Page 72 of Wicked Elites

“If you’re that desperate to hold onto their stuff, you can pay for a storage unit.”

I shook off my shock and betrayal. The academy would have to wait while I stopped Ashley from getting rid of our home. “When’s the house going for sale?”

“It’s too late. We signed a contract and everything.”

“I didn’t!”

She shrugged. “You’ll get your share. Unlike you, I’ll give you your half after expenses.”

“Where is the auction?”

“You won’t get the answer out of me.” She lay back on the bed, folded her arms, and squeezed her eyes shut. “By the time you’ve worked out what I’ve done, the house will go to the highest bidder, and all that cash will be in my account.”

My hands balled into fists, and I advanced toward Ashley. Common sense kicked me in the gut. She probably wanted me to lay into her, so she could fight back and distract me from the auction.

I opened my bag, pulled out Mom’s car key, the house keys, and my wallet, spun on my heel and headed for the door.

“Where are you going?” she asked.

I flung the door open and sprinted down the hallway. Just before I reached the stairwell, something tangled around my feet. I tripped and skidded on the wooden floor. Giggling reached my ears.

I turned around to find Geraldine and Bianca standing in formation behind me, flanked by a multitude of smirking girls.

Chapter 17

Ignoring the pain radiating through my chin and knees and palms, I scrambled onto my front and balanced my body on my ass and elbows. The last thing I needed was to turn my back on Geraldine and Bianca.

The two girls towered above me like a pair of avenging valkyries, each wearing jodhpurs and riding jackets and each holding horsewhips. A group of girls, some of whom I recognized from that terrible night, crowded behind them.

My heart galloped a staccato beat, and hot breaths raced in and out of my lungs. I hadn’t spoken to either of them since the kings ousted them from the royal table. They must have found out about my night with Leopold and Sebastian.

I raised my throbbing chin and tried to keep the tremble out of my voice. “What was that for?”

“You called the police,” Bianca hissed, her dark eyes flashing with anger.

“W-what?”

“They came yesterday, asking a bunch of awkward questions about Ashley’s initiation.” Geraldine sliced her horse whip through the air, making a high-pitched whipping noise that made my stomach turn.

I shuffled backward on my ass with one hand held high, in case I needed to block her weapons. “What did you expect when I was brought into the hospital beaten and violated? In real life, you can’t get away with sticking things inside other girls. That’s sexual assault.”

“You should have kept your mouth shut,” snarled Geraldine.

Bianca bared her teeth. “You should have fallen down a ditch!”

“I remember what you said.” Adrenaline coursed through my veins, making my heart beat so hard and fast, my entire body vibrated. “My memories were hazy the day after when I gave my statement, but everything’s come back to me.”

My throat convulsed. This was mostly a bluff. I still couldn’t recall the girls force-feeding me alcohol, but I could now remember everything that happened before my penalty.

Bianca stiffened. “What are you talking about?”

“While Ashley was with Geraldine, you whispered something in my ear,” I said through labored breaths. “You wanted me to leave heirs like Sebastian Garraway and Leopold Brunswick to the more deserving. You said you’d make me fall down a ditch. At the time, I thought you’d push me, but now I realize you meant to get me drunk, so I would stumble down the mountain.”

Geraldine scoffed. “Who will the authorities believe? Two daughters of prominent individuals or a disturbed and desperate orphan girl who shoves raw meat up her cunt to join a sorority of queens?”

That generated a few giggles from the crowding sycophants and made hot anger flare across my skin. Hadn’t they hurt me enough without dredging up Mom and Dad’s deaths?

“That’s what the police believe happened,” added Bianca with a triumphant smirk. “And one of the officers even agreed that it was impossible to force someone to drink to such excess!”