Worse Than Enemies

He turns slowly and eventually looks me in the eye for the first time since I got in the car. “You’re really encouraging me to do this?”

“If it’s what will make you feel safe, yes. You should do whatever will end this in a way that you’ll be safe. I’m behind you, no matter what you decide.”

“But what about you? What about Lucy? What if they get divorced?”

“I’m sure they will. And if there’s any justice, she’ll end up in prison.”

“But what happens to you guys?”

“I don’t know,” I admit. “But I do know I’m not going to sit by and pretend I don’t know what’s happening just because I want to protect my sister. I can’t sacrifice one of you for the other one.”

“You could end up hurting her instead.”

“I’ll figure it out. I’m going to do everything I can to make sure she doesn’t end up separated from me. It’s only a few months until I turn eighteen. If I could find some place for us to stay and, I don’t know, get a job after school, I could save up some money until graduation and figure it out from there. I’ll adopt her if I have to.”

“You would do that for me?”

“I couldn’t live with myself otherwise.”

He goes silent and I wait with my heart in my throat. What’s he going to decide? I’m with him all the way, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a big knot of fear in the pit of my stomach that gets bigger with every heavy breath he takes. He might still end up deciding to say fuck it and end his life just to avoid the humiliation he thinks he’s going to face. All I can do is hope I got through to him, that he really understands.

He takes a deep breath, then lets it out slowly. I’m on pins and needles, ready to jump out of my skin. “Okay,” he says with a firm nod.

“What does that mean?”

“It means I know what I have to do.”

34

“You’re sure you want to do this?” I can’t believe it’s Hayes asking me that question rather than the other way around. I’ve brought my laptop down from my room, ready to present the evidence. He looks like he just saw a ghost, his face pale, drawn.

“So long as you’re sure.”

“I guess I have to be.”

“I’m with you no matter what happens.”

He squares his shoulders before turning in the direction of the study. Here goes nothing.

He walks into the room without knocking and I follow close behind. His dad’s jaw drops when he sees Hayes. “I thought I told you, I don’t want you in this house if you’re going to disrespect your new stepmother.”

I’m waiting for Hayes’s cue, prepared to destroy his father’s life and mine with it. For one painful moment, I think he’s going to back down. He even falls back a step. His whole body is tense, his breathing erratic.

“You can do this,” I whisper, looking up at him. “I’m with you.”

His jaw tightens. “Dad, there’s something I’ve been keeping from you. If it hadn’t been for Morgan accidentally finding the proof, I don’t know if I ever would have said anything. I didn’t want to ruin everything when you were so happy. I didn’t want to blow everything up.”

Mr. Ambrose lifts an eyebrow. “All right. What is it?” He looks at me, then eyes the computer in my hands. “What did you find?”

One more glance at Hayes. He nods, so I go to the desk and leave the computer in front of Mr. Ambrose. “It’s our cloud account,” I explain in a tiny voice. “I wasn’t trying to snoop. I was only looking through my old pictures. But I couldn’t ignore what I found.”

“It started over the summer, right after you two started dating. Dad, I’m sorry.” Hayes’s voice breaks, and all I want to do is go to him. I just want to hold him. But I’m too afraid right now. I don’t know how he’ll react with his emotions all over the place.

I back away from the desk when Mr. Ambrose starts going through the files. I’ve never seen a man look so horrified, especially not him. He’s always got everything together. “Is this some kind of sick joke?”

“No, Dad,” Hayes replies in a voice heavy with emotion. He’s creeping closer to the desk, while I move further away. I don’t even feel like I should be in the room. “This is what she’s been doing. At first, she told me you would never believe me, and you would throw me out and it would ruin my life, so I didn’t say anything. And then she tried to make it look like I forced myself on her and she told me she’d have me arrested if I ever told. So I didn’t say anything, but now... the wedding... the baby...” His breathing is erratic, his hands clenching and loosening, color rising in his cheeks.