Open Wounds: Abel and Hope: Love Against the Odds Read online

  “Did he tell you to say that?” he spat.

  Harper paused, looking up to her father before looking back. Tears fled her eyes and he wanted to reach for her. He wanted to hold her and take her away, but he didn’t. If she wasn’t going to fight for him, how would they ever win? Her father did have connections, but Trent needed Harper on his side because he couldn’t do this without her.

  She shook her head. “It’s not even that.”

  Confused, he asked, “Then what?” He knew he sounded broken, but he just couldn’t bring himself to care.

  She sighed. “You can’t take care of this kid, and I can’t either. I want to go to college. I don’t want my kid to have the life you did.”

  Hearing those words pass her lips sobered him up. What was she saying? Trent would be like his father and walk out on her? He thought she knew him better than that.

  “I mean, if we stay together, I’d have to sacrifice more than you would.”

  Appalled at the idea, Trent said, “And why is that? Why would you have to give anything up?” She could go to college. He’d follow her. Yes, it’d be hard and stressful, but Trent believed Harper was worth it. He was just now realizing Harper didn’t feel the same about his worth.

  She moved next to him. Trent glanced at her father to gauge his reaction. “I’d end up like your mother,” she continued. “At home raising a kid, while you worked all day. You wouldn’t want to come home to the stress of a wife and kid after a long, hard day. This just wouldn’t work, Trent. We have to realize that.”

  His heartache transformed to anger. “You actually believe that pile of shit, or are you just parroting your dad’s words?” He nodded over at her father who happily sat by, watching his daughter crush what was left of Trent’s heart and dreams.

  She tried to take his hand but Trent pulled back. “I’m just telling the truth. You know I am.”

  Trent stood. It was clear she wasn’t going to fight for them, and even if he got her alone he wasn’t sure he could change her mind. Fear was a great motivator. And the thought she’d become like his mother must have overpowered any love she harbored for him.

  “Imagine what people would say if they found out my bloodline, my own flesh and blood, was sullied with some white trash nobody?” Her father chuckled. “They would lose all respect for our family, and I’d see you in jail before I let that happen.”

  “You’d let him do that?” Trent asked Harper. Even as he now questioned her love for him he didn’t think she agreed with what her father wanted to do, but he didn’t think she’d try hard to stop him either.

  She shook her head. “No Trent, but my dad worked hard to move his way up and become a judge. Those who supported him along the way won’t be happy about this. I’m not saying what he is trying to do is right. I just think we should listen to him. You and I don’t mix. People aren’t going to understand it.” Tears streamed down her face.

  Now he got it. It wasn’t just a money thing, it was also a race issue. Their struggle was harder than his, and they couldn’t be caught mixing with the people who’d helped hold them down. As Trent stood and headed for the door, he understood what they were both telling him.

  Message received loud and clear.

  But one thing was for certain . . . history had proven time and time again that being white was right, and no matter how much that family thought otherwise, Trent knew the truth was worth something.

  Inger Iversen is an American author residing in Virginia. She lives for bringing her fictional characters from darkness to light through self-discovery and passion. From her emotionally gripping, new adult Few Are Angels series that builds in intensity and intrigue to a finale you won’t see coming, to her international bestselling interracial romance dubbed “one of the most emotionally gripping” books of the summer, Inger breathes life into her fiction through her enthusiasm and devotion to writing. Her influences range from life experiences and daydreams, Inger spends her time in the writing cave and fantasizing of the day she can figure out how to Weird Science her characters to life.

  Check out her books on her site: www.ingeriversen.com

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