He Watched Me Freeze Now He Begs For My Return Chapter 07
By the time the train crossed the plains of Nebraska, the gala in Denver had been underway for five hours.
My phone was filled with missed calls and frantic messages. My father, my mother, Paige, Caleb—their names flashed across the screen in rotation.
I didn’t answer.
I went to the dining car and ordered a coffee. Outside the window was an endless night, broken only by the occasional distant light. Out here, there was no screaming, no mockery, no one forcing me to clean up their mess.
It would be a lie to say I wasn’t hurt.
But I felt no longing.
My only regret was that I hadn’t seen the chaos in that ballroom with my own eyes.
My phone vibrated again. This time, I answered my mother’s call.
“Have you lost your mind?” Elaine’s scream nearly pierced the speaker. “Who gave you permission to expose private family matters? Do you have any idea how many people were there tonight?”
I took a sip of coffee.
“Isn’t this your favorite kind of family humor? Why can’t you take a joke all of a sudden?”
Her breath hitched. Then she exploded.
“Humor? You call this humor? The police took your father away on the spot! Reporters are blocking the hotel entrance, the charity is revoking our honors, and everyone is laughing at us!”
“You’ve destroyed this family! Don’t you care about the Bennett family’s reputation at all?”
I looked at my calm reflection in the dark glass, a version of myself that felt almost unfamiliar.
“When you all ganged up on me with Paige, didn’t you always say it was just family humor?”