Page 138 of The Elusive Billionaire

“So you’re not denying that you’re on Riley’s payroll?”

She crosses her arms to hide the tremor in her hands. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Again with the lies.” Another well-timed dramatic sigh from me has her scratching her neck as though she’s having trouble breathing. “Fine, Bethany. Here’s how I know you’re lying. That dress you’re wearing cost $3,700 when it released. Now, you can get it on resale for, I don’t know, maybe $1,000? You work at the local preschool. You can’t afford a $1,000 dress on your salary. But you know who would pay good money for information on your neighbor? Riley.”

“You’re delusional.”

“Am I?” I cross the restroom as if I own it and toss my paper towel into the trash can. Fake it till you make it and all. I open the door and press my foot against the bottom, holding it open. “I wonder what our town would think if I told them my suspicions. I mean, you do remember what happened with Madi’s ex, right? How the good people of Happiness took to having a traitor in their midst?”

“You have no proof.”

“In the court of public opinion, the only thing you need is doubt. And I’m not the only one who has noticed your new wardrobe, Bethy.”

“Are you threatening me?”

“That’s funny.” I laugh. “Considering you’re taking bribes from a convicted criminal who’s only back in town to hurt me, how could I possibly be threatening you?”

“What do you mean, hurt you?” She truly has no idea who she’s working with. “He doesn’t want to hurt you—he’s in love with you. They’re both in love with you. Why? Why you?” She’s so loud, she’s drawing attention in the coffee shop. Madi’s caught on to my current situation and is headed toward us.

“Riley is not in love with me, Bethany.”

“He is. He told me he is.” She slaps a hand over her mouth the second the words hit the air.

Of course he did.

“He’s a pathological liar. Would someone who loves me come here and open old wounds about my brother? A brother I looked up to my entire childhood. A brother who chose everyone else in the world but me. No, Bethany. He came here to hurt me. To make me pay for his crimes because he’s a narcissist who didn’t get his way. And you played right into his hands. Every comment, every line you fed him, he’ll use to hurt me.”

Madi pushes past me and attempts to stand guard, but I’m a foot taller than she is, and I can still see Bethany over her head.

“Are you proud of yourself, Bethany?” Madi is a wildfire, waiting for a spark.

“No. That’s not— He said?—”

“What?” I ask. “Did he tell you if you help him get me back, he’ll pave the way to Greyson for you?”

She pales, and I know it’s the truth.

“Say that isn’t true, Bethany.” There’s a pleading tone to Madi’s words. She doesn’t want to believe what’s right in front of us.

Honestly, I don’t either. Deep down, I know Bethany isn’t a villain—she’s lonely, and loneliness can make even the kindest soul do despicable things.

Isn’t that why I was with Riley in the first place? Soul-crushing loneliness.

“Are you freaking kidding me? Bethany, what the heck?” Madi’s pregnancy hormones hang onto a fuse these days, and she’s about to light the place up.

Pressing a hand to her shoulder, I gently pull her to my side.

“He said he loved you.” There’s a hollowness to Bethany’s tone and an expression that calls to the broken pieces of me. As she stares from me to Madi, another piece of her breaks before our eyes.

“He’s a master manipulator,” I tell her gently, allowing the door to slowly swing shut. “I’ve lived it, I know how convincing he can be. But I promise you, it isn’t love he feels when he looks at me, it’s pure hatred. He doesn’t want to take accountability for his actions when I was a teenager, and that means he has to place the blame on someone else. I’m the easy target. I always was.”

“I just… I thought… Grey and I had such great conversations during the Cozy Cup, a…connection. I just…”

Oh, Bethany. I get it. I really, really do.

“You just thought what?” Madi’s face is bright red—a newfound mean streak flaring to life. Mama bear instincts must grow with pregnancy too. “That he was going to fall head over heels for you because you talked about the stinking weather?”

“Madi…” I infuse as much warning as I can, but she’s on a roll.