Chapter 144
ASHTON
I tear my eyes away from my phone, as difficult as that feels, to beam at my sister, Adriana, who’s galloping on a horse. Keith is somewhere at the back of the house, chopping firewood. His lovely parents went out of town to purchase some necessary items for the animals on the farm.
[She’s not at her aunt’s place or Anna’s] One of our men messages me.
I feel a ball of unease unfurl in my belly. Where else could Demi be? Was she at a motel? She’s been unreachable since she left the mansion two nights ago. She won’t even return my calls and texts.
I’ve been so worried especially as the online trolling and bullying keep intensifying. I think it was even covered somewhere on the news that she got pelted with raw eggs in public.
"Where in God’s name are you, Demi?" I mumble before letting out a short breath.
Is she mad at me too? Sure, she must be. Her hatred for my family must have crystallized with father’s action that night but that’s a topic for another day. I just want her to send me proof of life so my heart quits racing with nerves.
Ahead of me, Adriana finally finishes her laps. My eyes boggle with shock when her favorite house throws her off his back before she can get down. She lands face first in the dirt and yelps in pain.
"ADRIANA!" I move like a blur across the field and pick her up while her horse, Poo-bear, skips away.
"I’m fine." She assures me, closing a hand over mine after Keith applies First Aid to her bruised forehead and bandages to her sprained ankle. "Or at least, I will be once the splitting headache ebbs."
"You were supposed to be watching her!" Keith barks angrily at me. "What were you doing? She was on that horse for the first time in years, at your behest."