Page 218 of While You Were Trending

She pulls herself up to her full height and glares at him. “Terrible morals and an overdeveloped sense of being able to intimidate people? My god, leave my daughter alone.”

“I have receipts and the money to hire a private detective to find more. To find the evidence that you stole your kids’ money. To find evidence that you leaked the news about your daughter’s wedding. To track that you were the anonymous source telling the news that I’ve been here and starting rumors about Ginny again. And I have zero qualms about destroying your reputation and your life the way you destroyed Ginny’s reputation and attempted to destroyherlife.”

I shiver as my heart swells.

Mabel slips her hand in mine and squeezes.

“You don’t scare me,” my mother says to Declan.

Heath chuckles.

Mabel smiles.

Cricket coughs like she’s hiding a giggle.

“Then you don’t really have any self-preservation skills, do you?” I say quietly. “Because we won’t be acting alone. We have Mabel. We have Heath. We have Cricket. And everyone else who lives here.”

“Nothing left to lose,” Cricket says cheerfully.

“We’re your worst nightmare,” Olivia says.

“I’m here for this party,” Dori says.

“Party?” Pip says as she, too, joins us. “This isn’t a party. It’s just all of you standing on a porch.”

“Pip, will youpleasetell these people that they’re being ridiculous? And mean to me on top of it all?” my mother says.

Pip tilts her head at my mother, then squints at Mabel, then winks at me.

“Huh. Hearing voices again. I should go get ice cream.” She turns and slips back into the house without another word.

My mother gapes at her retreating backside, and I don’t think it’s because Pip’s sporting a new horseshoe tattoo on her ass.

But Pip has a point.

My mother loves attention.

And that’s exactly what we’re giving her.

I step forward and put a hand on Declan’s shoulder.

He’s here.

He’shere.

He covers my hand with his and squeezes. “We can fight you to the end of time,” he tells my mother. “So go on. Go run to all of your little snitches. Share all of the recordings with them. We’ll make you regret it to your dying day.”

“Goodbye, Freida,” I say. “Have a shitty life.”

Declan turns, sweeps me off my feet and up and into his arms, and carries me inside, flanked by my friends.

A flash of blue-and-red lights reflects off the windows.

“Got it, Mabel,” Heath says.

“I’ll—I’ll—I’ll sue you until you’re penniless for this,” my mother calls after us.

I ignore her.