DARE-TO-LOVE-TRUTH-AND-DARE-DUET-COLLECTION-by-Lylah-James-pdfarchive

“When we left the slums behind… we promised to never
go back to it,” my mother cut in. “Never go back to being
that poor.”
Brad Coulter closed his eyes with a heavy sigh. “I
became obsessed, Maddox. So… fucking… obsessed.”
“Brad kept saying he wanted what was best for us. And
so, he worked. He never stopped working. Never stopped
to even take a deep breath. And he climbed up the ladder,”
she took a shuddering breath, “he went from an office
clerk, to a lawyer, to a senior associate, to a business
partner, then a law partner, a business owner… he kept
climbing that ladder, like an obsessed man.”
I shivered, feeling too hot and then too cold. My skin
burned, my head ached, my chest… goddamn it, it was
being carved open. That shit didn’t just hurt. It fucking
killed me.
My father… he opened his eyes, and there were tears in
them. Real fucking tears. Tears I never saw before. “Years
passed, I didn’t notice. Years passed, I went from a man
who lived from paycheck to paycheck, to a man who could
have anything he wanted with a snap of his fingers. I had
everything, but it was too late when I realized that, in
chasing financial security, in becoming obsessed with being
wealthy, I forgot… about you. Even though, you were the
reason I had done everything I did.”
“Am I supposed to pity you?” I finally growled, cutting
into their little story. “Am I supposed to feel bad?”
They both flinched at my cruel words. Yeah, good. Fuck
this. Fuck them.
“While Father Dearest was chasing after wealth, what
were you were doing, Mom?” I spat out, turning toward
Savannah Coulter. “Chasing after your husband?”
She had the audacity to look ashamed. “I feared losing
him. After his experience with cancer… it was the one thing
that haunted me. I couldn’t… I didn’t know how to cope.”
“Does that excuse make you sleep better at night?”