Cruel Love Read Online Free PDF Page B

Her eyes instantly found Reed’s name and her mouth went dry. Apparently, one of her teammates had gotten drunk and tried to drive home from a party. That was why Reed had been at the hospital the other night.
    What are the chances? Ariana thought now, carefully folding the paper and handing it back to Adam. What are the chances that we would both end up in the same ER on the same night because our friends were hurt?
    It was fate. It had to be. Someone had put Reed right in front of her that night for a reason. All of this was Reed’s fault, after all. If Reed had never come to Easton Academy in the first place, omas Pearson would still be alive. If omas were alive, Ariana never would have gone to the Brenda T. and met Kaitlynn Nottingham. If she’d never met Kaitlynn, she never would have known Briana Leigh Covington existed. Briana Leigh’s death was on Reed’s head. As was Brigit Rhygstead’s, and Lexa’s as well. Clearly, Reed had been placed in that ER on that very night because the universe was trying to balance itself. The universe wanted Reed dead.
    She must die … she must die … she must die …
    “Come on. We’ll drop you off at the station on our way back to campus,” Jasper offered to Adam. “Cool, thanks,” Adam said, smiling gratefully.
    Ariana forced herself to look straight ahead and not stare at the newspaper now coiled into a tube in Adam’s hands. e universe was trying to tell her something, and she had now gotten the message loud and clear.
    It all came back to Reed Brennan.
    Kill Reed and all these deaths would be avenged. Kill Reed, and there would finally, finally be justice.
    As she popped open the door of her silver Porsche, Ariana felt much calmer and completely resolved. She would go back to her dorm, finish packing for Jasper’s, and spend the rest of the afternoon until her flight working on the Reed problem. The worst was over. It was time to focus. Ariana Osgood had a job to do.
    UNCLE JAZZ

    “Uncle Jazz! Uncle Jazz! Look what I made for you!”
    Jasper’s adorable, towheaded nephew, Ben, came tearing into the banquet-size dining room in the Montgomerys’ stately southern mansion, proudly carrying a mishmash of Play-Doh. Around the table, the adults still lingered over coffee and pie. Ariana sat next to Jasper on one side of the festively decorated table, with his older sister Jacqueline to her left. Across the way, Ben’s parents sat, watching their progeny proudly. Jasper’s oldest sister, Jessica, was massively pregnant once again, and her husband, Sherman, hadn’t let go of her hand for more than thirty seconds all night. At the head and foot of the table were Jasper’s parents: Mr. Montgomery pushed back from his plate to make more room for his ample belly; Mrs. Montgomery perched at the edge of her chair as she sipped her coffee. Ben had long since vacated the dining room, unable to sit still, and had been occupying himself with his Play-Doh in the parlor for the last half hour.
    “Wow!” Jasper crowed, pulling Ben into his lap. “That is the scariest looking monster I’ve ever seen!” Ariana smiled. Jasper was so cute with Ben, it made her heart hurt.
    Ben’s face, however, fell like a stone. “It’s not a monster,” he said, fiddling with one of the buttons on Jasper’s Ralph Lauren shirt. “It’s you!” Jasper hesitated a second as Jessica covered up a laugh, but he recovered quickly.
    “And as we all know, I’m the scariest monster south of the Mason-Dixon line!” he said, opening his eyes wide and letting out a growl.
    Ben half screamed, half giggled, and wriggled off Jasper’s lap, sprinting back for the parlor. Jasper gave chase, leaving Ariana alone at the table with his family. She sighed contentedly and added some sugar to her coffee. Outside the huge bay window, a grassy hill descended toward a lily pad–spotted pond, its water gleaming in the waning November sunlight. ere were several Adirondack chairs set up around a huge