An hour into the first movie, my phone vibrated, signalling that I had gotten a text from someone, and I looked down to see that there was a text from my father, talking about how I was a worthless piece of shit and wasn't going to amount to anything in the future besides being a worthless piece of shit.

I pursed my lips in disgust and closed my phone, with my heart aching just a tad, but I couldn't just sit there as if nothing happened.

"Chris?" Ethan asked when I started to get off the couch without a word, moving around both my grandmother and Drew. He frowned and cocked his head while he stared at me, trying but failing to see what was wrong and what happened.

I shook my head and pressed my lips into a thin line with my heart aching. "Don't worry about it, Ethan," I said coldly, and my phone went off again in a flurry of text messages that I did not care to look at because I knew that my father was blowing up my phone. "I am going to see if the others have eaten."

My grandmother frowned and narrowed her eyes just a tad while she looked at me. "Can I see your phone, Dear?" she asked and held out her hand for me to put my phone in it. "Who is texting you so much?"

I hesitated and grabbed my phone tighter in my hand, not wanting to show her who was texting me. "No one important, Grams," I said, not wanting her to see what her son-in-law does when he drinks. "Excuse me."

I started to walk away from them only to be stopped when my grandmother's warm comforting hand grabbed my wrist so that I wouldn't be able to move further away from her, even though we both knew that I would be able to move her hand from my wrist in a matter of seconds.

"Christina Farley," she scolded softly. She scowled and narrowed her eyes while she studied me. "Who is texting you so much and why?"

I set my jaw before I sighed and shook my head. "Not here," I said, my voice barely above a whisper. I cleared my throat and shifted on my feet while I licked my lips. "Please, Grams."

I didn't look at my sister, even though I wanted to. I didn't want the curtain to be pulled higher for her to see what was hiding underneath, a facade of the perfect family that had the golden child and the black sheep living different lives and having different experiences.

I wanted her to still receive the love of her parents that I would never receive from them...

Clarissa cleared her throat and shifted in her seat, and I couldn't help but look at her with a mask over my face. A pained look was on her face while she stared at me, and I could tell that she had figured it out just a tad but did not figure out everything that had happened. "Is it Mom and Dad?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper. "Or is it just one?"

I grimaced and looked away from her, shifting my body a little so that she couldn't see half of my face. "Just one," I said coldly before I cleared my throat and shifted on my feet. "Please, Grams, let me go."

More texts were shot at a rapid pace, my phone going buzz, buzz, buzz with each deranged text my father sent my way, and I knew that they were saying the same thing over and over again.

My grandmother set her jaw and let go of my wrist. "Continue to watch the movies, Dears," she said while she stood. "I am going to help Chris see if everyone has eaten."

"Grams..." I started only to stop when she raised her hand to silence me. I bit back a small sigh and slowly nodded, pressing my lips into a thin line. "Then come on," I said, my voice barely above a whisper before I started to walk to the stairs that lead away from the basement.

"Wair, what about me?" Clarissa asked before we could get too far, and we paused and looked at her. She furrowed her brows and pressed her lips into a thin line. "Can I come?"

"No," I said and shook my head. "Go ahead and keep watching the movie, Clarissa. We will be back in a bit after we make sure everyone else has eaten."

Clarissa scowled and narrowed her eyes while she stared at me. "Why?" she asked and narrowed her eyes further. "Does this have to do with the texts you are receiving from someone, Chris? Who are they from? Your boyfriend?"

I snorted and rolled my eyes while I pressed my lips into a thin line. "I wish that it was from him, but unfortunately, I do not have a boyfriend to text me."

"Yet," Ethan said, and we looked at him before we looked at each other again. He looked between the two of us before he looked at me. "You do not have a boyfriend, yet, Chris."

"Then who? A side piece?" Clarissa asked and raised an eyebrow in question. "Who keeps texting you so much unless they want something from you?"

I gritted my teeth and narrowed my eyes, my anger getting the best of me. "I don't know, maybe the man that decided to play hookie with someone else and had me nine months later?" I asked sarcastically, raising an eyebrow in question. "And now he is drunk and sending me messages that basically tells me how useless I am, how I will not amount to anything unlike someone he knows, and get this, that he should have allowed the other person who helped create me about me when they had the chance."

"Chris," my grandmother said, shocked and appalled because this was the first time that I had mentioned this in front of her. "Please..."

I set my jaw and didn't say a word while I moved my head closer to my left side. I didn't look at her while I stared at my sister, my whole body shaking.

My phone kept going off while I did so, and Clarissa opened her mouth to say something but closed it instead.

She hesitated and looked toward our grandmother before she looked back at me, her eyes filled with pain and guilt. "They don't like you, do they?" she asked her voice barely above a whisper, and I bit back a bitter chuckle while I slowly nodded and pursed my lips in annoyance.

"They hate my guts," I said and blinked back some tears that were wanting to fall because of how angry I was. I licked my lips and cleared my throat while I shifted on my feet. "I've mainly been able to ignore it, but..." I shrugged and grimaced.

"What is he saying?" Ethan asked softly, his voice barely above a whisper. Worry and nervousness filled his eyes, and I knew that he was thinking the same thing as me, especially since he never texted me this much before. "He's never texted you this much at once, especially when he has been drinking."

I set my jaw and shook my head, not wanting to look at whatever messages that he sent my way.

Ethan walked over to me and held out his hand for me to put my phone into his hand. "Can I see?" he asked and raised an eyebrow in question. "Or at least mute his messages so that you can go ahead and try to enjoy this evening."

Even though this evening has already been ruined because of everything that I had read so far...

My heart ached and became filled with pain when that thought crossed my mind, but I did what he wanted and handed him my phone.

Ethan offered me a tight smile and looked at the messages, and his face grew pale when he read some of them. "Ummm... I think it might be best if we actually called it a night..." he said and looked at me with wide eyes.

"Awwww, why?" Sheamus asked. He folded his arms across his chest and pouted, looking very annoyed. "What's going on, Ethan? What happened? Why is she acting so hurt?"

"It's the usual stuff," Ethan said with a shake of his head before he cleared his throat and shifted on his feet. "However, the only thing different is that he is on his way back here, and he is not pleased. He is not pleased at all."