Torn: Part Two (An Alpha Billionaire Romance) (The Torn Series Book 2)

Read Torn: Part Two (An Alpha Billionaire Romance) (The Torn Series Book 2) for Free Online Page B

Book: Read Torn: Part Two (An Alpha Billionaire Romance) (The Torn Series Book 2) for Free Online
Authors: Sky Corgan
three of them were slobs, and I was the one who had to clean up all of their messes. They could do no wrong in my mother's eyes. She put the boys before me, constantly trying to please Vince.”
    “How horrible.” Ann draws her hand up to her mouth.
    “I felt like an unappreciated slave, so naturally I moved out the second that I turned eighteen. I walked out of that house and never looked back, hating and despising Vince and my step-brothers for what they put me through.”
    The waiter brings us our order, startling me out of my heavy speech. Ann comments about how quickly our food was delivered, and then we dig in, falling into silence again aside from the occasional comment about how good everything is. It's not until we're about halfway through our meal that she speaks again.
    “It's understandable that you would feel bitter towards your brothers.” She picks absentmindedly at her eggs benedict.
    “They're not my brothers,” I correct her. “But they're still my burden.” As I look across at her plate, I realize she's hardly eaten at all. “Do you not like it?”
    “It's good. I just don't eat much as of late. But do continue your story.” She moves her food around, perhaps to make it look like she ate more.
    I sigh, feeling my own appetite wane. “I left Massachusetts to go to college in Utah. Life got better after I moved out. I met a guy and we got engaged. My mother and I spoke on the phone, and we felt more like a mother and daughter through those conversations than we had when I lived in her house. Still, we drifted apart.
    “Then one day I got a phone call.” I chew my bottom lip, trying not to allow the memory to make me emotional. “My step-father had apparently gone crazy. He shot my mother and then himself.”
    Ann pauses mid-bite, her fork suspended in the air. “Oh my God, Piper, I'm so sorry.”
    “The boys were both at school at the time, so he didn't kill them. But with no other family, they became my responsibility. That's why I'm here.” I set my fork down and look away.
    “And your fiance, what does he think about all of this?”
    “There is no fiance. He cheated on me. I'm all alone.” Saying it makes my chest feel hollow. “I'm all alone having to raise two kids that I...” I choke on the word. Hate. That's what I wanted to say. I hate my step-brothers.
    “You're a very responsible and mature young woman.” She gives me undeserved praise. Nothing that I've done since returning to Boston has been responsible. I've just been doing what I have to to get by.
    “I don't want this responsibility.” I shake my head before propping my elbows up on the table and cradling my face in my hands.
    “Life is full of unfortunate circumstances and events. It's how we handle them that shapes who we are.” Ann slides her hand across the table to squeeze my arm.
    I look up at her, my eyes bloodshot from the tears threatening to come forth. “I haven't been handling this well at all. Those two boys, they're like a reminder of how my life went wrong. So many years of babysitting and cleaning up after them. I don't want to be their mother. I don't want anything to do with them.”
    I expect her to be sympathetic, but her expression hardens slightly. “Piper, this isn't just about you. I know that you feel like you've suffered a great loss, and you have. But they've lost their father—a parent—too. They're hurting right now. And if they have no one else to be there for them, then that person has to be you.
    “I'm not saying that it's going to be easy. And I'm not saying that the past and what happened to you isn't going to haunt you. But you need to remember that the way your mother and their father treated you wasn't their fault.”
    My mouth falls open at the fact that she's defending them, and I suddenly feel angry. “It was their fault. They didn't have to be little slobs. They could have helped me out. Done some chores. They saw how hard I worked.”
    “They were how old?” She

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