“Get her out of here,” my mother said to Theo.
Theo nodded, coming back to me, beginning to usher me away.
“But Mom—”
“Abigail,” my mother hissed, cutting me off. Her smile remained, glancing at the people who watched us. “Are you so fatally jealous you have to ruin everything?”
“Mom, I didn’t do it,” I said weakly.
Her eyes narrowed. “The words just crawled up your dress?”
I opened my mouth and closed it. I didn’t know how they’d gotten there.
“It wasn’t my fault,” I said weakly.
She shook her head. “It’s never your fault, Abigail.” My mother walked away, joining the crowd to presumably do damage control.
“At least playboy Gray understands his role. You…” Gemma sighed, righting her tiara. “You are so deeply, deeply unworthy of this family.”
I mashed my lips together, trying to control the heat crawling up my cheeks. I could feel them all watching me, the whispers, the laughter, the rumors that would spread.
So I laughed.
Because I didn’t want to cry. “I wish I wasn’t part of this family.”
I ripped myself out of Theo’s hold, running out of the great hall and into the gardens, falling on the lush green lawns overlooking the ocean. I pulled at the ends of my curls, looking at the dark waters.
We weren’t ever like other families, but then Dad died, and everything became about preserving his name, our name.
My mom has always been Tansy Crowne, but there was a time when my sister and brother weren’t only Gemma and Gray Crowne. And me… who was I before I became the girl pitted against them?
The girl destined to lose.
The real truth about me? The lives I destroyed were casualties. I wasn’t wicked.
I was unworthy. Unlovable. Rejected.
I heard a crunch and jumped, but when I saw who it was, I relaxed.
“Theo.” His name came out on a breath. The glow of Crowne Hall created a halo around his lean figure, making him look dark and ominous. He’d been there for me, held me, even if it was just part of the job, and I couldn’t shake the reminders of the past. Hope bloomed in my chest that, despite earlier today and five years of distance, we could go back to before.
He slid out of his jacket, draping it over my body.
“Thank you,” I said. Sincerely. Once again, Theo had been the only one there for me.
Something flickered in his eyes.
Disgust?
I tugged at my chestnut curl, trying to get my heart rate under control.
Wary, I pulled the lapels tight around me, watching him through my lashes as he walked around me until he was blocking the ocean. He bent down, suit stretching across his knees, his face still half-engulfed in shadows. His sharp cheekbones even hollower, more gaunt in the darkness.
“Poor Abigail,” he said. “Always second best.” He wiped the tear off my face with his knuckle and a smile that made me shiver.
“Theo, what are you—”
He cut me off, my words disappearing into my throat as he spoke. “Never good enough. Not loved by her mommy. Hated by her siblings. Reviled by her peers.” His hand didn’t leave me, knuckles resting on my jaw, lighter than air. “Poor little Abigail only wants to be loved, but no one could ever love her.”