When someone dies mysteriously during a Psych experiment, Rhiannon becomes enmeshed in a conspiracy that includes both the survivors and the killer.
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Short on cash, Rhiannon...
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CHAPTER FIVE
EPISTEMOLOGY
( — the philosophical theory of knowledge. )
— ♡ —
CONNOR DUNCAN WAS EVERYTHING RHIANNON WASN'T. Charismatic, cunning, powered by the constant desire of outsmarting and overpowering everyone who stood in his way, Connor told her she had to find a way of becoming in charge of her own ambition and do something about it—if she wanted to succeed, sacrifices had to be made and he wasn't shy about reminding her of everything that was supposedly holding her back.
Her parents. Stephanie. Jude.
He called them liabilities. They'd, eventually, be her downfall and, if she wanted to make it big, she had to dispose of them at some point, and, though there was a tiny bit of truth behind his words, it still left her feeling incredibly uncomfortable. Rhiannon had never thought of her family and Jude as hindrances; if anything, they were the exact opposite, pushing her to do better every time.
He thought she could use better hobbies. Even though she modeled—and had done so for a few years at that point—he said no one would take her seriously as a scientist, yet she didn't drop it because of him. She volunteered at dog shelters. She swam. She knitted.
Nothing was ever good enough for him.
"Anchors can be bad for a reason," he said, spinning a cigarette between his bronze fingers. His movements were hypnotic and Rhiannon felt strangely drawn to him, even though he was two years her senior and hanging out with him meant wandering into dangerous territory. "They hold you down. They don't let you move on."
"But they also keep you grounded," Rhiannon argued, arms wrapped around her knees as she forced herself to drink every word that came out of his mouth. Connor was different from everyone she had ever encountered and, while it terrified her a little bit, with the whole pulling her out of her meticulously designed routines business, her curiosity got the best of her. "They're not necessarily bad. They ensure you don't go over your head."
"Then what's the point of ever doing anything if you're not constantly trying to outdo yourself? What's the point of staying grounded by people who don't let you spread your wings?"
Rhiannon laughed, standing up from the gravel pathway and brushing off the bits of dust from her jeans. "I'm not a bird."
"But you could be." He jumped off the concrete bench he had been standing on, arms outstretched on his sides like a plane, and Rhiannon briefly glanced at a security camera. Constant vigilance has always been one of the Ford family's various mottos, and it was only natural for their front garden to be full of surveillance methods. "You can be anything you want to be if you put enough effort into it."
