Stranded For One Scandalous Week (Mills & Boon Modern) (Rebels, Brothers, Billionaires Book 1) Natalie Anderson (that summer book .txt) š
- Author: Natalie Anderson
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āDid you divide your time between them?ā Merle asked when he didnāt immediately answer.
āI went to a very prestigious boarding school a few hours north of Sydney,ā he explained with full sarcasm. āIt offered every advantage for a young person, you know. Then Iād come here for the holidays.ā
He had rarely seen his fatherāso he didnāt impact on the secret lifestyle his father had enjoyed. Glancing over, he saw her deepening frown, and Ash shook his head. āYeah, no denying my teenage years were dysfunctional.ā
āBut why do you want to sell it now?ā she asked. āI donāt think you hate this place, Ash. I think you still love it. Itās just that you were hurt here. Maybe being here makes you remember what you lost.ā
Being here made him angry. And powerless. Because there was no fixing any of it.
āMumās passing was awful,ā he admitted. In an almost naive way he hadnāt realised how ill she was. Heād thought she would go on as she was for yearsāin a kind of weak but strong stasis. Heād thought heād have a chance to make things right again once sheād got over her anger. But thereād been no chance. āIād already lost everything before that. Because Iām the one who inflicted the pain here.ā
Her steady, unflinching gaze stabilised his careering emotions.
āWhat happened?ā
Heād known sheād ask. Who wouldnāt when given a statement like that? Heād wanted her to. He wanted her to know. Because then? Then sheād know the truth. Sheād know him for who he was. And that light in her eyes when she looked at him? That would dim.
āIt was my fault my mother died when she did,ā he said harshly.
āWhat?ā Merleās soft voice lifted. āHow?ā
āI broke her heart.ā And it had already been so damaged, the harm was irreparable. His own heart tore every time he so much as thought of it.
But Merle stayed still, her gaze true and calm. āHow did you do that?ā
āI proved to her that I was just like him.ā
Didnāt I teach you to play fair? Not to cheat? Never cheat, Ashton.
His motherās recriminations echoed. Even after all this time they scalded his vital organs, making it feel impossible to breathe. If he told Merle the whole truth sheād recoil. Sheād step back. She was too much of a believer in good things not to shrink away from something awful. And maybe after last night that would be best. Because last night had changed this.
āI cheated,ā he added bluntly. āJust like him.ā
And the fallout had sent him on a spiralling path of excess and oblivionāpointedly different to his dadās secrecy. Ash had been boldly, openly provocative. Heād developed his own code.
But Merle didnāt flinch. She merely nodded, almost matter-of-factly. āThat girlāwhen you were young.ā
It hadnāt been a matter-of-fact mistake. āHer name was Rose Gold.ā
At a muffled sound from Merle he grinned ruefully. āYeah. Trust me, no one hates that more than she does.ā
āBut you were at school.ā
āShe came to my boarding school, yes.ā
āSo this was a youthful, schoolboy mistake. Secondary school,ā she reiterated.
But it had been no minor indiscretion and the awful repercussions had been permanent. Merle still gazed up at him, clearly waiting, and, as much as he regretted starting this, the anger within made him continue. She needed to know what heād done.
āIt wasnāt teenage foolishness, it was massive. Rose was in the year below mine but she was even younger. One of those super-smart kids, sheād been accelerated up. Apparently weād already met because she was the daughter of one of my motherās friends, but honestly I didnāt remember her. Mum asked me to be kind, ensure she was included. She was shy. I think sheād been unwell or something.ā He sighed. āShe was pretty nerdy. A society princess but shy at that point.ā He paused and frowned as he realised Merleās skin had pinkened.
āCome on,ā he muttered. āWe should get out of the sun. Itās burning at this time of day.ā
But Merle resisted. āTell me what happened.ā
āI will, when youāre in the shade.ā
Merle walked ahead of him again but once sheād passed the pool she turned and blocked his way into the house.
āOkay, Iām in the shade. Tell me the rest.ā
Ash grimaced. āI became her champion, I guess. I didnāt think anything of it. People assumed we were dating because Iād sought her out and she hadnāt said anything to the contrary. It amused me to see her popularity rise. I didnāt take it too seriously. I didnāt think she had either. We werenāt exactly physicalāI thought we were more friends. But she was flattered, I guess.ā
āI bet she...ā Merle mumbled. āI bet she had a massive crush on you.ā
āI only asked her to go to that damn dance because Mum asked me to. To make sure she had a good time. But I...ā
āWhat happened at the dance?ā
He shifted on his feet, obviously uncomfortable. āI got filmed with another girl.ā
āFilmed? Oh...ā Merleās gaze slid from his.
āTwo girls, actually,ā he confessed angrily. āI got stood down from school for misconduct. Never went back. Got summoned here. Mum was more furious than Iād ever seen her. How could I have done that to Rose? She tore strips off me. āYouāre just like him.ā Direct quote.ā
āAshāā
āThe thing was, Iād not known. About Dad, I mean. I didnāt know any of it until that afternoon. Iād never seen Mum so agitated. She cried about things that didnāt make sense. Later, I asked her what sheād meant but sheād calmed down and shut me out and wouldnāt say. She sent me away. Back to Sydney. To Dad. And I found out the truth.ā
The lies. The cheating. The absolute betrayal.
āDo you know what he did?ā He looked at Merle.
Merle tried to stay calm, but every muscle had tensed. She was still reconciling what heād
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