Untamed

34

Shelby didn't know if everyone stopped breathing or it was just her. Wife? Heather was married, from the look of everyone's face she was the only one who had no idea, she was the fool.

How could she be so blind? There were various things she had thought about, various reasons why Heather was Heather, her tears had dried after hours of spilling down her cheeks and soaking the pillows, she was even ready to meet her halfway maybe even drag her the rest of the way but this? This was a huge blow to the gut.

"Renee" Heather spat out her name with as much venom as she felt. "What are you doing here?"

"Business sweetheart, didn't you miss me?" Renee winked

Heather eyed her in disgust, "Why would I? I don't even think of you."

Renee pouted her blood red lips, "That's a shame since you can't get rid of me."

Shelby half listened to the conversation, her heart felt like it would fail any minute, her vision got blurry by the second. Melissa was the one who noticed and quietly guided her to a chair, handed her a glass of cold water and placed a wet cloth on her neck.

"You didn't tell your new toy you were married?" Renee looked at Shelby's shocked face blankly.

"She's not a toy and I was getting around to it, you're not supposed to be here." Heather said through her teeth. "You're not welcome here."

"Is that how you treat your wife?" Renee ran her fingers through Heather's hair.

Heather slapped her hand away. "Don't touch me, you're not my wife."

"That doesn't matter." Renee held her hand to her chest. "You'll appreciate me when I give you information about this ghost you've been sleeping with."

Shelby went white when she heard her, it couldn't possibly be; a quiet life was all she asked for when she ran back to Texas to take over her father's ranch until Heather destroyed every notion of peace she had held dear for seven years when she walked through her door.

"Wait-"

"Is that a tremor I hear in your voice? I might not be constant in her life but I care very much about the people she sleeps with since that body is all mine in the end." Renee smirked

Shelby wanted to throw up from two different thoughts entirely, "Let me tell her."

"You had a few months to do that but you were busy frolicking in her bed." Renee played with her fingers. "I know she's sexy and all but that information was too important for you not to share before you took her to your bed."

Shelby swallowed the lump in her throat so she would hear herself speak. "Just let me be the one to tell her please, I jus-"

"And take away the thrill of me actually spilling the beans." Renee clapped her hands laughing like a lunatic. "There's no way I'm doing that hun."

Shelby pleaded with Heather using her eyes, she couldn't hear it from anyone except her. All she needed was five minutes alone, to make her understand, to make her not look at her the way she did Renee.

"Heather please, let's talk privately-"

"Bah bah bah" Renee cut her off with a file in her hands. "You'll do all the talking when she's done reading about your past."

Heather stared at the file Renee dropped in front of her, Shelby was pleading with her but her curiosity won like it always did. The file contained some things Heather already knew but the rest which was meant to be classified slapped her hard in the face.

"From the look on your face, you really liked what you read." Renee bit into the unripe fruit she had abandoned loving the taste now.

Heather reread the papers in front of her trying to make it make sense in her head, it wasn't making any sense at all.

"Heather please, let me explain. It's not as bad as it looks I swear."

"A dead child is not as bad as it looks?" Heather asked in surprise.

"I didn't kill him."

"This file clearly states that you did." Heather threw the file at Shelby, the papers flew out decorating the floors of the kitchen.

"I didn't kill him, it was a lesson that went terribly wrong. I was supposed to double check the equipment but I handed it to someone else, it was an accident. When the horse moved, one of the stirrups came loose and startled it. By the time we could get the horse under control he was-"

"He was dead Shelby. Jesus. We're talking about a dead kid."

"I know" Shelby didn't bother wiping the tears trailing down her cheeks. "I know, it haunts me every day but it was an accident I swear, we have evidence to prove it."

"So the main reason you ran back to Texas was because?" Heather turned her back to her.

"Because I couldn't live with myself, it was my mistake and it will haunt me for the rest of my life. What I needed was a fresh start, Texas offered me that, my father offered me that."

"You mean a man who isn't your father?" Renee added.

Heather stared at the woman in front of her and she couldn't recognize her, her hair was everywhere, her eyes were puffy from all the crying, for the first time Heather couldn't bring herself to look at her so she looked everywhere but at her.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner." Shelby blinked away the tears clouding her vision. "I know it doesn't make any sense now but Darrius is my father eventho-"

"Is that the reason he hated you?" Heather nodded once it clicked. "I wondered why a man would detest his child so much but now I get it. You weren't even his, imagine finding that out at the end of your life?"

"He was my fathe-"

"He was not your father!" Heather screamed at her. "He was nothing to you except the empty shell of a man you had filled with unhappiness. No wonder he didn't want to leave the ranch to you, who would entrust a murderer with anything?" Heather asked no one in particular.

Shelby gripped the edge of the table to ground herself to reality, she was thrust unto the stage she had avoided for seven years, this attention on her biggest flaw, once anyone heard the story they didn't see her anymore all they saw was a murderer, a woman who killed a child.

"He-at-her plea-se" Shelby sobbed. "It's no-thing like th-at"

"I can't do this right now" Heather laughed but it sounded hollow to her own ears. "Pack your stuff, I'll get a cab to take you the airport and a flight back to Texas, I really hope I never see you again Shelby."

Shelby called out to her but she was already walking out of the kitchen and her life.

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Lenifty
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