A Grave Beneath the Floorboards novel · Chapter 19 of 24

Chapter 19: Not Her

Peyton wiped her face with the heel of her hand.

When she looked up again, the crying was gone, and what was left was patient.

"Now you know," she said. "So say it."

"Say what?"

"My name. The one I've worn." She stood and put both hands flat on the table. "Say Carly. Just once, to my face. Say you forgive me."

I looked at the green cardigan, and the hair in the clip, and the bees on the mug.

She had Carly's eyes.

They were looking at me with a hunger I could not stand.

"No," I said.

"Macy."

"Your name is Peyton."

"She was my sister. She'd want you to."

"Don't tell me what she'd want." My voice shook, and I let it. "Carly wrote a letter and put your name in it first. She wanted to bring you to dinner. She was going to introduce us."

Peyton's breath caught.

"She was going to love you in public, in front of me, and you couldn't wait three days."

"I didn't know that."

"You knew she was breathing." I stepped away from the counter. "You knelt next to her and she said my name, and you walked out of this house and ate dinner with her face on."

"Stop."

"You took her coat and her phone and her best friend. All of it was hers."

"I'm her sister!" Peyton shouted. "I'm the same blood, the same face, the same everything, and she got to be loved!"

← Chapter 18 · All chapters · Chapter 20 →

Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend