Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 70445 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 352(@200wpm)___ 282(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70445 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 352(@200wpm)___ 282(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
“I’m actually only here on business.” I take out the papers War gave me a month ago at the funeral and slide them across the table. “I had these looked over by a few lawyers, including my dad’s estate lawyer, and everything here is legitimate and enforceable.”
Daisy’s eyebrows raise in surprise as she takes the pages. “I don’t understand. Aren’t these the sale documents I gave to War?” Her expression tightens as she stars to flip through the pages. Each one is marked with a couple sets of initials, including CL. “This doesn’t really matter anymore, since your dad didn’t leave the ranch to anyone in his will. We’re going to court over it and—” She pauses, frowning. “What is this, Melody?”
“You wanted to sell the ranch. Well, we sold the ranch.”
Her expression darkens. She flips faster and finally reaches the last page in the bundle. I watch her eyes as they read the words and get to the bottom, my heart racing, my palms sweating and hands trembling. War sits close and I take heart in having him here, even if we’re not totally okay yet and I’m not sure I can let my guard down, but having him next to me and on my side gives me a ton of strength.
“Colton Leader?” Melody asks and shakes her head. “I don’t understand. Your dad died. How did he—” She looks at the date and her eyes widen. “You have to be fucking kidding.”
War speaks up then. “Here’s the thing, Daisy. When you gave me that job, you know, your little insurance policy, I realized something. I could do what you asked and hope for the best, or I could fuck you over. Obviously, I chose to fuck you.”
Daisy slams the papers down and smacks her palm flat down on top of them. “What the fuck is this?”
“It’s pretty obvious,” I say, terrified but loving Daisy’s confusion and rage. “War went to the buyers you had listed on those documents and had them draw up new contracts. He did his thing, you know, told a few white lies, and that big farming conglomerate faxed over the updates the next day.”
“You son of a bitch,” Daisy whispers.
“Then I went to see Colton,” War says. “I made sure you were all out on your nightly excursion to town. I told him the deal—he could sign now and sell the place and list Melody as the sole beneficiary, or he could do nothing, let the ranch go to nobody, and the whole thing would fall into chaos. I told him it was the only moral thing to do. And the only way to keep this place out of your hands.”
“This is fake,” Daisy says, shoving her chair back. “You forged these documents.”
“We didn’t,” I tell her. “And those are copies. Feel free to tear them up if it’ll make you feel better.”
“You bitch,” she snaps and her lips pull back. “I’m going to fight you. I’m going to rip you to fucking pieces in court.”
“Good luck,” I say and stand, meeting her gaze. “The thing is, we took this long to tell you about it because we wanted to make sure this was ironclad. There’s no judge in the world that’ll side with you, not after we confirmed Colton’s signature, the beneficiary statement, the sale agreement, everything. My father sold the ranch right under your fucking nose, and you’re not going to see a dime.”
Daisy screams and comes at me. Her fists fly, aiming for my face, but I’m ready for her this time. I drop my shoulder, step forward, and ram my weight right into her midsection the way War taught me. She lets out a shocked woof of air and flips over my shoulder, over my back, and slams onto the floor behind me.
She tries to jump to her feet but War puts a boot on her chest and holds her down. “Stay there for a while,” he says. “I fucked you, Daisy. And I have to admit, I enjoyed every second of it.”
“I’ll sue you both,” she wheezes from the floor. War lets her go and we head to the door. Her unhinged screams and shouts follow us to the street. “I’ll kill you! I’ll find you and kill you, Melody, I fucking swear! Rosie couldn’t do it but I fucking will, you bitch, you fucking bit—” I slam the door, cutting her off, and lean against War.
I’m shaking with excitement and fear, and I don’t know if that was the right thing to do. I didn’t go back to the ranch to get revenge on my family—that’d never been part of the plan. All I wanted was to see my father, say goodbye, and deal with my past.
Instead, they chose to drag me back into hell, and I’m done letting them yank me around.