A Hurt So Sweet: Complete Dark Bully Romance Series Box Set: Elite of Eden Falls Prep

by Isabella Starling

"I always knew you'd come here," she says, sounding pleased with herself. "I even have a room set up for you."

  "Really?"

  "Of course." She looks at me with an expression I can only describe as crazed. "I'm so glad you're finally home."

  She motions for us to follow her inside with excitement, and Alli and I exchange glances before following her into her grandiose home.

  My mother must be loaded. The interior of her modern day palace is decked out in original art, gold-plated everything and insane flower bouquets littering every available surface. The scent of flowers is so heavy in the air my nostrils fill with it, resulting in an instant headache.

  "Lovely flowers," I manage to squeak. "Special occasion?"

  "Oh, you like them?" Mom faces me with a brilliant smile, giggling coquettishly. "I have a lot of secret... and not-so-secret admirers! Now come on, I want to show you your room!"

  "You do realize she hasn't even asked who I am?" Alli mutters in my ear as we head upstairs, taking the steps of an enormous pink marble staircase. We both giggle.

  "Shh, she'll hear you. Maybe she took a Xanie to calm down," I mutter. She does seem a little out of it, but I'm not going to pass judgement on my mother just yet. My heart is already beating with more excitement at the thought of bonding with somebody normal—well... at least kind of normal.

  "Here it is!" She reveals an incredible room. It's not just a generic room—it's personally decked out with one person in mind. And having been around enough people obsessed with Lily-fucking-Anna, I know right away this room wasn't designed for me. It's here for my dead, would-be sister. "Don't you just love it?”

  "Yeah, it's amazing," I mutter, my eyes searching for Alli, my only lifeline in this place that's growing weirder by the second. "What do you think?"

  She grins, putting down an Alice in Wonderland figure she'd been admiring to lean in and whisper in my ear. "I think it's amazing! Your mom's really cool."

  I nod. I don't agree with her, but I'd seem ungrateful if I brought up Lily Anna now.

  I feel humiliated and slightly nauseous. I retch, my eyes widening in horror. I press a hand to my mouth, my eyes dancing across the room in a panic. Before I can stop myself, I've vomited all over the throw on the bed.

  "Oh," my mother mutters with distaste that strangely turns into delight the next second. "Oh, would you look at that. Just like me when I was pregnant!"

  "W-What?" I manage. Alli and I exchanged panicked glances, but mother seems blissfully unaware of the silent conversation happening between us. "How did you..."

  "Know?" She smiles sweetly, stepping forward. One of her hands finds my back and straightens me up, the other leads my chin higher up in the air. She smiles proudly, and my heart skips a beat. It's the most motherly thing that's happened to me since I left Wildwood and my real family. I want more of it. "We're blood, after all, Pandora."

  ***

  Three days into my and Alli's visit to my mother, I'm more confused than ever, and Alli seems to share my opinion—my mother is slightly... bonkers.

  I've seen her popping pills on too many occasions to count. She smokes right in front of us—and it's not cigarettes, either. She switches from motherly and caring to completely detached and indifferent. Alli and I have only been here a few days and we've already witnessed so many mood swings I stopped counting at twelve on the first day.

  She's a wildcard. But at the same time, her sweet moments make her dangerously endearing. And fact of the matter is, I have nowhere else to go. So I stay in the house of wonders in Stormcliff, hoping for something to happen.

  What I really want is for Dexter to come get me and bring me back to Eden Falls.

  But the thought of wanting that stings. He's a prick who just wants to hurt me for the fun of it. And yet I'm so hopelessly, irrevocably in love with-

  "Oh my god."

  "Hm?" I look up from the book in my hands that's been turned to the same page for twenty minute.

  Alli sits in front of a TV in my bedroom. I get up from my window seat and walk over to her. I've already gotten into the habit of resting my palm protectively on the taut skin of my stomach, and when I find myself doing it again, I quickly pull my hand back, pretending I hadn't done it at all.

  I can't care about this baby.

  Not when I don't even know if I'll be allowed to keep it when someone finds out it exists.

