When Rivals Fall (Bayshore Rivals 1)

“What the hell just happened?”

“We saved you from the biggest mistake of your life,” my father barks. “That’s what happened.” His blue eyes clash with mine in the rearview mirror.

“What did you tell them?” I’m shaking now, fire filling my veins. I should’ve known. I didn’t hear the whole conversation but in that one-minute Sullivan and I were upstairs my parents had found a way to make the brothers hate me all over again.

“That we know they had something to do with you almost dying last night and that we have plenty of people who were on that boat willing to testify to it.”

Oh, my fucking, god. “You let them think I set them up… again. Didn’t you?”

Instead of answering my question, my dad asks his own. “What if they had something to do with it?”

No, they didn’t, they couldn’t. It wasn’t the brothers.

“There is no way they did! None of the Bishops pushed me in. Oliver was the one who saved me. How do you even know about the boat?”

“It doesn’t matter how we know. Did you really think we would let our only daughter go off on her own without watching over her?” My mother asks, and I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised. I should’ve known better, known that someone would be watching me, reporting back to them with every little detail.

“Yes, you should have! I thought I made myself clear the night I left, that I don’t want to see you again? If I wanted something to do with you I would have answered when you called me. I would’ve visited you over the summer.” I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve yelled at either one of my parents, but tonight it feels like déjà vu. I yelled the night I left and I’m yelling now, with good reason. How fucking dare they show up here, spouting lies, and interfering with my life?

“Don’t be so dramatic, you don’t have to stick up for them anymore. I’ve spent my entire life fighting against that family and I refuse to let my daughter be corrupted by such evil bastards.” My eyes bulge out of my head at my father’s words.

“Evil? You are the evil ones,” I grit through my clenched teeth. “Drop me off at the dorm and leave me the fuck alone!”

“Harlow, language,” my father warns as if he holds some kind of hold over me still. This might have been the first time I ever cussed at my parents, but I couldn’t care less. I’m so angry with them. I didn’t think I could hate them any more than I do, but once again they’ve proven me wrong. They’ve ruined everything by showing up here, everything.

“I hate you,” I mutter, crossing my arms over my chest. It feels like my heart is breaking. I might sound like a hormonal teenage girl who is having a bad day, but I actually mean it. I hate my parents. I hate them for how they’ve raised me. I hate them for deceiving me, for not letting me be who I want to be and for destroying everything I love.

They took my image of people and distorted it. They twisted me, molded me into the person they wanted me to be. My entire world is crumbling, and I can’t manage to pick up the pieces fast enough. I feel like I’m speeding down a hill in a car without breaks. What am I going to do besides crash?

???

“Swear to me, Shelby, swear it wasn’t you,” I beg, looking deep into her eyes.

“I swear, Harlow. It wasn’t me! I haven’t seen or talked to your parents since before graduation. I promise, I didn’t tell them anything.” I watch her face closely and find nothing but sincerity. My shoulders sag in defeat. It wasn’t, Shelby. I’ve known her long enough to pick out a lie and she isn’t lying, but if it wasn’t her, then who was it?

Holding my head in my hands I say, “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have accused you. It’s just my parents can be very manipulative. They could have you doing their dirty work without you even knowing it.”

“I know, and don’t feel bad you’ve been through a lot lately.” She places her hand on my shoulder, and I lift my head. She gives me a weak smile. “So give me the deets did you send your parents packing?”

“I told them to leave me the hell alone or I would go to the police.” I didn’t want it to come to this. Even after everything, I hate that I actually threatened my parents, but I didn’t see any other way of protecting myself.

I’d already moved hundreds of miles away, told them I never wanted to see them again and still they followed me, tried to control me, manipulate me. What else was I supposed to do to get away from them?