Chapter 25

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Ooookay! New chapter. Longish wait but this one and the next one were pretty intense to write. I wanted it to be good.

Enjoy!!!

Oh yeah, and the next one is ready too. It'll be up in a day or so :)

Chapter 25

Corinna’s POV

“Corinna.”

Her voice said it all. She was pissed. More than pissed and she didn’t have the presence of mind to censor herself around Sandra, Jake and Flynn.

She needed to get out.

“Mom. Hey. I was just going for a walk. Care to join me?” I kept my voice light and my eyes glued to her, hoping she’d get the message, hoping she’d read it in my eyes that this couldn’t happen here.

“You want me to go for a walk with you?” she ground out, her eyes narrowing and her jaw clenching.

“Definitely,” I said, nodding my head as I moved around the table, ready to drag her out of there if I had to.

She lurched back when I reached my hand towards her, her eyes flashing. “Don’t touch me, you bitch.”

“Right,” I muttered, my heart jumping.

Don’t look, don’t look, don’t look, I chanted to myself, my head wanting to turn towards Sandra, Jake and Flynn but I wouldn’t. I couldn’t see their faces right now.

“Could I have a few minutes alone with my mother?” I asked, my head turning slightly to the side but not far enough that I could actually look at them.

“Cory...” Sandra said, her voice hesitant.

“Just,” I snapped before swallowing hard, trying to make my voice sound calm, “get Jake out of here, okay?”

There was a long moment of silence before I heard the scraping of a chair and shuffling of two pairs of feet. Before they left the room, Jake said, “Reena?” and the tone of his voice make me turn towards him.

I gave him a crooked grin that I hoped was enough to reassure him. “We’ll play a game later, okay bud? Right now, I have to talk to this lady.”

Jake frowned, his eyes shifted to where Barb was standing, swaying slightly on her feet. “She seems mean.”

My smile faltered and my heart stuttered, recognizing his words as being absolutely true. Why hadn’t I seen her as clearly years ago?

“It’s okay,” I said because it was the only thing I could think of. I wasn’t going to defend her to him, there was no point. Sandra whispered something to Jake and then they were gone, leaving Flynn, me and Barb in the dining room, the oppressive weight of the air making it hard to breathe.

Or maybe it was the blind panic that was clogging my airway.

“Flynn, maybe you could go─”

“Not a chance.”

I winced, facing Barb fully as she glared at me with bloodshot eyes. “You’ve got them wrapped around your finger, don’t you?” she slurred, her lips twisting into a sloppy smile that looked more like a grimace.

“Did you drive here?” I asked, ignoring her words.

“Yeah, I did. What’s it to you? Don’t act like you care about me, baby girl. You don’t give a shit if I live or die.” Her voice was acid, her words burning my skin.

Keeping my expression cool, I looked her in the eye, recognizing what I was dealing with because I’d seen her like this more than once. She was a ticking time bomb. One wrong move and she’d go off.

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