I grabbed her wrist, yanking the necklace back so hard it cut into my palm. “It’s mine, give it back!”
She laughed in my face. “You think he cares about you now? You think anyone does?”
Something inside me snapped. My palm came up before I could stop it, I slapped him.
Nadia froze for a split second, shock flashing in her eyes, before she recoiled, pressing her fingers dramatically to the red mark blooming on her skin.
The door slammed open. Xander’s voice sliced through the air. “What the hell is going on?”
Nadia let out a shaky little sob, eyes wide and brimming with tears that weren’t real. “She hit me, Xander! I just wanted to borrow the necklace for the party, it would’ve matched my dress, but she went crazy! I was only trying to help her get ready—”
“That’s a lie!” I hissed. “She took my necklace—”
But before I could finish, my mother appeared behind him, hair perfect, eyes glittering with the kind of disgust she never bothered to hide. “Lauren, you ungrateful child. You can’t behave for one day?”
My fingers tightened around the tiny chain, my father’s last promise digging into my palm. “She stole it, she—”