A Billion Reasons To Hate You

Chapter Nineteen: He Really Did That For Me.

Adrian guided Renee into the back seat, one hand on her shoulder like he was afraid she’d crumble if he let go. She dropped onto the leather, still shaking, still gasping for air.

He reached gently into her hand and took the phone. When he unlocked it and saw the dozens of missed calls from Silas, he braced himself for the worst. But the truth waiting behind those calls belonged to a world he never imagined.

Adrian’s eyebrows pulled together. “Who is this Silas person? Is he a boyfriend or something? Did he threaten you? What happened?”

Renee opened her mouth, but nothing came out. No words, no sounds, no matter how hard she tried. It was like her throat had locked tight, like it was physically refusing to let the truth escape.

Adrian swiped through her phone, searching for anything that might explain why Renee was in this state. He checked her texts, voicemails, and photos. There was nothing. Not a single clue. He let out a frustrated grunt, cleared his throat, and bent down to her level again.

“Renee… talk to me,” he urged. “I know it’s hard, but I can’t help you if I don’t know what’s going on.”

She grabbed the seat, trying to breathe, trying to pull the words out of her shaking chest.

“Silas…” she whispered. “Dead… Ricardo…” Her voice cracked. “Going after my daughter… don’t know where she is… can’t protect…”

Her whole body gave out. She fell backwards into the seat like a puppet with its strings cut and went limp.

“Renee?” Adrian shouted, “Renee!”

But she was gone.

The panic and terror of something far outside her control had crushed her until her body simply shut down.

Adrian climbed halfway into the car, hovering over her, his breath shaking harder the longer she stayed unresponsive.

He tapped her cheek. “Ren. Come on… Ren.”

Nothing.

Seconds dragged into what felt like hours until finally her eyes opened.

She blinked up at him, dazed, dizzy, barely there.

“You scared the hell out of me, Ren,” Adrian muttered.

Renee tried to sit up, but the world spun. She dropped back down, groaning.

“Just lie there a second,” her dad said, rubbing her arm. “You don’t need to move right now. When you feel better, we’ll get you checked into the hotel, and we can talk about this.”

Renee dragged a hand over her face, trying to ground herself, trying to make herself breathe normally again.

The phone vibrated once in her dad’s hand, followed by the screen lighting up from a number that wasn’t saved in her contacts.

Adrian frowned as a text preview slid across the top of the screen, “She’s cute, you know. She really has your eyes—”

Adrian’s face went whiter than his car, clicking on the message to open it up. The text message had two photos of a little girl, about the age of ten, smiling, completely oblivious to whoever had taken the images of her.

Renee didn’t even have to see the texts to know by her dad's expression that it was Ricardo f*****g with her more. She tried to scream, but it didn’t even make it out of her throat.

“Who is the kid, Renee? Is she yours? Please talk to me,” he asked gently.

Renee couldn’t respond. She just nodded and broke down, tears streaming so fast she couldn’t even breathe right. Adrian saw immediately she wasn’t capable of talking, so he crouched in front of her, staying to stay calm and collected to get as much information as possible out of Renee.

“Do you know where she is?”

Renee shook her head.

“Rough location? Absolutely anything I could go by other than these photos?”

Another shake. Harder this time.

“Is she your daughter?”

A shake of the head, yes. Followed by a tiny, heartbroken sound that slipped out.

“Did you give her up for adoption?”

A quiet, crushed groan was all Adrian needed to understand what had happened.

Adrian let out a slow breath. He knew he could sort this out, and he just needed Renee to believe him, too. “Right, gotcha. Can you stay in the car? I’m going to make some phone calls. This is going to be hard, but not impossible. We’ll get this sorted, I promise.”

He slipped Renee’s phone into his pocket, pulled out his own and his cigarettes, then walked toward the far end of the parking lot.

Renee watched him pace while talking to someone on the phone, his eyes flicking back to her every few seconds to make sure she hadn’t disappeared.

Left alone with nothing but her thoughts, Renee spiralled fast.

The guilt hit her first. So many innocent people were being dragged into the disaster that was her life, and she hadn’t intentionally done anything other than exist, which somehow made it feel worse. It sat heavy on top of everything else that had happened these past few weeks, the final shove that tipped her over the edge.

Her mind raced through every possible option, every escape route, every stupid idea that might keep someone else from getting hurt or killed because of her. Her leg bounced uncontrollably, tapping the floor like it was the only thing keeping her from completely blowing apart.

I should just run… just bolt. If I ran around screaming Ricardo like f*****g Candyman, he’d show up within seconds. It would be all over, and I wouldn’t have to live in fear.

She actually considered it.

But every time she shifted, she caught her dad’s eyes looking back at her from across the lot.

Fifteen minutes dragged by, her nerves fraying with every passing second. She dug through her bag, desperate for a cigarette. She found a pack with two left; crushed, but still smokable. No lighter, though.

“Yep, of course, there is no f*****g lighter,” she muttered.

She leaned over and reached into the glove compartment where her dad usually threw his stuff, rummaging through spare change, gum wrappers, and napkins. There was no lighter, but her fingers hit something folded.

Renee’s curiosity got the better of her. She pulled it out and unfolded it, revealing something she hadn’t been even remotely prepared to see.

It was a billing statement for Westbury Royal Infirmary stating that an account balance for Renee Carrington had been paid in full, all $12,302 of it. The amount had gotten higher from Renee neglecting payments, and interest and fees stacking up.

He’d paid off the debt for her miscarriage without her ever mentioning a word of it to him. It had to be a kind gesture, and she guessed he must’ve done some digging to find out where she lived, probably stumbling across this too.

The anger hit her first, but it faded fast when she realised he wasn’t trying to control her. He was trying to make up for the years he missed by actually being a father now.

A strange relief washed over her. She wasn’t used to anyone standing in her corner without wanting something back, and all Adrian seemed to want was a relationship with her. It felt like an odd blessing; someone caring enough to pay for a tragedy she’d carried alone for so long.

She pressed the receipt into her chest. A few tears slipped down, landing quietly in her lap.

Meanwhile, outside the car, Adrian turned and met her eyes across the parking lot. His expression wasn’t calm anymore; it was full-blown panic.

He broke into a run, rushing back to the car.

“Dad…?” Renee whispered, confused by how scared he looked.

Adrian stared at her, visibly shaken and on the verge of breaking down, like the words he was holding were about to shatter her, too.

“Renee,” he said quietly, “your mother’s had a stroke. I need to take you to Westbury Royal Infirmary. Now.”