Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 69610 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 348(@200wpm)___ 278(@250wpm)___ 232(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69610 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 348(@200wpm)___ 278(@250wpm)___ 232(@300wpm)
It isn’t a question.
It’s a statement.
I know something has happened. I just don’t know what it is.
“Might want to sit down.”
Not only is his voice hard, but it tells me one thing.
It’s bad.
Nobody tells you to sit down if it isn’t bad.
“Malakai,” I whisper, eyes pleading with him to just tell me what’s going on. “Please.”
His face is hard, and it’s terrifying. He looks to Scarlett quickly, and then hands me the newspaper.
I stare at the front page. For a moment, my vision blurs, and it takes me a moment to honestly believe what it is I’m seeing, but there is no missing the words scrawled across the front cover.
“Car accident victim finally speaks out.”
It doesn’t seem so bad, when you read it like that, but it’s the words that follow, the pictures, all of it. My heart feels like it stops and my body prickles as I let the words sink into my mind, and literally shatter my heart.
“Caiden Morrison has held his silence for over a year after a terrifying accident took his livelihood and career. Caiden said it’s time he spoke up, it’s time he got the help and support he deserves. Local reporters interviewed Caiden about his horrific ordeal, after finding out that the love of his life, and the woman who caused the accident, has been found to be associating with local bikers, touring with country music superstar Scarlett Belle, and leaving him home alone, worried the woman he loves, is cheating on him.”
No.
This isn’t happening.
I stare at the picture of Caiden’s burned, broken face on the front cover. It’s the worst possible picture they could have used. He looks broken, and battered, and it was taken only days after his bandages were off. Then there’s a photo of me with Scarlett, laughing, head flicked back, looking like I don’t have a care in the world.
It was a photo before my attack from Treyton. Before everything started going so badly. I look happy, and free, and literally like the worst human being on the planet. I frantically flick to page three where the rest of the interview lies. My eyes blur and my heart races as I read the words that officially send my world spiralling down.
“Can you tell us about the accident?”
That’s the first question.
Caiden’s answer makes my stomach twist.
“We were driving home, from dinner. We were arguing about something, I’m not sure what. Amalie turned to me, and she was yelling. I don’t remember much, but I remember telling her to watch the road. She wouldn’t listen. She just kept on yelling, and looking over at me. Then suddenly we were spiralling out of control. I woke up like this.”
“Did you and Amalie remain together after the accident?”
The second question.
“Yes, we did. I didn’t blame her. I knew she wouldn’t intentionally hurt me. It was an accident. It was her actions after the accident that broke my heart.”
“What actions were those?”
My eyes blur as he answers that question with a blatant lie. A filthy, filthy lie.
“Well, we had been together over four years. She claimed she loved me, and that my ... face ... wouldn’t affect how she felt about me. I had carers around the clock. I couldn’t walk. I can still barely walk. Amalie started visiting less and less, I tried to call, tried to get hold of her, but she went on tour. She was gone for months.”
“Why did she go on tour when she knew you needed her help?”
I shake my head. No. No. This isn’t happening. Why is he doing this to me? Is this his idea of revenge? Is he trying to get back at me? What the hell kind of game is he playing? Is this because he knows that I spent time with Malakai?
“I don’t know why she chose to go on tour. I begged her not to. She said she needed to follow her dreams. That I couldn’t put her life on hold any longer. I asked her if it was over, if she just wanted me to move on with my life, and she told me no. That she loved me. That she wouldn’t be gone for long. I believed her. I loved her. I wanted her to follow her dreams, so I waited for her to come back.”
“What happened then? You found out recently she has been seeing a local biker?”
No. No. No.
“Yes, I found out she was seeing somebody else. I have photo evidence of her riding around with him on the back of his bike. She rarely visits, and when she does she’s distant. I heard she was dealing in bad things, that her life was starting to take a turn for the worst. Ever since she started touring with Scarlett Belle, and spending time with those bikers, she’s ... different.”