Page 66 of Beaten

I don’t move. “What can’t you believe?”

She flings her hand at me. “You. Just being… here. Getting to be a housewife to Alek when you don’t deserve him. You don’t deserve this cushy lifestyle.”

“Why don’t I deserve it?”

“Because you’re a gold digging whore. We all know it.”

“Susanna,” Nina says softly. “Let’s just swim. I’m not in the mood for a fight.”

Susanna flashes her sister with a hurtful gaze. “Well, I want to fight.”

“Do you know anything I’ve been through?” I ask.

“I don’t care. Not after you slapped me. Anything you could say to me now is pointless. I don’t like you.”

“And I don’t like you,” I snap, finally getting to my feet. It’s been hard to find my voice but with how much Susanna is making me angry, it’s been getting easier. “You are rude. That’s why I slapped you the other day. You haven’t even cared to ask what I’ve been through.”

“Like I said. I. Don’t. Care.”

“I had to watch my father murder my own mother right before my eyes.”

Both of them go silent, their eyes widening.

“Oh,” Nina finally says, almost like she feels a little bad for me.

And then Susanna speaks once more. “I don’t believe you. You’re just saying that for pity points. Now, leave. My sister and I are trying to enjoy a day of swimming.”

“This isn’t even your house,” I say.

“And it’s yours? No. It’s Alek’s. And he has allowed us to use this pool. So leave.”

“I’m not in your way.”

Susanna storms right up to me and stares me down. Even at sixteen, she’s a little bit taller than I am which I can tell makes her smug. Any advantage over me is a win for her.

“Now you are,” she says. “So move before I slap you in return.”

“Alek said he wasn’t happy with how you’ve been treating me. I am Alek’s wife, whether you like it or not. So start treating me with some respect.”

“I don’t respect whores.”

“I am not a whore. I’m still a virgin for goodness sake’s.”

Susanna’s eyes widen before she lets out the cruelest laugh. “You’re a virgin? How old are you? You’re pathetic.”

“Susanna, come on,” Nina says. “Let’s just go.”

“No. I am going for a swim and this bitch can get out of my way.” Susanna pushes me backwards before I even realize it’s happening.

And that’s when I fall into the pool.

It’s the deep end and I can’t swim.

Water rushes all around me, clouding my vision and soaking right into my nose and into my lungs. I open my mouth to breathe which only makes more water rush inside. An intense hot pain rips its way up my throat. I am going to die. There’s no escaping this.

I flail around, trying to find a wall to grab onto. To hoist myself up. To save myself.

But the only thing I can focus on is the darkness creeping in at my vision and the pain in my throat and lungs. I wanted to find my own voice so badly and now that’s all going away.