The Step Between Love and Hate

Chapter Two: The Enemy

The Harrington estate looked like something from a movie about people who definitely got murdered for their inheritance.

We pulled through the huge gates, past gardens that required a full-time staff, and stopped in front of a house so aggressively expensive it almost seemed like satire.

"Jesus Christ," I breathed.

"Maren," Mom warned, but her voice was weak.

She was nervous. Good, she should be.

Richard had insisted on this "family dinner" so we could "get to know each other before the wedding." As if two weeks was enough time to process the fact that my mother was marrying a man whose house showed how out of his league we were. I knew I had suggested she started dating again but we had said nothing about her getting married.

At that moment, a woman in actual uniform opened the door.

"Ms. Ashford, welcome. Mr. Harrington is in the dining room."

The staff knew her? I watched her hand over her coat and tried not to laugh hysterically. The inside was somehow worse. Marble everything with paintings that would look better in a museum. The staircase was wide enough for a choreographed dance. Old money screaming from every corner.

"Well well well."

I turned to find Ezra descending those ridiculous stairs, barefoot despite the November cold, wearing ripped jeans and a shirt that said EAT THE RICH in dripping letters.

"Welcome to the mausoleum," he said, grinning. "Hope you brought your appetite for awkward family bonding."

"Ezra." Richard's voice carried a warning.

"What? I'm being welcoming."

He stopped in front of me, close enough that I had to look up. He was taller than Cole, leaner and dashingly handsome.

"You look terrified," he whispered but it was loud enough for mum to hear. "Is it the house or the situation?"

"Both. Mostly the situation."

"You are honest." His grin widened. "I like you already but Cole's going to hate that."

"Ezra, enough." Richard appeared, playing gracious host. "Maren, let me show you to the dining room."

I followed through hallways lined with family portraits—Richard shaking hands with senators and CEOs, the boys with a beautiful woman who must have been their mother, all of them frozen in the kind of candid perfection that cost thousands of dollars.

The dining room could seat twenty. Currently it sat at five.

Cole was already there, slouched in his chair, staring at his phone like it was the only thing keeping him tethered to sanity. He glanced up when I entered, and something cold and furious crossed his face before he locked it down.

"Maren, sit here, sweetheart." Mom patted the chair across from Cole.

Perfect. Just perfect.

Dinner was catered, of course it was and we went through the motions of pretending this wasn't the most uncomfortable meal of our lives.

"So Maren," Richard said, cutting into steak that probably cost more than our monthly rent. "Your mother tells me you're planning to study journalism?"

"That's the plan."

"Excellent field but it's competitive, though. You'll need the connections."

The implication hung there, connections he could provide if I played nice.

"I'll manage," I said coolly.

"I'm sure you will." His smile didn't reach his eyes. "Claire mentioned you're on scholarship at Crestwood. That must be—"

"a great opportunity," Mom cut in quickly. "The school has wonderful programs."

"Of course." Richard took a sip of wine. "Though I imagine it comes with certain challenges. Social dynamics can be difficult when there are… err… economic disparities."

I felt my face heat up. What was he driving at? "I do fine." I responded.

"I'm sure you do. It's just that Cole mentioned—"

"I didn't mention anything," Cole said flatly, speaking for the first time.

Richard frowned. "You said there were issues with some of the scholarship students struggling to fit in—"

"I was talking about Daniels. The kid who got kicked out for stealing." Cole's eyes met mine, and they were absolutely glacial. "Not everyone."

The distinction didn't feel like a kindness.

Ezra snorted. "Wow, this is so much worse than I thought it would be."

"Ezra—"

"No, seriously, are we just going to sit here and pretend this isn't insane? Dad, you're marrying someone you barely know. Cole's pissed because he thinks they're gold diggers—"

"Ezra!" Richard's voice cracked.

But the damage was already done and the word now hung in the air like smoke.

Gold diggers.

I looked at Cole but he was staring at his plate, jaw locked, not denying it.

"That's enough," Richard said quietly. "Ezra, apologize."

"For what? Saying what everyone's thinking?"

"Now."

Ezra stood abruptly. "Sorry my honesty is inconvenient for your new family fantasy." He looked at me, something almost sympathetic in his eyes. "Good luck, Maren. You're going to need it."

He stood up and stalked out, the door swinging shut behind him.

Mom looked like she might cry and Richard looked furious as he rubbed his hand over hers, apology written all over her face.

She gave a thin smile and I felt the rage building in my chest, hot and sharp.

"Is that what you think?" I asked Cole directly. "That we're gold diggers?"

He finally looked at me. "I think six months is pretty fast to go from meeting someone to marrying them for their money."

"Cole!" Richard slammed his hand on the table.

But I was already standing. "f**k you."

"Maren!" Mom gasped.

I ignored her, ignored Richard and kept my eyes on Cole. "You don't know anything about us. You don't know mother and what she—"

"I know she's a librarian at a prep school and your dad's not in the picture and you've been on scholarship your whole life," Cole said, his voice deadly calm. "I know my father is worth nine figures so I know exactly what this is."

"What is this?" I laughed, sharp and mean. "God, you're exactly what I thought you were. Just another rich asshole who thinks his bank account gives him the right to trash talk everyone else."

Cole stood too, and we were face to face across that ridiculously large table. "And you're exactly what I thought you were too. A charity case with an agenda and no manners."

"Cole, that's enough!" Richard was on his feet now.

But we weren't done.

"Your mother came into his life and a month later, my father donated a new wing to the library. Two weeks later they started dating. You do the math. If you can keep a scholarship then I think you are smart enough to decode."

"How dare you—" Mom started, but I held up a hand.

"No." I kept my eyes on Cole. "Let him talk. Let him show us all exactly who he is."

"I know who I am," Cole said. "But do you?"

The question hit harder than it should have.

I grabbed my bag. "Mom, I'm leaving. Are you coming?"

She looked between me and Richard, torn and terrified.

"Claire," Richard said gently. "I'm sorry. Cole didn't mean—"

"Yes he did," I interrupted. "He meant every single word and you know it. So mum, the question is, are you really going to marry someone whose son thinks you're a w***e?"

"Maren!" Mom's voice broke.

But I was already walking out, through those massive hallways, past those expensive portraits and out into the cold November air.

I made it to the end of the driveway before I realized I didn't have a car. We'd come with Richards.

Fuck.

"Need a ride?"

I spun round. Ezra leaned against a BMW I hadn't noticed before, smoking a cigarette.

"I thought you left."

"I did. Then I came back because I figured you might need an escape route." He crushed the cigarette under his boot. "Come on. I'll take you home."

I should have said no. Maybe call an Uber, wait for Mom or anything but get in a car with a Harrington.

But I was so angry I couldn't think straight and I got in.

We drove in silence for ten minutes before Ezra spoke.

"For what it's worth, Cole's an asshole but he's not usually that much of an asshole."

"Great defense."

"I'm not defending him. I'm just saying that you hit a nerve."

"When exactly?"

"You made him feel something he doesn't want to feel." Ezra glanced at me. "He was threatened the second he found out about the engagement. Has been spiraling ever since."

"But that's not my problem."

"No," Ezra agreed. "But it's going to be. Knowing my dad, he's going to want to pull through with the wedding and you're about to live in the same house as him."

My stomach turned. In the chaos and rage, I'd almost forgotten that the wedding was in twelve days.

Cole Harrington, who thought I was a gold-digging leech was about to become my stepbrother.