Total pages in book: 173
Estimated words: 163802 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 819(@200wpm)___ 655(@250wpm)___ 546(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 163802 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 819(@200wpm)___ 655(@250wpm)___ 546(@300wpm)
“Hey,” she barked, eyes flashing, “it wasn’t five! It was only Omma, Prado, and that post office bitch—and only because they left me no choice. Appa’s money is mine. It belongs to me! I was his favorite. I was the one he loved. I wasn’t letting some sad, jealous old cunt and her accomplices interfere with my father’s true wish—for me to be his heir. But I had nothing to do with that teacher guy getting killed, or with what Reynard did to himself.”
“Fuck’s sake,” I snapped, rolling my eyes. “Of course you didn’t kill Reynard or Layton. I did that.”
Sue froze with her mouth half open. “What did you say?”
“I killed them,” I droned, looking at her like the dumbass she was. “Duh. But don’t convince yourself their deaths weren’t your fault too, because it absolutely was. I saw almost right away what Layton was. First, with him indulging Lily so much she got sick at the school carnival, and then again when he tried to convince me to let him drive Lily home alone.
“My hackles were already up, but then he sealed his fate when he made that strange comment about if the manor would be searched again. After talking to Davis, I went straight upstairs to Lily’s room, tore it apart, and found the camera that bastard hid in her bathroom vent during the party when he was wandering around our home—exploring.” Rage tightened my grip on the pan handle. “Thankfully, a little thing like that was only set up to record, not broadcast, so he had to come back, retrieve it, and plug it in to see the video, but I took care of him long before that happened.”
I cocked my head, flashing her a mirthless smirk. “I want to thank you for persuading Reynard to bulk order all of those sleeping pills and drugs. There was plenty left over for the cupcake I laced and gave to Layton outside of school that afternoon, right before he was set to drive over to our house.
“Those fast-acting babies dropped him right on our doorstep. All I had to do was take the knife I stashed in the shoe cupboard and plunge it in his back,” I sang. “Thanks to you making sure the guys didn’t buy another security system, I got away with that, and with taking his car keys and stashing a few of Omma’s pills in his car.”
I shrugged. “So many of the pills Omma actually needed to take were just sitting there, piling up while the two of you medically tortured her. So I just searched all the side effects until I found one that had the worst effect on male libido, and stashed them in his car. I didn’t need to do more than that,” I said. “A man like Layton was bound to have all the evidence the cops needed to bridge the gap, hidden on his hard drive.
“And then, there was Reynard.”
“Rey— Reynard?” she croaked, looking at me like I was the one who horrified her.
“He helped you torture and kill my mother. Of course he had to fucking go. The minute I realized you faked your death, I knew you had to have an accomplice that helped you pull off the bullshit hit-a-deer con. I knew who that accomplice was when I saw the invoices, and realized just how easy it would’ve been for Reynard to sneak you into his room the day of the party, so you could kick back and wait.
“That’s why I volunteered to help him bring his boxes down to his car when he was moving out,” I said. “The stupid fool handed me his keys, I made a copy of his room key, and after lacing his dinner with a little something extra, I went down to the kitchen to cook with Lily, and confront Rhodes.” I let out a gusty sigh. “I wasn’t expecting Rhodes to reveal that he knew about the invoices and what Reynard had done, but after he did, it would’ve been too strange if I’d taken it in stride.
“I had to flip out and go running up there—shouting and pounding on his door.” I laid my hand over my heart. It was racing like it had that night. “Thankfully, I’d already let myself in and out of Reynard’s room that day. I planted the pill bottle of the stuff Reynard crushed up in his food, so it all looked self-administered.”
“How—?” Her jaw worked. “How could you?! You killed Reynard! I loved him!”
“Oh, please.” I rolled my eyes so hard, I hurt myself. “You’re not capable of love, Sue, so spare me the theatrics, especially because, as I said, you’re the one who got him killed. If you hadn’t recruited him to help you kill my mother, he’d be skipping off to his next job right about now. Instead, he died on the dirty floor like the rat he is.