The Act
Page 19
“I remember him telling me all about the way you latched onto him back in tenth grade. His little sucker fish, right? Cute.”
My face went hot. “Well, I wouldn’t…I mean, that’s not—”
“I just find it really ironic, considering,” she went on.
Fine. I would bite. “Considering what?”
She turned to face me, staring down from her willowy height, made even more impressive by her stilettos. Judging by the smile on her face, it was clear I had just walked right into a trap.
“Oh, you know.” She looked at her nails, pretending to be casual. “Considering that he’d written all those nasty slurs about you in the locker room after he found out that your father had been supplying his with whores.”
A shockwave went through me. “What?”
“Oops!” Claudia said. “I mean ‘sex workers.’ We don’t want to be bad feminists, do we? Well. See you out there!”
With that, she gave me a condescending pat on the shoulder and then sauntered out, leaving me stunned and sick to my stomach.
I was staggered, caught between devastation and disbelief. Could it possibly be true?
Ford was the one who had started the bullying all those years ago?
Ford had known about my father’s human trafficking ring before I did—before anyone in my family did—and he had done nothing?
The floor was dropping out from under me. I ran back to the toilet and sank to my knees in front of it, lightheaded and still nauseated. I didn’t throw up, but it took me a few minutes to calm down as I realized that my entire relationship with Ford, from day one, had been based on a bigger lie than I could have ever imagined.
And as much as I wanted to believe Claudia had made it all up, the only way she could have known any of those things was if Ford had told her.
I got to my feet shakily and took a deep breath. Just as I was convinced that things couldn’t possibly get any worse, my eyes settled on the thing I had completely forgotten about. The only thing that could be more important than what I’d just heard.
The plus sign on my now-positive pregnancy test.
Don’t miss the conclusion of Emzee and Ford’s story…
* * *
Find out what happens in The Truth.
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Also by Stella Gray
Arranged Series
The Deal
The Secret
The Choice
* * *
Convenience Series
The Sham
The Contract
The Ruin
The Convenience Series: Books 1-3
* * *
Charade Series
The Lie
The Act
The Truth
* * *
Bellanti Brothers: Dante
Coming Soon
About the Author
Stella Gray is an emerging author of contemporary romance. When she is not writing, Stella loves to read, hike, knit and cuddle with her greyhound.