Tamed (Torn #5)(36)

“Are you okay?” I asked as I hung my clothes in the closet.

“Not really, but I will be. I think I’m in shock right now more than anything. It just doesn’t seem real.”

I gave her a sympathetic look. “Understandable. I mean, she was horrible, but she was still your mom.”

“You want to know what the last thing she said to me was? What a horrible person I am.”

I walked over and threw my arms around her. “Oh, Chloe, you know that’s not true.”

“Yeah, but it’s what she thought of me. She called me and told me that the same night she died.”

I could hear the pain in her voice.

“I feel bad speaking badly about the dead, but your mom was a crazy bitch. She tried her hardest to break you, and she didn’t stop until she took her final breath. But you won, Chloe. In the end, you won. You have an amazing boyfriend, friends, and family who love you more than anything, and that’s something she never had.”

I released her and went back to putting my clothes away. I knew Chloe, and she wasn’t someone I could console with a hug.

Chloe pulled her phone out and frowned.

“Nothing I just said should make you frown,” I complained.

“No, it’s not that. I tried calling Drake earlier, and he never called me back. It’s not like him.”

“He doesn’t know yet?” I asked, surprised that she’d contacted Logan and me first.

“No, that’s why I was trying to call him. He still thinks I’m leaving tomorrow to meet up with him. I hope he’s okay.”

“I’m sure he’s fine. He probably just turned his phone off or something.”

She frowned. “Yeah, maybe you’re right. I just really need him right now, and he’s nowhere to be found.”

“I hope you’re not talking about me. I’m right here.”

We both jumped at the sound of Logan’s voice. He gave us a small smile as he entered the room and sat down next to Chloe on the bed.

“No, she can’t reach Drake, and she’s worried,” I said as I finished putting my clothes away. I walked over to where they were sitting and dropped down on the bed next to Chloe.

“Oh,” Logan said as he looked away.

“So, do you want to tell us what happened?” I asked, not wanting to talk about Drake any more than I had to around Logan.

“She killed herself,” Chloe said flatly.

My mouth dropped open at the same moment Logan’s eyes widened.

“I…oh, wow. I don’t know what to say,” I squeaked out. Of all the things I’d expected her to say, it definitely wasn’t that.

Logan wrapped his arm around Chloe and pulled her close. She winced as if in pain.

His brow furrowed as he noticed her discomfort. “What’s wrong?”

She sighed as she ran her hand through her disheveled hair. “I haven’t told you two anything that’s happened this summer.”

I crossed my arms over my chest and glared at her. “Am I going to be really mad at you when you do?”

“You will be.”

Chloe started speaking, her voice hollow, “You both know I only planned to stay here for a little while to make sure that my aunt didn’t give my mom anything. Well, when I got here, my aunt told me that she hadn’t planned to give my mom a dime. She’d simply used my mom to track me down. I told my aunt I didn’t want the money, but she was…persuasive. I finally agreed to take the money and to stay until she passed to help Danny. Drake was upset that I was staying, but he understood why. He was less than thrilled to leave me with Jordan though. He tried to tell me that Jordan had feelings for me, but I laughed it off. I now know that he was right. Jordan and I…our friendship is rocky right now.”

I raised an eyebrow. Maybe Chloe wasn’t as blind as I’d first thought.

“Anyway, my aunt passed away. It was really hard on Danny, but Jordan and I helped him through it. An old girlfriend of Danny’s, Kadi, showed up to help, too. I really liked her at first.”

I didn’t miss the bitterness in her voice.

“But it turns out that she was a lying bitch. She didn’t care about Danny at all. She was only here to get proof that I was cheating on Drake with Jordan.”

“Wait—how does this girl even know Drake?” Logan asked.

“She used to live in Morgantown. They used to hook up.” She looked pissed over that little tidbit. “Anyway, she tried to break up Drake and me. Kadi had taken some photos of Jordan and me and made them look…dirty when they weren’t. Jordan and I went to see Drake, and he didn’t want anything to do with me. Once we cleared everything up, I drove back here to bring Jordan home. Kadi was here when we made it back. I went off and beat the ever-loving shit out of her.”

I grinned and smacked Chloe on the back. “Way to go! I didn’t know you had it in you.”

“Neither did I,” she mumbled. “Kadi’s gone now, thank God.”

“Sounds like you’ve had a crazy summer,” Logan said.

“You have no idea. I haven’t even told you about my mom.”

“Well?” I asked when she didn’t continue.

“When my aunt died, her lawyer came to the house to read the will. Danny, Jordan, my mom, and I were there. When the lawyer told her that she wasn’t getting a dime, my mom threatened me and then stormed out. Apparently, she blamed me. We all thought she took off, but she didn’t. Instead, she waited until that evening when I was alone in the pool. When I climbed out, she attacked me and nearly killed me. The only thing that saved me was the fact that Jordan came outside while she was trying to drown me. I ended up in the hospital, and the police started searching for my mom.”