𝐃𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐝

Chapter Fifteen

B E L L A M Y

"Shit." I jumped up, stumbling back and almost falling onto the pavement behind me.

Noah rubbed his hands over his face, standing up too. "I..."

"I'm just going to..." I trailed off, pointing behind me to the house, taking a few steps back.

He nodded, avoiding my eyes and picking up the wine glass, emptying it in one go.

I didn't linger but quickly walked back to the house.

"Are you ok?" Isaac asked when I made it into the living room, my cheeks undoubtedly purple from the amount of blood that flooded them earlier.

No, I wasn't ok.

"Yeah, great," I forced out, plastering a smile on my face.

He obviously didn't believe me but let it go, handing me a glass of water. I stared down at the drink, before frowning back up to my brother.

He gave me an understanding nod, turning to leave.

"Isaac?" I stopped him, the absence of a certain brunette bringing up questions. "Where's Katy?"

He shrugged. "She already had something planned with friends."

With raised brows, I watched him walk away. This bitch was up to something.

I let it go, for now, chucking the entire glass of water before I went to the kitchen to get another. I needed to sober up ASAP, and never drink again when I was near a certain someone.

The adrenaline that had been pumping through me slowly ebbed away after a while, and I was able to enjoy the rest of the evening.

Until my grandad started asking questions.

"How are they treating you at work, Bella?"

I smiled painfully at him, watching him as he brought his cup of tea to his lips.

"Good..." I replied softly, sitting back on the couch. He watched me with his permanently narrowed eyes, the wrinkles around them becoming more prominent as he gave me a suspicious look.

"Hmm." He tapped me on my knee, giving me an understanding nod. How did he do that?

"I..."

"Now tell me what you're really doing," he said, lowering his voice. I scanned the room, noticing that we were the only ones sitting and my parents were nowhere to be seen.

Might as well.

"I just got hired at a coffee shop, live with Isaac, and recently got arrested," I blurted out, cringing over my own words. Especially put in a sentence like that, it sounded horrible.

My grandfather blinked a few times, one of the corners of his mouth curling up a small smile.

"But are you ok?"

I nodded, turning to give him a hug.

"You got arrested?" I heard behind me as I let my grandpa go, and I sighed at the familiar high-pitched voice.

I was just enjoying a nice evening without Katy, assuming she wouldn't be here at all, but of course, the woman herself had to go and ruin it.

"What's it to you?" I said softly, giving Granpa a kiss on the cheek and walking past the perfectly put-together brunette.

I avoided looking at her altogether because I knew it wasn't going to make me any happier.

It's not right to just hate people, but those like Katy, are difficult to like.