Zach burst out of his father’s study and into the hallway. It was the first time he was really defying his father, and it caused his entire body to shake with fear. He had to see this through, though. He cared about Adrienne too much to let his dad crush his one chance at a normal life. After so many years of being deprived of one, Zach was going to have this shot at being normal whether his father approved of it or not. At this point, he wasn’t going to be walked on anymore.

He paused suddenly when he saw two figures crouched on the floor just outside the door. Zach’s eyes met his mother’s shocked gaze, and he glanced further down to see Adrienne was huddled on the floor and shaking. His heart swelled inside of his chest, and then he felt a surge of hate toward his father because he knew it was his dad’s fault. Adrienne heard their argument on the other side of the door when it was closed, and his father’s words had caused her this pain.

Zach bent over and helped Adrienne to her feet as his mother rushed into the study. His mother’s voice echoed loudly back at the two in the hallway.

“Kelsey, what have you done?”

Once Adrienne was on her feet, Zach kept his arm around her and led her toward the front door. “Adrienne, we’re leaving,” he said, and he hoped she understood why. He wasn’t going to stay here with her if this was how his father was going to act. They took a short detour upstairs to grab shoes and coats. They were back downstairs within minutes, and Zach could still hear his mother yelling at his father in the study. He scooped up the keys to one of the cars just as he heard his father storming down the hallway and calling after him. Zach ushered Adrienne outside, closing the door behind them.

“Let’s go to Nico’s,” he said quickly, hurrying to the car. Zach wanted to get out of here as fast as possible.