise me that she would try to find his weakness,” Everest, said. The one on the right, Tarrant, grunted out an agreement.
“You remember that one time I broke up with Lisa in high school, and Sage went out of her way to befriend her, then stalk me for her? That was fuckin’ awesome,” Tarrant grumbled. “I still have issues with her. Ida fuckin’ hates her guts.”
“So why are you calling?” Tarrant asked. “He doesn’t believe you?”
Pepper tried to look like she was unbothered by that but didn’t quite hide her expression in time. “Sage is hard to deal with at the best of times. It takes people a while to fully comprehend the extent of her depravity.”
“Amen,” Tarrant grumbled. “You remember when Ida first met me? She thought I was a monster because of what Sage told her about me.”
Since Pepper had just told me all about Ida, Tarrant’s wife, and their two kids, Romily and Valentina, I knew their entire life story.
Tarrant and Ida had met in high school. Ida was in the same grade as Sage. Sage had gone out of her way to make Tarrant sound like the bad guy, and only after a year of trying to get her to listen to him had Ida finally heard him out.
“Hey, speaking of Sage,” Everest grumbled. “Our lawyer just got word that Sage was consulting with a lawyer to file a lawsuit against Mom’s estate.”
“What?” Pepper leaned forward, shocked.
“She wants half the money that we got,” Tarrant grumbled.
“But that money was given to us for a reason!” she cried.
I caught Pepper’s hand almost without thought, wondering the motivation behind the anger.
“Apparently, us paying for Dad’s care isn’t a good enough reason for her,” Everest grunted. “She wants to contest the estate. Hopefully the lawyer lets her know just how stupid of a move that is.”
Pepper brushed a hand over her face. “Just exactly what we need.”
“What’s going on?” I asked, wanting more information.
Pepper tilted the phone so that her brothers could see me.
“Well, well, well,” Tarrant said, eyes directed on me instead of his exhausted looking sister. “Who do we have here?”
“Atlas Carter,” I said, nodding my head. “Nice to meet you two.”
“Pepper’s told us a whole lot about you,” he replied cryptically.
I hoped not everything, or they would never like me.
Fuck me for choosing the wrong sister.
“When Mom died, she had a sizeable life insurance policy,” Pepper said without any inflection in her voice. “She left half to Dad, who paid off the house and all the debt they had except for medical debt. The other half went to us so we could then put it into a trust and pay off Dad’s monthly medical fees.”
“How much does it cost to have him at that 24/7 medical care facility you ask?” Tarrant asked, likely reading the curiosity on my face. “A fuck ton. Over two thousand dollars a week since it’s a private facility. They don’t take Medicare.”
“Fuck,” I replied.
That was a fucking lot.
And if he lived a long time, then it was possible they’d be bleeding money to make sure he had the best care.
“Pretty much,” Pepper grumbled.
“If Sage gets her way, and gets some of the money, we’re going to be stuck figuring out how to pay two K a week,” Everest said. “And just sayin’, but I’m a fuckin’ firefighter/paramedic now. Maybe I should’ve stayed in… I don’t have the funds to spare right now.”