I leave my mom’s hospital room with a strange, heavy feeling in my chest. My mind is a tangled mess, racing through all the recent events, trying to make sense of them.
Benedict…I still can’t believe he’s the one who paid for my mom’s treatment, again. The moment I got that call from the doctor about Mom needing another treatment, Benedict must have acted immediately, arranging everything to make sure she got what she needed.
My heart clenches, caught between frustration and gratitude and confusion. Why did he have to go behind my back, even for something good?
But then there’s that stubborn, painful thought lingering in the back of my mind: How can I trust him after all the lies?
It feels like every time I start to believe in him, he pulls the rug out from under me. My mind replays the image of him with Eliza, her hands all over him, and I feel a sick twist in my stomach. He swore nothing happened, but I can’t ignore the look on her face, the smug satisfaction when she realized I’d seen them.
And then…there’s what I did with Alex last night.
A wave of nausea hits me as I round the corner out of the hospital, and I nearly collide with someone. “Oh, I’m so sorry — ” I stammer, looking up.
It’s Joanne — the older woman who runs the charity division at Bennington Corp. She hired me, took a chance on me when I felt like my life was spinning out of control. And now here she is, smiling gently, as my life spins out of control once again.