Chapter 92

Chapter 92

I knew Coraline hated me. I knew she blamed me for what happened to her father. But this? This is something else. Because she knows what he did. She has to know. The evidence was overwhelming. The trial proved it. There was no doubt about the kind of man he really was. Yet somehow, despite all of that, she still looks at me like I’m the villain. And she’s not finished.

Not even close.

She slowly walks up to me, a cruel smirk twisted on her face. “Just think about it, Ava. Weren’t you a little too quick to judge my dad, considering you’ve spent half your life spreading your legs for cash? Or have you conveniently forgotten that part of your pathetic history?”

She laughs. “A fucking escort. That’s the classy word for it, right? But let’s not dress it up as anything but what it is: you were a paid piece of ass. Yet somehow, everyone in this room acts like you’re some pure, innocent victim whose opinion actually matters. And honestly? For all we know, your miserable mother was exactly the same. It makes sense, doesn’t it? Maybe that’s where you learned the trade. Maybe being a cheap whore just runs in your trashy family.”

“Cora!” Miranda tries to stop her. “Stop! Stop before you make it even worse.”

But Coraline blatantly ignores her. She continues spitting venom from that stupid mouth of hers.

“Everyone talks about her like your mom is some tragedy who deserves everyone’s sympathy, but who the hell actually knows the truth, huh? All we’ve ever heard is your side of the story. For all we know, your mom has been whoring herself out long before she ever got involved with my dad.”

“Besides, even if I buy into your pathetic little sob story—even if I force myself to believe my dad actually took advantage of her—explain this to me, Ava: why did your mother keep taking his money? Why was she constantly begging him for cash if it wasn’t a mutual transaction for letting him use her body however the fuck he wanted? Have you ever actually used your brain to think about that? Or did that little detail just conveniently slip your mind?” Her jaw tightens. “Of course it did. Because all you garbage Monroes know is point fingers and blame the world for your own choices, completely failing to look at your own damn self to see the absolute trash you truly are.”

I gasp at her words, feeling my chest tighten with anger and hurt.

How could she even say something like that? How could she even think of something like that?

But before I can say anything, Max steps forward and backhands Coraline hard across the face.

Coraline stumbles back, her hand flying to her cheek. She glares at Max. Furious. “You—How dare you? Who the fuck do you think you are?”

“I’m her brother,” Max growls, his voice low and dangerous. “And that’s my mom you’re talking about. You have no idea what they’ve been through. You have no right to judge them.”

“I don’t have the right to judge her?” She scoffs out a dry chuckle. “Then what the hell gives you the right to judge me, you hypocritical asshole? I did what I did out of loyalty because I actually love my father, and I would gladly burn the world down for him. But what about you, Ava?”

She snaps her gaze back to mine, her eyes boring into me. “How much do you love your precious dad? A whole lot, right? You must absolutely adore him, considering you happily opened your legs and got ready to whore yourself out to a man more than double your age. No questions asked. You didn’t even give a single shit about your dead best friend—for God’s sake! And you tell me I have no right to judge you? Try saying that a little louder next time. Maybe you’ll finally hear the bullshit coming out of your own mouths.”

“That’s enough, Cora. Just stop it now.” Sean tries to intervene, but she turns on him instead. “And you? You’re no fucking better than her. Maybe I never meant to hurt you, but don’t stand there acting like some innocent victim, because you’re not. You knew exactly how much I loved Aaron. You knew I was crazy about him. Hell, you’re my own brother—you saw it firsthand. And what did you do? You went and fell for him anyway. Out of all the people in the world, it just had to be you, didn’t it? Do you have any idea how fucked up that is? It wasn’t enough that I lost Aaron. No, I lost him to my own brother. Do you have any idea how humiliating that was?”