Chapter 7
But honestly, she thought, having to listen to the very people who ruined her lecture her about morals? It was a special kind of torture.
She had poured her heart and soul into this family for years, only to find that it was all worth less than a single smile from Candice.
“Why is everyone so serious?” Candice suddenly interjected, glancing at Rebekah’s face before letting out a loud laugh. “I was just kidding. You girls are always so dramatic p>
She unclasped the pendant. “I don’t want you to get the wrong idea about me and Benjamin. Seriously, if anything was going to happen between us, it would have happened by now p>
Benjamin’s expression shifted almost imperceptibly.
Rebekah’s jaw tightened as she watched the pendant swing from Candice’s fingers. Just as she reached for it, Candice’s lips curved into a smirk, and she let go.
The pendant slipped through the air.
*Clink p>
Rebekah wasn’t fast enough. It hit the floor and shattered into pieces.
A gasp of horror escaped her. Trembling, she forgot her crutch and lunged for the broken pieces. The moment her legs took her weight, a white-hot pain lanced through them.
Her face contorted, and her balance gave way, sending her pitching forward.
In the same instant, Candice threw herself sideways, collapsing to the floor with a cry.
“Candice p>
“Aunt Candice p>
Two worried voices cried out in unison. Benjamin and Shawn rushed to Candice’s side.
No one paid any attention to Rebekah.
Benjamin helped Candice to her feet, his face a cold mask as he looked down at his wife. “Rebekah, Candice was giving the pendant back to you. Why did you have to push her? You’re becoming more and more unreasonable p>
Rebekah didn’t have the strength to respond. She shakily gathered the broken pieces, but they wouldn’t fit back together. The only thing her grandmother had left her was gone.
Benjamin watched her, head bowed,
as she tried to piece the pendant together, her blood staining the shards. It was just like that winter night when she had searched for it in the snow. A flicker
Of pity crossed.
his face, but he quickly suppressed it. “Rebekah,” he said softly,
“apologize to Candice, and we can
put this behind us p>
*Apologize p>
Rebekah, still on the floor, began to laugh. A wild, broken sound filled with unshed tears. *I was the one who had to apologize p>
In their seven years of marriage, Candice had always been able to stir up trouble between them with a single, careless word. And Benjamin had always taken her side, just as he was doing now.
After all, Candice was the woman he was willing to make himself a pawn for.
And she was a fool for still hoping
sa
for a shred of genuine affection from him. She knew how this would end, yet her heart felt like it was being stuffed with cotton, each fiber pulling at her skin until the pain was unbearable.
The pain eventually subsided, leaving only exhaustion in its wake.
“I’m sorry,” Rebekah said, her voice low and devoid of emotion. “I was wrong p>
A flicker of unease crossed
Benjamin’s face, but he pushed it aside and helped her up. He leaned in close, his voice a whisper only she could hear Candice is your sister, after all. Don’t make things difficult for her. She hasn’t had an easy life p>
His tone was gentle. “We’re family. What’s a pendant between us? I’ll have my assistant find you a new one at an auction p>
“I know I was wrong,” Rebekah repeated, her voice still flat.
When her eyes met his, she pushed him away. A glacial coldness settled in her gaze, so profound it startled him.
“I was wrong about everything,” she said. “I was wrong to mistake gratitude for love, to mistake glass for diamonds. I was wrong to marry you and to ever become a part of the Forrester family p>