Hate Me (Worthy Of Love series, #1) Read Online Free PDF Page A

apart, the girl was nine and the boy was just six. Tom smiled at me in a shy manner. I smiled back at him. Unfortunately my mother noticed.
    ' Good, you’re getting along well,’ she said. ‘Gary and I are getting married.’
    ‘W-what does that mean?’ Tom asked.
    ‘It means they're going to live together and we'll have a new mummy and a new sister, stupid,’ Becky said.
    ‘Don’t call your brother stupid,’ Gary chastised , but Tom was already crying.
    'Sorry Tommy, don't cry. I won't call you stupid anymore.'
    I watched with some degree of amusement. I didn't have any siblings. I was an unplanned accident, as my mother liked to remind me. She blamed me for ending her modelling career. She was my age when she fell pregnant. And then after she'd given birth to me, she couldn't retain her stick figure. The resentment built up over the years. She didn't particularly like the fact I was close with him either , before he betrayed us in the worst way possible.
    My mother was thin now and she might have been beautiful if she hadn't spent so much money on plastic surgery. Her big lips didn't suit the small frame of her face. It just made her look freakishly weird. I just couldn't understand what attracted men to her. It certainly wasn't her personality. Her short lasting relationships were a testament to that. Sooner or later, the men realised she was just using them for money.
    I picked up my fork and separated the peas on one side and then ate some of the salted fish. I left my plate full as I'd lost my appetite a while ago. I felt my mother scrutinising every one of my actions. I began on the Vanilla Ice cream for dessert and scooped some for myself. My stomach was tied in knots. I excused myself to the bathroom. Gary smiled politely, but my mother's eyes twitched. I locked myself in the bathroom and sat on the toilet lid. I needed to take a breather. I calmed my racing heart. I felt stuffy in there with my mother watching my every move, and Gary's daughter, Becky looking at me like I was already an older sister to be admired. I wasn't a role model and neither did I know much about children. The little things I did know were from my own experience. Children were precious and innocent, but they were also very fragile as well. I thought of Lilly then, how easily her spirit had been broken before her murder. I had known something was up, but in my selfishness I hadn't asked. I'd been too concerned with being her number one best friend and not allowing Jennifer to take that spot from me.
    The knock on the bathroom startled me. 'Just a minute,' I called out. I flushed the toilet and ran the tap for a short while in pretence. I opened the toilet door. My mother was waiting for me on the other side with her arms crossed.
    'What are you playing at?' she hissed.
    'I'm not doing anything,' I replied.
    'Get back out there and make an effort,' she said. She attempted to drag me by hand as if I were an insolent child.
    'I'm not a baby,' I whispered, pulling away from her.
    She twisted away from me and marched with her high heels, clicking with every angry step.
    The two of us returned to the dining room . She tugged her top down. Any lower and her boobs would pop out. She was so disgusting, showing cleavage in front of the children. Luckily, Becky and Tom were interested in having more Ice cream.
    'Amanda,' Gary said, 'I know I haven't gotten a chance to get to know you. I'm not trying to be your father and I don't expect you to call me Dad, but if you want to in the future, you're more than welcome to. I guess what I'm trying to say is...I would like to be a part of your family. Is that okay?'
    I shrugged. I wasn't trying to be rude or anything, but Gary seemed like a decent guy and he could do much better than my mother. And so could his children. What could be worse than having my mother as their stepmother?
    'Amanda,' Mum said through gritted teeth. 'Gary asked you a question.'
    I saw the way she was so desperate. 'Do you love