Not a Normal Family: A Psychological Thriller by Rachel Hargrove

Author:Rachel Hargrove [Hargrove, Rachel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-02-22T16:00:00+00:00

TWENTY-FIVE

THE PAST

My future stepmom yanks away my breakfast. Bits of scrambled eggs mixed with bacon scatter the table as she slams the plate onto the counter. I could easily take it, but her angry gaze swings over me. If I make a fuss, she’ll get my father, who will instantly back her up.

I glower at her, undeterred. “Give it back.”

Her withering glare rakes my skin. “Say the line to the camera, and I will.”

Kim is a slip of a woman. Thin, reedy, and extremely blond. The brightness of her platinum hair rivals her whitened teeth. Heat flushes through my body and I clench my fists. I could stab the hand flashing with the pretty rock my dad gave her a month ago, but Kim would love an excuse to throw me in prison. I’m powerless to stop her.

“I’m not your pet monkey. I won’t perform for you.”

“You will or you won’t eat,” she says in that sugar-lined, Georgia accent. “You’re almost an adult. That means you need to earn your way through life instead of leeching off others.”

“You’re the one using my dad like an ATM.”

She purses her lips, raising her head. “Your dad left me in charge.”

“You can’t starve me forever.”

“Try me.”

This woman is a piece of work. My pulse speeds ahead as I imagine myself knocking her to the floor, throttling her. I force a smile. “At least in juvie, I had three square meals a day.”

“I told your father they weren’t being hard enough on you in there.” She shoves my uneaten breakfast into the fridge. “If that judge had any sense, you’d still be locked up.”

He gave me fifteen years, but suspended my sentence with conditions. Four years of probational officer visits, a stint in a juvenile facility, and when I got out, I had to stay with my father. Living here was tolerable until my dad started dating Kim.

She bends over, trying to plug in her ring light beside Meadow’s dog bed. My golden Lab raises her head and utters a warning growl. Kim goes rigid. She doesn’t like dogs and the feeling seems to be mutual. Kim makes a disgusted sound.

“Get that thing out of the kitchen.”

Reaching under the table, I stroke Meadow’s long, fluffy ears as her throat vibrates with an angry rumble. “Why? She’s better behaved than you are.”

“Take it out. Now.”

Sighing, I grip Meadow’s collar and lead her outside. Once the door closes, she stares at me through the small window, her breath fogging the glass.

Kim sets up her ring light. She’s a social media monster. She makes her living hawking goop, snail cream, and whatever the latest trend is on her family vlog, The Daily Grinds. That means I have to be on camera fifty times a day. Sometimes she barges in my room to film me waking up. I hate it. I never consented to this crap, but Dad’s all for it. Says it’s making him a ton of money. Meanwhile, I’m an unpaid laborer who gets recognized by strangers on the street.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.