Total pages in book: 57
Estimated words: 52887 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 264(@200wpm)___ 212(@250wpm)___ 176(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 52887 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 264(@200wpm)___ 212(@250wpm)___ 176(@300wpm)
She made sure there was a lawyer and financial person that helps keep the estate going. This place is quite big, and there is a whole staff.
“I think we’re good. We have to be. If I don’t get out of here, I’ll lose my mind.”
“We got this.” At least I hope I’ve got this. I’m doing a bit of sneaking out of here myself. Not that I have to, but I don’t want to do a ton of explaining.
If Roland knew of my plan, he’d try and talk me out of it. It’s not hard to get me to back down. A people pleaser, I’ve been called. They say it's a bad thing. I don’t agree. I think the bad thing is the people that abuse it.
“I’m excited to see you. It’s been forever.”
“Me too.” It might be selfish, but I want Lily here.
Sure, I have Roland and a few others, but technically they all work for me. The closest town is an hour away, and I’m not the biggest fan of it. The people that live there are the same ones that bullied me in school. So I stay tucked away here, except I’m not trapped the way Lily is.
“Are you bringing a lot of stuff with you?” I ask. I packed a couple of bags for my trip out to her, and they are overflowing. I’m not even the one moving out, but you never know what you might need.
“No,” Lily says with a finality. “I want him to see that I don't need what he gives me. That’s why I’ll be just fine without him.” That last part she doesn’t sound so confident about. The crush she has on Tristan is still holding tightly to her.
“That will show him.”
“I wish I could see his face when he comes home and I’m just, poof, gone.”
“With all those cameras you told me about around there, maybe you can.”
“Yeah, right. He’s got those on lockdown like everything else around here.” That is the one thing that really worries me.
“Are you sure you’ll be able to slip back through security?”
“I guess we’re going to find out soon.”
"I can't believe it's finally happening."
This is the first time I've been excited about anything since Grams passed. I might present as happy, but that's not always the truth. "Is there anything else we need to cover?"
This is the only place we know we can talk, and no one knows about it. We have a suspicion that Tristan watches her phone.
"Yes. If anything changes, I'll text you in code." We try not to text at all if we can, but things do come up.
I’m sure Tristan will track her down at some point, but it buys us time. It also lets him know that she has someone on the outside that cares about her and won’t stand for him keeping her locked away. Wonder how long it would take to put a giant wall around the estate? This place is massive, so I know it wouldn’t be quick. Oh, a moat would be cool, but I can’t have an alligator. Roland would totally shut that down. Can you get fake ones? That would most likely scare people away. I’ll have to google this.
"Teddy."
My heart jumps into my throat, a small scream leaving me. Roland stares down at me. "Sorry, you scared me," I tell him, hoping he didn't catch any of our conversation.
"My apologies." Always so formal. "Mr. Gem is here."
"Oh." Lame. "Was I supposed to be seeing him today?"
“There was nothing on the calendar.”
He's my grandmother's lawyer—well, he was, so I guess now he's mine. I don't care for him. I know he's to watch over things, but it feels invasive most of the time. I also get the sense he thinks I'm a dummy. Contrary to what he thinks, I’m not an idiot. I just don’t care about most of the topics he goes on and on about, and I get bored and disinterested.
Sure, I'm not streetwise or great with people, but I know things. I had some of the best tutors out there. I killed it on my testing.
“He’s always showing up there. I don’t like it,” Lily says through the mic. She’s leery of everyone. I think it’s a city thing.
"I better go and see what's up."
“Love you.”
“Love you too,” I say, pulling off my headphones.
What if he got wind of my plan and he's here to shut it down? Can he do that? I'm not sure. I haven't really tested the boundaries of what I can and can't really do. Like, can I buy a plane and fly to Lily? I mean, that's ridiculous, but it might be fun. I’m not sure what all these fancy black credit cards I have can do.
I stand and run my hands down my dress to smooth out any wrinkles before slipping my ballet flats on.