  "Pandora..." Alli swallows thickly, jumping up and blocking my view of the screen. "Let's go take a walk."

  "What? Why?"

  "Don't look at that," she begs me, but I knit my brows together as I sidestep her and look up at the TV screen.

  "And that was Kayla Greene with the last update on the scenario unfolding in Eden Falls," a sombre looking news anchor explains. I feel like I'm going to be sick again.

  "What's happened?" I whisper just as Dexter's picture flashes across the screen. I feel hollow. Another photo pops up and I furrow my brows at the screen.

  "Suspect is now in custody after being arrested for the murder of his best friend, Lai," the anchor reads out. "More at eleven."

  "I'm so sorry," Alli whispers. "I wanted to tell you myself... I had no idea this had happened."

  "Lai's d-dead," I stutter.

  Alli grabs my hand, holding it tight. "Oh god, Pandora."

  "But who killed him?"

  She knits her brows together, cocking her head to the side. "Oh, Pandora... Honey."

  "What?" I turn my panicked stare to hers. "It wasn't him. It couldn't have been. Dexter would never... he'd never..."

  She just stares back, shaking her head in disbelief. "I'm sorry, Pandora. But Dexter Booth is a murderer."

  Chapter Two

  Dexter

  They wrangle me into the police car and I spend the ride to the station staring numbly through the passenger window.

  My life is over. My best friend is dead, and my head is full of ideas on how I could have prevented the disaster that took Lai's life. But it's too late now. He's gone.

  My hands form fists in the handcuffs. I never allow myself to be weak, but the murder has made it damn near impossible not to... feel. For someone who's locked all emotion behind a brick wall for a decade, it's a fucking impossible feat to move on now. It feels as if the dam holding back my innermost thoughts is breaking down. I'm approaching a meltdown. Staring down the barrel of the gun. And there's no one left to help me.

  Lai is dead.

  My best childhood friend, the man who stood by me through the death of my parents, who betrayed me one too many a time, who cared more about me than anyone else did. He's gone, without a chance to make things right, to bury the hatchet. It's over.

  The squad car pulls up in front of the police station. There are reporters swarming outside the precinct and I groan inwardly.

  "Is there any way we can enter unnoticed?" I mutter as one of the cops opens the back door.

  He doesn't even bother with an answer. Instead, he roughly hauls me out of the car and marches me up the stairs into the precinct. I don't bother covering my face as the cameras flash and journalists begin shouting my name. This will all be over soon. It's a nightmare, but I've handled worse.

  They put me in a room with one of those one-sided windows. I stare at my own reflection, fully aware there's someone behind the glass I can't see, staring right back at me. I don't allow myself to get emotional. Instead, I sit there for the full forty-five minutes they make me wait to see a detective assigned to the case.

  Finally, what feels like hours later, the door opens and a short, stocky man enters. He's dressed in a suit, and flashes me his badge before collapsing on the seat opposite of me, dabbing at his sweaty forehead with a handkerchief.

  "So, you're the killer." His opening statement makes me feel sick.

  "I didn't kill Lai."

  "I heard you already confessed at the scene of the crime." His bushy brows shoot up and he examines me critically. "Are we going to have a problem here?"

  "I didn't know wh
at happened," I mutter. "But you have the wrong guy. The person you need to be searching for is-"

  "Everything in due time," he interrupts, holding up a hand. He doesn't give a shit about what I have to say. In his mind, I'm the culprit, the murderer. He won't change his opinion of me. He just wants me behind bars. "First, let's talk about your relationship with the victim."

  I walk him through my history with Lai. I don't skip on anything. I talk about Pandora, about the other guys, the sick, twisted games we play. The detective watches me with an impassive expression, every so often noting something down in his notepad. There's a camera pointed at me. I know this is being filmed. Once I finish talking, the detective heaves a sigh.

  "So, are you ready to confess?"

  "No," I growl. "I'm ready to tell you about... Lily Anna Oakes."

  He furrows his brows. "Lily Anna Oakes died."

