Chapter 279

Chapter 279:

I didn’t know where the scar was or how bad it had been.

But I stayed where I was, anchoring him, giving him something solid to hold on to.

“When I got up off the ground, I saw her. Gwendolyn. She was hiding behind the shed, watching. Smirking. That was when it clicked. All it took was a look. She wanted me stepped on, and they delivered.” He pressed his forehead against my collarbone.

“When they sent me overseas, Edouard gave me money. Or he meant to. She intercepted it. Every cent. I would’ve starved if Declan hadn’t wired cash behind her back. He didn’t even like me then. He just… didn’t want to be the reason I died p>

I kept rubbing circles on his back, light and slow, waiting.

Then I asked, “Tell me about your mum p>

“She was with Reginald before Gwendolyn came into the picture. They were already involved. But she didn’t have the fight pedigree, so he married Gwendolyn. But he kept my mum around for years. Lied to her about leaving p>

“Gwendolyn. She believed him p>

I sensed where the story was going.

“Gwendolyn came to the house a few times, screaming. She broke a window once. I was maybe five at the time. My mum couldn’t handle it. It got worse year by year. One morning, she was fine. It was my birthday. She made me toast, waved me off like normal. When I came back that night… she was cold. In bed.

Face up. Still in her slippers p>

He leaned back abruptly, his eyes locked on the window.

My shoulder felt damp. I glanced down.

His face gave nothing away, but my jumper was wet.

𝔽𝗂𝗋𝖲𝗍 𝖘𝗍𝗈𝗋𝗒 𝗋𝖾𝗅𝖾𝖺𝗌𝖾 at ⳑ𝖆Ⱡ𝗇𝗈ν𝖊𝗅𝘀․ⅽ𝗈𝗆

For a few minutes, he’d let his guard drop, just enough to lean on me, to fall apart a little.

Now it was gone again. Packed away without warning.

“My mum was on medication. Antipsychotics, I think. She was obsessed with Reginald. Wouldn’t hear a word against him. Even when he stopped calling, even when he got engaged, she still waited. When it finally sank in that he was never coming back, something just… snapped. Maybe it started as love, but by the end, she was furious. Only she couldn’t aim it at him, so she turned it on me.” He scratched his knuckles, his left hand pressing into his thigh.

“I thought she blamed me. That I’d ruined her life. I thought she gave up because she couldn’t take care of me anymore. But months later, I overheard Reginald and Gwendolyn arguing. He was yelling about her going to see my mum. He said it was right before she—” He cut off.

I already knew.

“Gwendolyn said something to her,” I said quietly.

He nodded. “I don’t know what. But it wasn’t kind p>