Chapter 2: What Did I Do Wrong?

I hung up. My mother pushed open my bedroom door.

"Still holding onto that? Your father gave it to me. Me. Not you. What gives you the right to keep his things?"

I stayed silent.

She frowned. Displeasure hardening her features. "What's with the attitude? Pepper thought it looked pretty. She just wants to wear it for a few days. She's family now. Show some respect. Hand it over. Don't be selfish."

Pepper clung to my mother's arm. Her voice drooped with practiced disappointment. "Forget it, Mom. She's never treated me like a real sister. If she doesn't want to, fine. I won't push."

"She doesn't get a choice." My mother wrapped an arm around Pepper. Her gaze landed on me. Cold. "Your father's ring. Pepper wants it. Give it to her."

A memory surfaced. Being small. My mother holding me on the couch. Pointing at that ring on her finger. Telling me it was the only thing we had left of my father.

Now she wanted to give that last piece of him away.

Something in me went hollow. Not the kind of tired that made you cry. The kind where you're just done. She didn't owe me anything anymore.

I pulled the ring from its box. Set it on the table.

"Take it."

She grabbed it. Walked to the door. Didn't look back.

Her voice drifted in from the hallway. "Here, put it on—oh, look at that. Gorgeous. Looks so much better on you than it ever did on her."

Pepper slid the ring onto her slender finger. Right in front of me. She lifted her hand to the light. Admiring it.

"Don't blame Mom for having favorites, sis. Honestly? This ring belongs on my finger."

"Just like Camden belongs as my boyfriend."

"What's mine stays mine. No one else gets to touch it."

I watched her preen. Said nothing.

This house wasn't my home anymore.

She could wear whatever she wanted in it. I was leaving soon. For good.

I grabbed my bag. Stepped around her. Headed for the stairs.

"Ah! Why did you push me—"

Pepper threw herself in front of me. She stumbled backward toward the staircase like I'd shoved her.

I hated her. But my hand shot out anyway. Instinct. Twenty-something stairs. A fall like that wasn't a joke.

"Rowan, you ungrateful snake."

Camden smacked my hand off Pepper's arm.

My hand slammed into the banister. The crack of it echoed. Loud.

Pain exploded through me. Cold sweat beaded on my forehead instantly.

"Camden. You got here just in time. Otherwise I—"

Pepper buried herself in Camden's chest. Her face was all tears and trembling terror.

"Shh. Don't be scared. I'm here." Camden stroked her hair. His voice dropped to something soft. Protective. "I won't let anyone hurt you."

I looked at my hand. Swollen. Bruised purple. Probably fractured.

Then I looked at Pepper. A little shaken up. Tucked safe in Camden's arms while he murmured comfort against her hair.

Something bitter twisted in my chest.

The boy who'd once doted on me. Who'd promised me forever. The man I was supposed to marry in three months.

When did he become this?

Once Pepper was sufficiently soothed, Camden turned on me. His eyes went dark.

"I know you're still angry about the marriage. The baby. Me keeping it from you. Fine. Take it out on me. I didn't tell you beforehand. That's on me."

"But you do not hurt Pepper. She's fragile. She's been through enough."

"All she wanted was to be a mother. What's so wrong about that? What gives you the right to punish her for it?"

He jabbed a finger at me. "You apologize to her. Now."

I fought to keep my body from shaking.

My voice came out raw. "What did I do wrong?"

"What exactly did I do wrong?"