The Stepchild: A completely gripping psychological thriller full of twists by Nicole Trope

Author:Nicole Trope [Trope, Nicole]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bookouture

Chapter Seventeen

Shelby

In the car on the way home, her mother is silent. Trevor has stayed to help look for Millie. It seems impossible that they haven’t found her already. Someone knows where she is. Someone, not Shelby. Shelby has no idea where she is, but she knows what will happen if she says something, anything.

‘What will happen if they never find her?’ she says to her mother.

‘I don’t know. But I don’t want you to think about this anymore tonight. You need to get some rest.’ Her mother’s eyes are focused on the road ahead, street lights blending into a whizzing yellow as she drives. Shelby can feel they would both like to say more, to talk more, but there is too much to say and so they are silent. Her mother has been so much happier over these last few months, almost content in some moments. Shelby had grown used to her turning every situation into a reason to blame her dad for something. It was more than just about the money; it was the idea that he had someone in his life and that they had another child. ‘I would have liked a second child,’ her mum had told Shelby when Millie was born. ‘But I had to work so your father could take time to concentrate on his program, and now look where I am.’

‘Maybe now that you’re married again you can have another baby,’ Shelby had suggested a few months ago.

‘I’m too old,’ her mum replied. ‘Your father got himself a younger model so he could have another child.’

Trevor makes her mother happier than she’s ever been, but there is always something simmering beneath the surface, something strange in the way her mother looks at the world, like she can’t see anyone except herself. But that’s not something Shelby would ever say to anyone. Sometimes she thinks that maybe she’s the problem. If not for her, her mother would have had a much easier life. She has tried so hard to be good and to achieve at school so she can make her mum happy, but she’s never managed it for very long.

‘Who cares what she thinks?’ Kiera told her when Shelby confessed that she sometimes wondered if her mother regretted having her. ‘All mothers are just…’ She waved her hand dismissively, and that made Shelby feel much better.

But she still wants her mother to be happy, to stay happy.

‘None of this is your fault,’ her mother says again now. ‘It’s her fault for leaving you alone with a child who didn’t listen.’ Her mum’s hands are on the steering wheel in the exact position they should be, and she is sitting up straight and tall in her seat.

‘What do you mean, didn’t listen?’

‘Well, she ran away, didn’t she? That’s not listening. She should have known better.’ Her mother nods her head, agreeing with herself. ‘She ran away, the selfish little girl. She’s too young to know the effect it will have on people, of course, but still… It’s because she’s so spoilt.

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