Chapter 22
That reaction shocked Belle and Lleyton. They stared at Jade as if finally seeing him for the first time. For Lleyton, it hurt not to be loved. He had thought of Jade as a brother, and now he realized there was a part of him that he could never reach. For Belle, who cared less about being loved than getting whatever she wanted, it was the cold knowledge of just how much her brother resembled the disapproving, disciplining mother who had loved him best and her least. After a silence that seemed ancient, Lleyton muttered, “I’m so sorry” and left. Belle tried her usual histrionics. But having worn herself out with weeping in her room, she came downstairs to find her brother leaving for the night.
“Where are you going?” she cried.
“None of your f*****g business,” he yelled.
He c
