"It was you," He whispered, it sent chills down her spine.
"No! I-I wasn't--" She struggled to find the words.
He shook his head, his blue eyes glowing behind the shaded glasses.
"I loved you," He spoke, his voice rising with rage, "I loved you and you betrayed me, left me for the vultures!"
Tears crept into her eyes, "Christian, I didn't-"
She reached out to touch his arm, but he shrugged her off, trembling with anger.
"You're trash," He spat at her, "In fact, I'm glad. I'm glad that boy raped you and left you bleeding in the street all those years ago, my only regret is that he didn't make sure you were already dead."
She clenched her teeth together, and tears streamed down her pale face.
"You bastard," her hands clenched into fists and shook violently, "How dare you-"
Christian spun around to face her, his blue eyes were cold and emotionless, "Leave. You filthy whore, I hope you go to hell."
She screamed in rage and pulled the black hand gun from under her shirt, pointing it at him. Her arms shook, barely able to finger the trigger.
Christian's eyes grew wide and he took a step back, "Mara," his voice was quiet and filled with something she didn't recognize,
"Die," she whispered.
As Claire aims to leave her oppressive stepfamily behind, she befriends Zion. Will he be her ticket to freedom or a distraction in achieving her dreams?
*****
Claire Olsen has had a crush on Zion Petrakis since the first time she laid eyes on him, but he never noticed, instead only having eyes on the school's it girl, Maddie Jennings. Knowing she couldn't compete with Maddie, Claire hid her feelings for Zion, satisfied with admiring him from afar. However, when a series of events led Claire closer to Zion, her feelings for him grew from infatuation to love. And despite fighting hard to keep her feelings contained by distancing herself from Zion, he was determined to show her that he's earned a spot in her life.
[[word count: 100,000-150,000 words]]