  "No, she didn't," I shake my head vehemently. "She... We... staged her death. She's been living with me, for years. In secret."

  He laughs out loud, staring me down. "Then where is she?"

  I shrug. "That's for you to find out, Detective. All I know, she'll be eager to track down Pandora Oakes."

  He notes something down before returning his attention to me. "Pandora Oakes. Where is she?"

  "Missing," I hiss. "She... we got into a fight. I believe she left to see her biological mother."

  "We'll research this," he mutters. "I'll make some calls. Now, about that confession?"

  "I'm not fucking guilty." I glare at the man. "And I'd like to speak to a lawyer now, please."

  The man sighs, crossing his hands. "And how, pray tell, are you going to afford one?"

  His words make the reality of what's happening dawn on me. I have nothing. Since I bought Pandora's hand in marriage, I've been left penniless. I’ll have to sell the Estate, too.

  "I believe I have the right to a call," I manage.

  "You do. Would you like to make it now?"

  I nod, and am led to a phone in the detective's office. I don't know who to call. Who would even help me. Finally, I dial Pandora's number, the cell I gave her. But the line just rings and rings. Nobody picks up.

  The detective ends my call with a self-satisfied expression. "We'll appoint you a lawyer."

  "But I..."

  "You're being officially held for the murder," he goes on. "We'll bring you to your cell now."

  "Wait a goddamn minute," I hiss. "What about Lily Anna?"

  "Your little story about the dead girl?" He shakes his head. "I don't buy it."

  My nails dig into the palms of my hands. "You have to believe me. She's the one who killed Lai, and she's fucking dangerous. She could, and will, kill again. And I think Pandora is her next victim."

  He ignores me, calling for two security guards to enter the office. They haul me up and I resist them, demanding for my voice to be heard. But the detective makes the officers restrain me. He walks right up to me and smirks in my face.

  "You and your twisted founding family are the reason this town is a fucking trainwreck," he tells me coolly. "And I'll do everything in my power to put you behind bars, where you belong."

  He walks off before I get the chance to reply. The guards usher me into a group shower. I'm forced to stand under the harsh cold water, then given an orange uniform to change into. The handcuffs are back again, and I'm guided into a cell. At least there's only one bed—a small mercy. But it only serves to remind me these people think I'm dangerous. A fucking killer.

  Collapsing on the paper-thin mattress, I stare at the wall where obscene messages have been carved into stone and brick. I feel sick. My life took a turn in a series of events I couldn't have anticipated.

  And yet my main worry is Pandora.

  My stomach twists with the thought of her seeing that photo plastered all over the school. She must have felt so betrayed.

  And now, Lily Anna is out there too, and she's determined to hurt my toy and bring justice to the town that has destroyed us all.

  Life as I knew it is over. The only hope of getting the fuck out of here I have now is Emilian Oakes—and I have a feeling he doesn't give a shit whether I rot in jail or not, especially after finding out Lily Anna is alive and that I've been keeping her locked up for years.

  My mind is filled with memories. Images of Pandora lift me up and bring me crashing down the next second. My own confusing feelings for the girl make me feel sick. I can't love her. I don't love anyone. I can't afford to—not when it would cost me everything.

  But the thought of her won't leave me. I imagine her face. Her body. Every nook and cranny of her, explored, claimed in my name. My property. And now she's gone, and I'm behind bars. And yet the only thing I give a fuck about is her safety.

  I make a deal with God then and there, even though I've never been religious. But thinking of the danger my toy is in makes me desperate. I pray then, pray for her safety even if it means me staying behind bars. Forever.

  My cock hardens at the thought of her. The walls here are thin, and I can hear someone screaming down the hallway. A guard is half-asleep at his post a few feet away from me.

  I massage the bulge in my pants. I need her. I need the relief, the distraction, the fucking feeling of Pandora Oakes being mine again. I lay back on the bed and pull my pants down. Guiltily, my hand finds my cock, wrapping around the girthy head, stroking, needing the relief only Pandora has been able to give me.

