I Still Hate You by Marie Skye (top 100 novels .txt) 📕

hand practically glued to some woman’s ass. Maybe he and Perrie were just fuck buddies? I mean, who didn’t have a few of those, right?

I started to stand up and walk his way before I remembered Paloma was still in front of me, waiting patiently for an answer. I turned to her. “Paloma, what did I teach you on day one?” I didn’t wait for her to answer. “If it makes you happy, then go for it. If you have any hesitations, then don’t. If he’s pressuring you, then it sounds like he’s not the right guy for you. He’s not taking your needs into consideration.”

She stared at her hands that were in her lap, and after a few seconds, she finally nodded. “You’re right.” No shit, I always am. “You’re absolutely right. I don’t need him.” She abruptly stood up and thanked me again before leaving. I turned back to my original mission. He was gone.

Over the next few weeks, it was the same thing. Perrie’s boyfriend, or whatever the hell he was, would show up randomly, mostly after midnight, spend five minutes with her in their room then he left. I was beginning to wonder if he was paying her. He never did the job right of course. It was almost like she couldn’t wait for him to leave so she could play with her clit. She thought she was being quiet, but I still heard her. I practically envisioned her biting into her bottom lip to stay quiet as little whimpers escaped her lips. And each thought that consumed me, made me hard as fuck.

13

Perrie

I took a deep breath before going up to the door to The Allis. The air alone wreaked of snooty rich pretentious people, who didn’t give a damn about anyone except themselves. To say I was nervous was an understatement. When Gerald reached out to me a few days ago, I was shocked. Why I agreed to a meeting, I had no idea, and yet here I was, about to do just that.

As I was taken to my table, a few of the men smiled at me while their supposed wives faked a smile. Even though I was dressed nicely, it was like they still knew I didn’t belong. They knew I wasn’t one of them.

“Thank you for coming.” He stood up, as the waiter pulled out my chair. He leaned over kissing me on both cheeks, which was awkward. I gingerly sat down as I looked at the two people in front of me. Gerald and Jacqueline. Two people, I haven’t seen in years. They each looked the same. Jacqueline, I’m sure had work done. Gerald, with his hair now fully grayed, was more or less the same.

“How have you been? We heard you did well at the university. We’re both so proud of you.” What in the hell is going on here? ‘We’re both so proud of you?’ What kind of passive-aggressive statement is that? Like they were following my achievements since day one.

“I always knew you would be extraordinary,” Gerald said as the waiter came and placed our Afternoon Tea in front of us along with the finger sandwiches and cakes. I looked this place up before I got here. People actually came here and paid over forty dollars a head for some damn tea and sandwiches that were half the size of a slider.

I shakily picked up a spoon to stir my tea, scared to death I would drop it. “Thank you,” I whispered before taking a sip. After a few minutes of complete silence, Gerald finally spoke again.

“I’m sure you have lots of questions about why we asked you here and our arrangement.” My head snapped to his. Those were the exact same words he said to me almost ten years ago once upon a time…

“Pssst.”

I jumped when a balled-up piece of paper hit me in the head. I just took the ball and set it to the side. Surprisingly enough, I was used to this. It no longer mattered to respond, they only laughed and teased me harder.

I hated high school. Things were to get better, at least that’s what my ‘parents’ told me. They weren’t.

Why can’t you be more like Hailey?

Why can’t you dress as Hailey did?

Why can’t you just be more?

Hailey never had problems making friends.

Hailey.

Hailey.

Hailey.

Every day I was reminded about my sister. She was the golden child; I was the disgraced child. Us standing side by side, you would never know we were sisters. She had the perfect blond hair and blue eyes. She was considered perfection. I, on the other hand, was the exact opposite, taking more of my father’s features, with dark hair, that made it clear humidity was not on my side, dark eyes, and was considered the outcast. Oh, and there’s that small tidbit that no one knew we were actually sisters.

And when I say no one, that also included Hailey.

Once it was evident my father couldn’t give my mother the grand lifestyle she wanted after the loss of his job, she went elsewhere and looked for a man who could give her exactly that. It wasn’t long before she traded in dirty diapers for diamonds and bottles for Bentleys.

She made sure to rope in the most eligible bachelor she could get her hands on, got pregnant, and left me and my dad without a second glance.

Imagine showing up in Winnetka, Illinois, one of the most affluent neighborhoods in existence, on their doorstep with a backpack and a carryon. It took two hours to convince the butler that Jacqueline Lexington was in fact my mother, a lovely tidbit she seemingly forgot to tell her new husband, Gerald Lexington.

It took two days for them to come up with a solution that I was the poor orphan child that was in need and they, oh so graciously, took me in. I was to never refer to her as Mom and was essentially treated like their staff. If guests