Total pages in book: 137
Estimated words: 138642 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 693(@200wpm)___ 555(@250wpm)___ 462(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 138642 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 693(@200wpm)___ 555(@250wpm)___ 462(@300wpm)
“Wow. Never thought we’d be rooming right down the hall from each other,” she tells Mom. “At the rate you’re going, you’ll be out of here before I am.”
Mom squeezes Ros’ hand.
“Stay as long as you need, baby,” she says, glowing with the warmth of motherly love. “As long as you take care of yourself.”
“You told her?” I catch my sister’s eye.
Ros nods sheepishly. “Well, yeah. She deserved to know.”
“That’s right,” Mom says firmly. “Just because I’m laid up doesn’t mean I’m not here to support you girls like always.” Then her eyes darken and she glances between me and Ros regretfully. “So, I guess the secret’s out.”
My heart pinches as Mom’s heavy eyes meet mine.
“You’ll never know how sorry I am that I never told you girls everything.” She sighs. “I just wanted to close that rotten chapter of my life so much... I never imagined the trouble it would cause later on.” Her eyes glitter with approval as she looks at me. “Thank you, Ophelia. Thank you for looking out for your little sister—for protecting her where I failed.”
“Mom, no.” I grip hard at her thin fingers. “You didn’t fail. You got sick. But it all turned out okay in the end.”
“There’s nothing time won’t heal. We’ll be fine,” Ros adds, clearing her throat. But Mom, I have to ask... What happened? Like, how did you end up with him?”
“Oh, that.” Mom smiles sadly. “Dredging up these old memories, it feels like someone else’s life. It was so long ago. I wish I had a better answer. I was different then, too young and hopeful. Too stupid, maybe—is there really any difference?”
Ros and I shake our heads.
Her smile turns grim.
“You don’t have to talk about this if you don’t want to right now,” I say.
“No, Ophelia. You both deserve the truth after the ordeal you’ve been through.” Mom strokes her thumb over the back of my hand. “If you want someone to blame, you’re looking at her. There’s no excuse, but I was so lonely after my husband died, loves. Zachary had my heart first. I didn’t know how to get over him. I was an open wound, lost and confused, pining away after a ghost all the time. Men like Montero Arrendell can smell vulnerability. I think...” she sighs again, wetting her lips. “I think he enjoyed how fragile my heart was when I was so desperate to be loved again. He enjoyed toying with me.”
My breath catches and I squeeze Mom’s hand.
“And then when I got pregnant with you, Ophelia... he distanced himself like a boy moving onto his next shiny thing,” she continues. “Of course, I didn’t let that stop me from sending him secret love letters. There was a woman at the house, a maid, Cora Lafayette.” Her eyes soften. “Such a sweet lady, not much older than me. She always looked at me with sympathy, like she understood. She’d help sneak my letters in. They weren’t always love letters, exactly, especially as time went on. But since he had a daughter, I thought he should know how you were doing.”
God, that makes me feel hollow.
I don’t even know how I’ll look at any Arrendell ever again without exploding in their face.
Though I won’t be surprised if Aleksander’s gruesome aftermath sends them out of town for a good long while. Maybe out of country.
Fine by me.
It’s too strange, knowing this man I’ve only seen from a distance my entire life, who was just part of the landscape of Redhaven, is the reason I exist.
A fact so revolting it chokes me up.
He’s always known so much about me.
All this time, he knew.
He saw me, he knew I was his daughter, peeking in at my life through these hidden windows my mother gave him.
“But what about me?” Ros asks. “If you stopped seeing him after you got pregnant with Ophelia?”
Mom goes quiet, her eyes pointed down.
“We didn’t stop entirely,” she finally whispers. “There was a lull, perhaps a few years. Then suddenly, somehow, he was desperate for me again. Instead of a quiet, comforting thing in the wake of my grief, it was a passionate affair that made me feel young and beautiful again.” With a hurt laugh, Mom tucks her wispy hair behind her ear. “Maybe that’s why the two of you are smarter. One the soft, steady girl with such deep emotions she couldn’t hold them in forever...” She casts an affectionate look at Ros before she turns to me. “And the other, my little firecracker, so much bravery and passion under her skin.”
Ros’ eyes well up again, and our mom smooths her hair back and kisses her brow.
And I realize then that maybe some of what happened with Aleksander wasn’t just his sick, hypnotic influence or the drugs.
Maybe my shy, prim sister really did want to break out of her shell.