Chapter 11
VENUS
5 vouchers
I looked good. I felt good. For the first time in what felt like forever, something inside me whispered that things might finally start turning around.
I made my way to my mom’s ward, a container of homemade food in my hands. I knew she was sick of the tasteless, recycled hospital meals. She deserved better.
Somebody’s looking good,” she said the second I stepped in.
“Thank you, Mom,” I smiled, settling into the chair beside her. She looked brighter today. Happier.
“You’re glowing. I love this for you, sweetheart.” Her voice was soft, her eyes soaking me in like she hadn’t seen me in ages. I blushed.
“You look good too, Mom. Happier.”
“1—” she started, but a voice I knew far
too well cut her off.
“Martha.”
My head snapped to the door.
Dain.
“You’re back,” Mom said, her smile widening. That explained the glow. He was here.
“I’m gonna go-” I began to stand, but his hand shot out and gripped my wrist–tight.
“Venus,” Mom said, her voice rising slightly.
“Let go. You’re hurting me.” He laughed. That sour, slurred laugh. The stench of alcohol rolled off him and slapped me in the face.
“You look different,” he sneered. “Got a new sponsor?”
“Dain, let go of her,” Mom said sharply, the strain in her voice rising.
“Your darling daughter pulled a broken glass on me and kicked me out. Changed the damn locks too. The bitch.” He shoved me back into the chair like he had the right.
“Venus, is that true?” Mom looked at me, confused. As if I’d done something wrong. Of course, he came here to spin his version of the
story.
“He stole the money I was saving for your chemo,” I said quietly, glancing around. All of it.”
“Billy threatened to kill me, you bitch,” he snapped. “I still owe him, and you, you’re walking around looking all shiny. Bet you’ve got money now.”
“There’s no money for the chemo?” Mom’s voice cracked.
There is. I paid part of it already. I’ll get the rest soon. I promise.” No way was I letting Dain know I had any money. Not with the kind of people he was tangled up with.
“Then what was all that fuss for, huh?” he spat. “Talk to your daughter, Martha. I’ve got nowhere to stay and Billy’s breathing down my neck” And just like that, he was gone,
“Venus” she wanted, and I knew what was coming. Again.
(No. Mom I’m not letting him back in”
“Venus, he’s your father”
“Some father” I muttered, the bitterness burning on my tongue
“Please Venus. For my sake?” She gave me that look, the one that always made me feel like loving her meant swallowing the poison he brought into our lives
1/2
C
11:06 AM P P
Chapter 11
“I’ll think about it,” I lied. There was no version of this where I shared a roof with Dain again.
“Please?”
I sighed. “Fine.”
“Thank you.” Her smile was soft, too soft for everything that had just happened.
“I brought you food,” I said, handing over the bag.
“Thank you. I don’t deserve you.”
I didn’t respond. The sting of her choosing him again was too fresh, too loud.
“I’m leaving now,” I said as I stood up. “I have work early tomorrow.”
A lie. But she didn’t need to know that.
5 vouchers
I’ll never understand why she keeps tolerating him or why she expects me to. I’m exhausted. If there’s one thing I refuse to do, it’s go back to living in the same house with Dain.
Once this whole contract fiasco is over and I’m out of Aaron’s house, I’ll find a place of my own. Somewhere safe. Somewhere far. Of course, I’ll bring my mom with me but if she chooses him, I’ll have to make a very hard decision.
On my way home, my phone rang. Gianna.
My best friend.
“Hey stranger.”
“Hello to you too,” I chuckled.
“Seriously, Venus? It’s been days. Not a single reply to my texts. I leave for a week and you cut me off?”
“You know it’s not like that, Gianna. I’ve just been dealing with a lot. I’m sorry if I made you feel cut off.”
“You can tell me anything, Venus. We’re friends, sisters even.” Gianna and I had been inseparable since high school. We went to college together. Waitressed together. She’d just left to visit her grandparents a few days ago.
“I know I’m sorry. It’s just-” I started, then unloaded everything that had happened with Dain. If there’s one thing Gianna and I shared, it was our mutual hatred for him.
“Stupid asshole. How are you going to get the money now? I’ve got some savings—”
Of course, I didn’t mention the contract with Aaron Sinclair. No way I could convince Gianna that he and I were madly in love. She’d see through that in a heartbeat.
“No, I’ll figure something out. I already made a partial payment, remember?”
“Alright. But promise me–promise me–you’ll call if you need help. I’ll do whatever I can.”
Gianna’s family wasn’t wealthy, but they were real
Loving Safe. Her parents had taken me in countless times when I needed to escape Dain. Good people. All of them.
“I will. Thanks, Gl. Have fun”
“W
“Ye
