I laughed, the kind of laugh that comes from being pushed past fury. "What—you won't let me go because you still need me back home servicing the two of you in bed?"
"Tracey Simmons! You're out of your mind!"
His breathing turned heavy.
He'd controlled everything his whole life. The fact that I'd slipped his grip was making his jaw clench.
"Don't forget who's been propping up that distillery all these years."
"Lose that distillery, and your parents can roll over in their graves."
I stared at the man in front of me, then slapped him hard across the face. "Conrad Graves, you don't deserve to be called human."
He didn't dodge. He worked his jaw once, slowly. "Tracey, every time you're lying under me like a good little girl, I think about that accident thirteen years ago. I never asked your father to save me. His bad luck, not mine."
"If that slap helps you blow off steam, I'll take it."
I glared at him through burning eyes, sick with how unfair it was for my parents.
They'd doted on him. Anything I had, they set aside the same for him—sometimes better.
Hatred flooded my skull. I swung at him again.
This time he stepped back.
I stumbled forward with the momentum, pitching sideways.
A drilling pain shot through my ankle.
He moved to help me up, but Desiree got there first, grabbing my arm.
Her long acrylic nails dug deep into my flesh. I bared my teeth against the pain and shoved her away on instinct.
She let herself fall backward, crying out in a thin, helpless voice.
Her eyes went red, and she sniffled, voice shaking. "Tracey, I know you don't like me. I can leave. I can disappear from your life. But why did you have to push me?"
Conrad frowned, shoved me aside, and pulled her into his arms like she was the one who'd been wronged. "Enough! Tracey Simmons—you hit me, you got it out of your system. Don't you dare take it out on someone who has nothing to do with this."
"If your father hadn't died, I never would've married you. For all you know, you'd be the other woman right now."
That line detonated the crowd:
"Holy shit—what a bombshell. I thought Mr. Graves and his wife were the real deal. Turns out it was all a lie."
"So Desiree Fox was his real woman this whole time? Back in the old days, Tracey Simmons wouldn't even rank as a concubine."
They tore me apart without a shred of restraint, and Conrad didn't so much as blink.
I sank to the floor, tears falling heavy and fast.