Whatever the case, I wasn’t going to waste time pondering the issue.
We had been granted a temporary reprieve, and I intended to make the most of it. It was funny, actually, that I had Veronica to thank for saving my ass.
Had she not come along when she did, providing the perfect distraction with her comment to Terry, I’m sure my mother’s shocked mind would have eventually put two and two together.
But it was only a matter of time before she did.
And it wouldn’t be long.
“Now, would you like to explain what the hell that girl was talking about?” demanded my mom when we were all back home from the governor’s party, spread across the living room.
My mom stood in the middle of the floor, her arms crossed across her chest, while Terry sat on the couch, his head in between his hands.
She looked like some enraged ice queen in her magnificent ball gown as she scowled expectantly at Terry.
Stefan and I were seated opposite of Terry on the other couch in the living room, Stefan on one end and me on the other.
Stefan still looked like he had stepped straight out of a GQ magazine, with his overcoat resting on the arm of the couch and his dress shirt open at the collar, giving a peek at his sexy chest underneath.
His eyes on his father, he sat with his legs spread wide like he owned the place. Even with everything going on, it was hard not to stare at him. He practically oozed confidence in the face of our shaky predicament, which turned me on even more.
In fact, he’d handled the whole situation at the party way better than I did. While I’d been about to pass out, Stefan seemed like he’d been ready to fight.
Fortunately, it hadn’t come to that . . . yet.
Terry brought his head up out of his hands and glanced at the glass of red wine sitting on the coffee table in front of him.
As soon as we’d gotten back home, Terry offered to pour all of us a glass to help prepare us for whatever secret he was about to reveal. Obviously, my mother had immediately declined, and though I could have used a sip to calm my nerves, there was no way I was drinking alcohol while I was pregnant. Stefan had surprised me when he had accepted. He was one who usually shunned alcohol, claiming that it made him unfocused, and as an athlete, he always wanted to perform with a clear mind.
But now he was on his second glass.
Terry picked up the glass in front of him and took a sip. “Please don’t go crazy when I tell you this, Evelyn,” he said quietly, setting the glass back down on the table.
“I’ll make no promises,” my mom replied stiffly.
Terry sighed and glanced over at us. “I’ve been unhappy in our marriage for a while now. I'm sure I'm not alone.”
Shocked silence descended over the room like a dark blanket, and Stefan and I exchanged worried glances.
“But that gives me no excuse for what I’ve done,” Terry said quickly when my mother’s features twisted with outrage. Terry proceeded to tell us all about his online fling with Sororitybabe95, A.K.A Veronica George, going into very explicit detail. How it had started with just a random invite to his social media, and how it had progressed from there, trading pictures, texting, sexting . . . and while Mom didn’t quite get it, I did. Veronica had somehow planned all of this. I don’t know when she started it. It must have been before the Sacrifice, for some reason, but the more I heard, the more I felt like I’d been a fly in her trap for months.
I listened to Terry’s account, feeling an array of emotions—disbelief, shock, horror, and then, finally, outrage. Sure, I was mad at Terry, but I was even more pissed at Veronica. How could she do something like that? What had I done that was so awful to made her want to seduce my stepfather and cause trouble in our family?
As far as I knew, sleeping with my stepbrother wasn't against the law. And by accident, I might add. What gave that slutty tramp the right to judge me?
And if she called this revenge because of the sorority facing a shut-down, then she was wrong about that, too. Alpha and Kappa had been engaging in questionable practices since their inception. So, even without what happened during my Sacrifice, it would’ve only been a matter of time before their unscrupulous actions caught up with them.
Fuck her, I thought angrily. Fuck her and all those crazy Kappa bitches.
My mom’s next words pulled me out of my reverie with a jolt.
“I want a divorce.”
Terry jumped to his feet, his arms outstretched as he moved toward my mother. “Now, now, come on, Evelyn, I want to work on things. There is still counseling and—”
“Don’t fucking touch me!” Mom screamed, swiping Terry’s hands away. “Don’t you ever fucking touch me!”