A Vow of Deception, A Vow of Revenge novel Chapter 34

"Oh, Mom, please—just stay out of this, okay? It's between us."

"How can I stay out of it? And listen, I'm warning you—what happened two years ago, you can't pull a stunt like that again. It's too risky! If something happened to Winona, that's one thing, but if you ended up in jail, how could I ever face your real parents, now that they're gone?"

Winona smiled silently.

Maybe it was just that she'd learned too much truth in the past few days, gone through too much. Her heart felt oddly calm, as if nothing could really shake her anymore.

In a way, she was grateful to overhear Simone say these things. At least now she could stop fooling herself into thinking Simone ever truly cared about her.

Without a word, Winona turned back into her bedroom and started packing. Honestly, there was nothing here she couldn't live without. Everything in the Goodwin house—none of it mattered anymore.

So she just grabbed a few changes of clothes and some basic necessities, stuffing them into a small suitcase.

As she wheeled her suitcase out of the room, she happened to catch Simone and Celia coming in from the balcony, their conversation just ending.

"Who's there?" Simone jumped at the shadow in the living room, fumbling for the light switch against the wall.

The room flooded with light. Winona squinted, her eyes adjusting.

"Oh, Nona," Simone let out a breath. "It's late—why aren't you… Wait, where are you going?"

She stared at the suitcase in Winona's hand, bewildered.

Winona glanced at her, said nothing, and headed straight for the front door.

"Hey, Winona!" Celia snapped, striding over to block her path. "My mom's talking to you—didn't you hear? What kind of attitude is that toward your elders?"

"What's going on out here? It's the middle of the night."

"Ty, Nona says you two broke up. What's going on?" Simone's voice rose, sharp and anxious.

She'd always looked down on Winona's background, but right now, without Winona, who else could possibly stand between Tyson and Celia?

Tyson frowned, glaring at Winona, his face darkening. "Seriously, what are you doing now, causing a scene in the middle of the night?"

"Tyson, I've already told you tonight—we're done." Winona's words were cold, final.

Tyson stared at her, anger and panic warring in his eyes. He'd thought that once they came home and had dinner, things would blow over. He never really believed Winona meant it when she said she wanted to break up.