When Elli reached her, she pushed the bar stool away, going toe to toe with Victoria. Since Elli was wearing her boots, she was as tall as Victoria, and as she looked into the eyes of the person she grew up with, loved even when she was terrible to her, she felt nothing but repulsion.

“Did you kiss Shea?”

Victoria didn’t say anything as she tried to look everywhere but at Elli,

“Answer me!”

“Eleanor, that’s enough,” Olivia said.

“I, um, I,” Victoria started, “I never meant to hurt you,” she finally got out, and Elli couldn’t control herself. She had always dreamed of hitting Victoria, and the feeling of her hand connecting to Victoria’s face was so damn fulfilling that Elli wanted to do it again.

“Eleanor!” Olivia yelled.

“You stupid bitch! How could you! How could you do that to me!?”

Victoria’s hand came up over where Elli had just made contact as her eyes filled with tears.

“Answer me! Why!? Why did you do it!?”

“It wasn’t me, I didn’t want to-” Victoria started, but Elli’s mother interrupted her.

“Victoria Ann, that is enough. If Eleanor is going to resort to hitting, then there is nothing left to be said. Come here, honey,” Olivia said with her arms wide for Victoria, but Bryan stopped her.

“No, you answer her, Victoria. Now.” Bryan’s booming voice filled the room, and Victoria looked at him before looking back into Elli’s eyes.

“I didn’t want to Elli, I didn’t.”

“What are you talking about?!”

“She made me do it,” Victoria said, looking over Elli’s shoulder to her mother. Everyone took in a sharp breath as Elli turned slowly to see her mother wide-eyed as Victoria continued, “She said that Shea wasn’t good enough for you when he came to the house to ask Daddy if he could marry you, and then she told me I had to break y’all up.”

“He wanted to marry me?” Elli gasped out, as Victoria went on.

“I didn’t want to do it, but she threatened to cut my cards off, and you know I need my credit cards, Elli. I never wanted any of this to happen. I may be crazy jealous of you, but I would never take your man, you know that, but I had no choice.”

“You did this?” Elli asked her mother. Olivia stood a little straighter, running her hands down the front of her suit jacket before she looked up at Elli with a patronizing smile on her face.

“Oh darlin’, I did this for you, he isn’t good enough for you.”

“Olivia!” Michael gasped.

“Are you kidding me?” Bryan yelled.

“Who are you to say who is good enough for me?” Elli said, ignoring everyone, staring down the person that had betrayed her.

“Honey, he’s trash. Tattoos up his arms, dresses like a thug, he is not the man for my daughter.”

Elli just shook her head.

“How dare you?”

“How dare me? Honey, it’s simple, I did it for you.”

Elli felt like she was going to throw up. Her own mother?

“It was the same thing with Justin. I knew he was cheating on you from the beginning. He would hit on Victoria so intently, but Victoria wanted nothing to do with him because he had been with you. I’d be damned before I let a Yates leave this family, so I told him about all the money you were getting and just to wait it out with you, that you’d give him everything he wanted. I did it for you, for your happiness.”

Elli couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

“He ruined me,” Elli said in a shaky voice, “I am better without him.”

“Now, that isn’t true. He was a good man.”

“He hit me!” Elli screamed, causing Olivia to jump as the tears rushed down Elli’s cheeks. Elli had never told anyone about that but Harper and Shea, but she couldn’t keep it in anymore. Bryan stood up from his seat as Michael took a step forward. God help Justin Yates if her papa or daddy ever saw him again.

“I doubt that,” Olivia dismissed with a wave of her hand.

“He did. And Shea loved me, he treated me good, but you sabotaged that? Using my sister as your pawn?”

“You are blowing this out of portion, honey. Stop.”

Everyone was quiet for a moment as Elli looked at her mother in disgust. She couldn’t believe it, she couldn’t comprehend it.

“You ruined my chance at happiness. How dare you?”

“Like I’ve said before, I did it for you.”

“I’m 28 years old! I don’t need you! I have been with trash, and Shea is not trash! He made me feel like the most amazing person in the world! He made it where I loved myself! I wouldn’t be who I am now if it wasn’t for him! Shea loved me! Unlike you!”

“Oh, now that’s just uncalled for. You know I love you.”

“No, you don’t. If you did, you wouldn’t have done what you did.”

“I stand by my word, Eleanor Ray. I did it for you.”

Elli shook her head slowly, tears gushing down her face.

“You deliberately tried to hurt me, and we are done.”

Elli heard Victoria take in a sharp breath as her daddy moved in front of Elli.

“I don’t even know you anymore,” he said. Elli watched as her mother’s eyes went wide.

“Now, Michael honey, she’s overreacting.”

“How could you do this to her?” Michael said with a shake of his head, “That’s our baby girl.”