His Betrayal, My Steel-Legged Return

lyn

overed over his notepad. Eugene' s face froze, the mask of

y fault!" she wailed, rushing to the other side of the bed. "I shouldn'

t' s not your fault. It' s those monsters. Don't you worry, the police will catch them." He looked at the officers, his ex

athy. "Of course. We understand. Son, y

back in. The moment the door clicked shut, Euge

yn?" he hissed, his

who was still clinging to his leg, p

y voice raspy. "Did

d me to call you. They said if I was a good girl and did what they said, they wouldn' t hurt y

aughter was a victim, not a conspirator. The maternal instinct to protect her, to absolve her, was a powerful, physical ache

her, back to the ar

the words tasting like metal. "The divorce i

"Are you insane? After everything that'

held his gaze. "Sign the papers, or the first cal

ouldn'

ing my daughter," I said, my voice holl

ked down at Hollis, then back at me, his e

ve things to take care of. Business." He practicall

my new reality crash down on me. My body was broken, my famil

esy from the hospital, buzzed on the bed

ugene told me everything. I can' t imagine what you

knew who it was from. Brenna.

nd Eugene, it' s not like that. He' s been a mentor, a friend. He talks about you all the time. H

rds were so obscen

ng. I hate to see you treat him this way. He' s been working so hard, trying

is wasn' t an apology; it was a power play. She was stakin

her eyes burning with an ambition that was almost frightening. I had seen myself in her, a young

had helped my hus

ck to me, its fangs dripping w

embled as I t

band. Stay away from my daughter. The ne

e empty side of the bed, my heart hammering with

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