Lie to Me (Sexual Misconduct Volume III) by Bethany Bazile Read Free Book Online

helped me. I never let anyone in the way I let you in, and now I find out it was all a lie—a cover-up.” I balled my hands up on the tabletop.
    She reached out and this time built up enough courage to wrap her hands around my clenched fist. I tried to pull away, but she held tight. “I know I chose Xander and Jonathan over you, but never doubt that I loved you. I always will.”
    I hated how much I wanted to sweep everything under rug and accept her, Ellie, and Xander back in my life. That was the worst part. There was a battle going on inside me between my heart and my brain. My brain saw everything clearly. It dealt in cold, hard facts. But my heart tended to blur the hard edges and focus in on the good memories, and it magnified my feelings like they were all that mattered.
    “ If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t be where I am now. I can’t say I’m not angry at you, but…” I shrugged. “You helped me with my college application, with my trust fund, and—”
    I paused when Susan swiftly pulled her hands off mine and looked away. “Susan?” I dragged out her name because of her weird reaction.
    “ I don’t want to lie to you anymore.” She turned back to me, and I tried to go back over what I’d said to cause this reaction from her. She met my gaze but remained silent.
    “ The trust fund?” It was the last thing I mentioned. She nodded, her lips tightly pressed together.
    “ Was that really from my parents’ life insurance?” I narrowed my eyes and watched her suspiciously.
    She shook her head.
    The calm that had fallen over me began to disappear, and anger quickly took form inside me. “Where’d it come from?”
    She didn ’t respond, and I was getting tired of the lies and the sudden speechlessness.
    “ Where!” I slammed my fist on the table, causing Susan to startle.
    “ There was a life insurance policy, but it wasn’t as large as the one you received.”
    “ How much was it?”
    “ Two hundred thousand.” She wrung her hands together.
    “ There was over a million in that fund.” My voice was rumbling with unleashed rage. Everything was a lie. There were so many untruths surrounding me I wasn’t sure if I knew what my reality was anymore.
    “ Jonathan and I decided to put something away for you until you were older,” she confessed.
    “ Guilt money,” I accused.
    “ No.”
    “ Yes!” I jumped up from my seat, the chair scraping against the floor. “Your son killed my parents. Then you and your husband covered it up and paid me off to relieve your guilt.”
    “ Avery, sweetie.” She stood, one hand reaching out for me, the other over her chest.
    “ And what’s worse is you stood around and let Xander fuck with my heart, knowing what he’d done.” I pointed a finger at her.
    “ Avery, please.” She gasped, hunching over and clutching her chest.
    “ It’s true you facilitated this lie that is turning my life upside down.”
    “ Avery…” Her breaths shortened and she began wheezing. “Ambulance,” she managed to say.
    S hit.
    “ Susan?” I moved to her side and caught her before she crumbled to the floor. I pulled out my phone and quickly dialed 9-1-1. Her hold on my hand loosened. Then she whispered, “Sorry.”
    She passed out as I talked to the operator. And all I could think as I waited for them to arrive was that Xander would think I took his mother away just as he’d taken mine.

Atonement
    Xander
    Ten fucking days.
    This shit was driving me crazy. I knew when I decided to lie to Avery I took a huge risk, but in my head I couldn’t see anything past her leaving me. Now that she was actually gone, I was thinking I should’ve chosen differently.
    My phone rang , and when I saw Avery’s picture light up on the screen, I didn’t know what to think.
    “ Hello,” I answered cautiously.
    “ Xan…” Fuck. I hadn’t heard her say that in over a week. “You need to come to the hospital.”
    “ What happened? Are you okay?” I snatched up my keys and