  Precome bubbles on the tip of my cock, and I use my thumb to spread it all over me. My teeth dig into my lower lip, painfully searing into the skin. I can't help myself.

  Images fill my head. Pandora in Lily Anna's dresses. Pandora in nothing at all.

  My cock grows harder and harder and I massage it with long strokes that bring no satisfaction at all. It's not Pandora's hand doing this to me, and my own palm is a cheap solution to the problem.

  I wonder if I'll ever get to feel her again.

  I groan her name as I touch myself. I bring myself closer and closer, tethering on the verge of an orgasm that I won't let myself have. Not until she's back, safe in my arms—or as safe as she can be when I'm around.

  Bringing myself to the edge, I force myself to stop every time I get too close. My cock is dripping wet, eager to come, desperate to be buried in her silky folds. But she's not here. She's gone.

  Frustrated, I slam my fist into the wall. The pain is blinding. My knuckles burst open, blood pouring down my hand, but I barely notice it, getting close to an orgasm again as I stroke my dick closer and closer.

  Her name is a dying whisper on my lips. Blood drips down my crotch as I jerk with fast, angry motions. Time passes. I spend what must be hours lying on that squeaky mattress, palming my cock to the sound of the other inmates screaming, laughing and groaning in pleasure similar to mine.

  I'm nothing now. I've been reduced to scum. Nobody wants me in their life anymore. With my parents gone, Lily Anna gone, and Pandora gone, I'm nothing.

  I remember a story my mother used to read me when I was a kid, about a boy who would disappear if nobody remembered him. I try desperately to remember the ending. To remember how he solved the problem. But there's nothing there—just the soft, angelic sound of my mother's voice, and her manicured hands touching my forehead as she put me to sleep.

  I try to fall asleep, but it's too loud. The guard wakes up at some point to change shifts with another man. I take my hand off my throbbing cock. I close my eyes and pretend I'm somewhere, anywhere else.

  They don't give me food.

  I use the toilet in the corner of the cell. There's no window. Time passes excruciatingly slowly. I have no way of knowing how many hours have passed. Worry and guilt fuck with my head, making me lose my mind.

  I begin to understand what it was like for Lily Anna, being locked up in a place she couldn't escape. And I can't help but wonder whether this is all my fucking fault.

  For agreeing to her plan.

  For locking her up.

  For
fucking her mind up beyond repair.

  But then I remember what she did. That she killed my parents. She's a monster. And she needs to be brought to justice.

  Two more guard shifts and a dry as fuck sandwich later, a guard approaches my cell. I'm ready to go, standing tall and proud, determined to bring Lily Anna to justice.

  "Someone here to see you, Booth," the guard mutters. I recognize him as the older brother of one of the Prep kids. He seems to know who I am too, and seems almost embarrassed at the role reversal. Oh, how the mighty have fallen.

  I follow him down the hallway, my hands still in cuffs.

  We walk to the same questioning room I was in before, and he locks the cuffs to the desk I'm sitting in. I feel like a fucking criminal.

  And the worst part is... I now know I am.

  What I did to Lily Anna is unforgivable.

  And I deserve to be punished for it.

  Chapter Three

  Pandora

  3 months later

  This is my new normal. Alli is my new best friend. Mother continues to confuse me with her hot-and-cold attitude that changes every five minutes. And as for my life in Eden Falls... it's over. The nightmare is behind me.

  I haven't been in contact with anyone from the town. Begrudginly, I've followed the news of Dexter's arrest after Lai's murder. I didn't want to believe it was true, but everything pointed to it—Dex had killed his best friend, and now he was going to serve a long, long sentence. The judge presiding over his trial was determined to make an example out of Dexter. To bring Eden Falls to its knees. To end the town's Firstborn supremacy once and for all.

  And then there's the matter of the baby. The life growing inside me. I knew, from the moment I found out I was pregnant, that I couldn't possibly get rid of the baby. Not even knowing I had no idea who the father was. Not even with the possibility the baby's father is a killer.

  "I just don't understand," I mutter as Alli flips between the Netflix suggestions on the TV. "Why has nobody come after me? Don't any of them care?"