Cruel Fortune (Cruel 2)

“Speech?” Katherine asked. “No, I don’t have anything planned. I’m actually glad that you’re here now that I think about it.”

I narrowed my eyes. Not good. “Why?”

“Because now, I get to see your reaction. See the dread in your eyes instead of imagining what it looked like back in your sad apartment.”

“You did this,” I realized.

“How did you find out?” Penn demanded.

Her eyes flicked to his. Something like pain flashed across her face but was replaced with that blank stare she’d walked down the aisle with.

“Did you honestly think that you could keep secrets in this town?” Katherine asked.

“That’s rich, coming from you,” Penn quipped.

“Who told you?” I demanded.

“I have eyes and ears everywhere.”

I shook my head in disgust. “You are a disturbed woman.”

Katherine laughed. “Sure, Natalie. Whatever you have to tell yourself. You should have listened to me,” Katherine told me. “You thought that you could come to my city and threaten me. I told you that I own this city. And I do. You don’t belong in it. Let this be a lesson for how miserable I can make your life.”

“Make my life miserable?” I asked with a slow blink. “Why would you even care? Oh wait, we know the answer to that, Katherine. Because you are miserable, and you want everyone to join you. You want to bring people down onto your level, which happens to be at the bottom of the ocean where you’re drowning. That’s what you want in life. Misery. That’s why you had this sham of a wedding today.”

“You know nothing about my life, Natalie. Keep lashing out. It’s not going to help you.”

“I don’t know or care why you did it. Either way, it’s a petty, baseless move. And you’re going to fucking pay for what you did.”

Katherine pressed a hand to her stomach and chuckled. “Oh, honey, please.”

“I’m going to make you regret this,” I said seriously.

“Sure you are, kitty cat,” Katherine said with another laugh. As if I’d made the joke of the season. “I’m so scared.”

I didn’t care how she’d found out. Or what her utter damage was. I just knew that she had come after me because I was the only person who had ever stood up to her. I was the only one who had told her no and not backed down. And I didn’t want to back down here.

Even as that string I’d been holding on to snapped. Even as I felt myself descend down, down, down into the darkest place of my being. Even as I held on to the dark and decided to call it home.

I knew with every fiber of my being that I would not let Katherine Van Pelt do this to me. How many other women had she beaten down for having strength? She’d always gotten away with it. And I wouldn’t let her do it to me.

My stomach might be in knots. I might want to throw up. Fear might be the only lifeline I had. Knowing I’d have to wade through the social humiliation of this revelation. Figure out how to still live my life after the death of Olivia Davies. And still, I would not break before her.

“Go back to the hole you crawled out of,” Katherine spat at me.

“I don’t even recognize you anymore,” Penn said with a shake of his head.

“Same, love,” she said. “Same.” Then, she flicked her dark hair off her shoulder. “Now, you’ll have to excuse me. I have a reception to finish.”

With that, she turned and strode back into her own party. The devil in virginal white.

My hands were shaking, and the last shred of control I had been clinging to in Katherine’s presence was collapsing.

“I can’t believe she did this,” Penn said. “It’s vindictive, even for Katherine.”

“I just…don’t know how she even fucking found out,” I gasped.

“Someone must have told her. I don’t think she would have cared to figure it out on her own.”

Tears welled in my eyes. Ones I’d held back all night. But I didn’t want to shed them. Not here. Not at all.

“God, you were right,” I said. I balled my hands into fists. “This world chewed me up and spit me out. And they just keep fucking winning. Even when they’re wrong, they always win.”

Penn sighed. “I did want you to get out. They’ve been playing the game a lot longer. The board wasn’t even.”

I brushed at the tears, determined not to let them fall. I wouldn’t allow it. Katherine would never get my tears.

“I need…I need to get out of here.”

“Of course,” he said. “I can take you home.”

“I bet this will all blow over,” Jane said softly.

I looked over at her. “I find that doubtful.”

“I believe it. Get away for Christmas, and when you come back for my New Year’s Eve party, it’ll be like nothing ever happened.”