Page 227 of Fame & Rhythm

“Get the fuck out of here,” Dad snaps, holding Mum tightly at his side. “And if you ever come back, I won’t just call the police… I’ll get a goddamn restraining order. You will never see our daughter again. Do you hear me?”

Aston wraps his arm around me, pulling me into him. I lean into his side as the tears finally spill over, hot and unstoppable.

Loretta looks straight at me, her lip curling. “All you had to do was give me some money,” she says, her voice low and bitter. “Everything would’ve been fine. But now…” Her eyes narrow. “You might have won this battle, Annie, but you haven’t won the war. This isn’t over!”

A shiver runs through me at the intensity of her stare.

“This is over, Loretta. If you come near us again—”

“You’ll what, Deliah?” she cuts in with a sneer. “Kill me and spend the rest of your life in prison, away from your precious little angel? I don’t think so. Watch who you threaten, bitch.”

Dad steps forward, his presence sharp and dangerous, and for the first time, Loretta falters and takes a step back.

“Get. Out!” he says, his voice low and deadly. “Dee might hold back, but I won’t.”

Even I feel the weight of that.

Loretta swallows, her bravado slipping just a fraction. “Fine. I’m going,” she snaps, but her gaze locks onto mine again. “But don’t forget this, Annie… you’re the one who ruined this. You’re the one who ruined everything.”

The words hit hard, but not the way she wants them to.

Not anymore.

“Get off my property,” Dad growls.

Aston tightens his hold on me, his hand coming up to cradle the back of my head, pressing me into his chest.

“This isn’t over!” Loretta calls again, her voice laced with venom.

“You could never be my mother,” I fire back.

She laughs, cold and hollow. “Oh, honey,” she says, shaking her head. “I never wanted to be.”

Well fuck! That cuts deeper than the rest, but it doesn’t break me.

Not like it would have before.

Loretta turns, climbing into her car. The tires screech as she takes off, gravel spitting across the driveway.

The second she’s gone, everything crashes in, and I cover my face as sobs rip through me.

“Oh Annie, why was she here?” Mum asks, rushing to me and pulling me from Aston’s arms into hers.

I cling to her, my chest heaving, my heart racing so fast it makes me dizzy. I can’t get the words out, so she just holds me, steady and warm, while the rest of them gather close.

“It doesn’t matter, Dee,” Dad says firmly. “All that matters is she’s not coming back.”

I nod against Mum’s shoulder.

That woman, that thing is never coming back.

Not ever.

“I can’t believe she hit you,” Aston says quietly.

I pull back slightly and look at him. His fingers brush gently over my cheek where the sting still lingers.

Guilt twists in my chest.