Building Her Throne Burying My Heart (Claire) novel Chapter 4

The mood in the room had shifted so quickly. What was supposed to be a fun get-together now just felt heavy and awkward. People started making excuses, and soon everyone was heading for the door.

“Claire, this is between you and Lambert. We probably shouldn’t get involved… We’ll get going,” someone said, and the rest followed. In a matter of minutes, only a handful of us were left.-

My stomach felt like it was doing somersaults, full of booze and regret. I could barely keep from throwing up, and I knew that if I kept drinking, I’d end up in the ER. But for some reason, I just couldn’t stop myself.

Claire saw how messed up I was and walked over, grabbing me by the collar.

“Why can’t you just apologize? Is it really that hard to admit you were wrong?”

I pulled her hand off me. “If you mean the dress, then I’m sorry again.”

She slammed a bottle down onto the floor, the crash echoing through the room.

“You know that’s not what I’m talking about!”

I tried to hold myself together. “Honestly, I have no idea what you mean… There’s one bottle left. I’ll finish it, and then you let me go.”

It was a bottle of strong liquor, the kind that burns going down. Just looking at it made me feel sick. The first sip blistered my throat, and I started coughing, my whole face burning. I tried to take another drink, but Claire knocked the bottle out of my hand.

“Just go. Get out of here. I don’t want to see you.”

I stumbled and fell, landing hard. Both of our hands got sliced by the broken glass. Blood trickled down her fingers, and even though my heart ached, I pretended not to care. She wrapped her own hand up, and I just stood there, useless.

I finally managed to get up, hiding my bloody hand behind my back.

“Thanks, Claire. Now that I’ve finished your little drinking punishment, I don’t owe you for the dress, right?”

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