Book 5 - Page 110 (1/2)

“That’s a lie!”

Fury burned through me, made me restless with the need to move. But I held my ground, my gaze moving to Eva. This time, she nodded at me.

“What’s the lie, Mother? That I was raped? Or that you chose to ignore it?”

“Stop saying that!” she snapped, straightening. “I took you to be examined. I tried to find the proof—”

“Because my word wasn’t enough?”

“You were a disturbed child! You lied about everything. Anything. The most obvious things.”

“That gave me some control! I had no power over anything in my life—aside from the words that came out of my mouth.”

“And I was supposed to just magically divine what was truth and what was a lie?” She leaned forward, taking the offensive. “You were seen by two doctors. You wouldn’t let the one anywhere near you—”

“And have another man touch me there? Can you even grasp how terrifying that thought was to me?”

“You let Dr. Lucas—”

“Ah, yes. Dr. Lucas.” I smiled coldly. “Where did you get his name, Mother? From the man molesting me? Or from your doctor, who was overseeing his dissertation? Either way, he steered you right toward his brother-in-law, knowing the well-respected Dr. Lucas would say anything to protect the reputation of his family.”

She recoiled, stumbling back until she b.u.mped into the chair behind her.

“He sedated me,” I went on, remembering it still. The p.r.i.c.k of the needle. The cold table. The shame as he poked and prodded a part of my body that made me tremble with revulsion. “He examined me. Then he lied.”

“How would I know that?” she whispered, her eyes so strikingly blue in her pale face.

“You knew,” I said flatly. “I remember your face afterward, when you told me Hugh wasn’t coming back and to never bring it up again. You could barely look at me, but when you did, I saw it in your eyes.”

I looked at Eva. She was crying, with her arms wrapped tight around herself. My eyes stung, but she was the one who wept for me.

“Did you think Chris would leave you?” I wondered aloud. “Did you think it was too much for your new family to take? For years, I thought you told him—I heard you mention Dr. Lucas to him—but Chris didn’t know. Tell me what reason a wife would have to keep something like that from her husband.”

My mother didn’t speak, just shook her head over and over, as if that silent denial answered everything.