Teaching Sin [UNEDITED ROUGH DRAFT]

CHAPTER TWENTY THREE

SIN

I hadn't been inside their bedroom since Draven left.

Swallowing, I pushed the door wider apart and stepped inside. My eyes darted around, searching for my mother. I found her where I least expected—sitting in front of the mirror at her vanity table. She glanced up and then froze when she spotted me.

"Get out."

"I need to talk to you."

She sneered at me. "I don't want to talk to you or look at your ugly face so get the hell out of my sight before I fucking make you!"

Lauran suddenly stood, making me stumble backwards which was the worst thing I could do. I tried over my own two feet and landed on my ass. Without waiting to see what she'd do, I curled up onto my side and covered my face with my arms.

"I know a way for me to leave!" I yelled.

When nothing happened, I peeked up at her from between my arms to find her looming over me with a frown. She made a gesture with her hand before she spun around and walked back to the vanity table.

"I'm listening."

I slowly sat up and when she still didn't say anything, I got to my feet. "I found a job and an apartment in town. If you can convince Draven to let me move out then you won't have to worry about me. Help me get out of here and I won't tell anybody a thing about your past."

"What do you know about my past?" she questioned.

Smirking, I tilted my head back and bravely took a step towards her. "Do you even know who my real father is, mother?" I pressed a finger to my chin and pretended to think. "I remember this one time where I saw Draven—"

My words were cut of when she threw something at me. I managed to dodge it just in time. It slammed into the wall behind me and broke into pieces. The sound echoed around us and for a moment we both froze, waiting for someone to come barging in. Nobody did.

Lauren stormed over to me and gripped my chin in a bruising hold before I could move away. For a moment she watched me and then she spoke.

"You tell anybody about what you saw and your little friend will go to jail." I frowned which only made her smile. "Bella has some interesting skeletons in her closet."

"Leave them out of this."

"You're the one who brought up the past!" she yelled.

"Only because I want you to help me get out of here! Convince Draven that it would be better for me to live on my own. I'll be out of this house and your life. We both want the same thing and the only way we're going to get it is if we work together."

Lauren dropped her hand and took a few steps back. I reached up and rubbed the bruised skin but watched her silently from beneath my lashes. She paced back and forth with her hands twitching at her sides and her lips slowly curled into a cruel smile.

"Get out."

***

Draven returned home while we were having dinner. I nearly threw up when he actually stopped to kiss Lauren. He did the same with their kids before he took a seat at the table where he usually sat. Only then did he look at me. The smile he gave me was a bit stiff and it didn't reach his eyes at all.

How could someone like him be related to someone like Tyrone?

"Hello Sin," he said. "How's school going?"

My lips parted but it was Lauren who answered him instead.

"I got a call from the school this afternoon." Her eyes darted over to me. "They wanted to know if you were sick because you haven't been at school the last two weeks."

My fingers tightened around the fork. She was lying, we both knew that but her dear husband didn't.

"What?" Draven frowned at me. "Is it true?

I glanced at Lauren and spotted the triumph in her eyes before she managed to mask it with worry instead. Was this part of her plan? Should I play along or burst her bubble? Lauren's eyes narrowed the longer I stayed silent.

"There's been complains about her school work too. Sin's also been—"

"I'm going to move out," I interrupted her.

Damien started choking while Lauren glared at me. I ignored them and looked at Draven. He blinked, once, twice and then started laughing. My hands curled into fists when Ellie joined in.

"You're leavin'?" Lucy asked softly.

I gave her a sad smile and then nodded. "Yes."

"No."

My eyes shot back to Draven. He looked pissed for some reason. Our eyes stayed locked for a few minutes in a silent stare off. It was Draven who looked away first. He glanced around the table and then stood.

"My office, Sydney. Now!"

I hesitated. My eyes darted over to Lauren who frowned down at her plate. Swallowing, I pushed my plate away and got up. As soon as I was on my feet Lauren followed but a hard commanded from Draven to stay where she was had her sinking down into her chair again.

My eyes stayed on my feet as I followed Draven down the halls and into his office. He opened the door and stepped aside for me to enter first. I jerked in fright when he slammed the door shut behind us. Spinning around, I stared at him with wide eyes.

Draven stared at me for so long that I nervously shifted from foot to foot. The silence was killing me yet I had nothing to say to break it. My eyes dropped and my stomach twisted.

"I worked very hard to get you into that school," Draven said as he broke the silence.

"I never asked you to do it."

"You wanted to go to school."

I raised my head to look at him. "No. I never wanted to go back to school. You and your wife wanted it. You never asked me what I wanted, Draven. I've spend my whole life being told what to do. I thought that being free of Jack meant that I could make my own choices."

"You don't have the right mind to make your own choices," he said. "You're—"

"Don't," I hissed. "I know that you can easily tell the signs between someone who's mentally ill and not."

For a moment his eyes dropped to my wrist and I instantly knew what he was thinking. Draven loved Lauren and he loved her very much. He'd rather believe her than face the facts that obviously pointed to the truth. Was he so scared o being alone that he couldn't see past her mask? Or did he see it and choose to turn a blind eye instead?

"Draven," I paused until he looked at me. "I really appreciate what you've done for me, but I don't understand why you're so adamant to keep me here. I'm twenty-one. I want to experience a normal life. I want to do things other people my age do. I want to live the life I always thought I wouldn't have. I've never asked you for anything. Can't you just give me this one thing I'm asking?"