Chapter 0121
“The worst part is not all of it was bad.” Coit’s voice is wistful. “When we were little kids, he’d play with us and take us camping.”
“I remember.”
I close my eyes, and memories of Bernard taking us camping and teaching us about the stars at night make me want to weep and throw something. Monsters aren’t supposed to make you feel loved. Even it had been lies, they had felt real at that time. And I can’t remove them from my memories.
I don’t want to talk to Bernard. I don’t want to see him, He’s rotting in the dungeon beneath my feet, and I try to pretend like he isn’t there at all. The person I want to talk to is my mom.
“Every time I try to call Mom, she doesn’t pick up.” I say, “Is she upset with me?”
“No.” There’s a pause before he concedes, “She’s upset about the situation. Everything that happened with Father is confusing for her.”
Hurt blooms in my chest, but it comes out more like anger. “What’s confusing? He almost destroyed all of us for his own ego. Why is she upset with me? She should be upset with him!”
“I know,” Coit tries to appease me. “But he’s her mate, and you know what that means.”
I do know what that means. I witnessed it growing up, and I feel it now with Kane. My mother endured so much because of Bernard, but she never left him because being mates are not something you can throw away. It’s for life and there’s no way out except death.
I sigh in frustration. “I just want to talk to her. Why can’t she just pick up the phone?”
“She…” Coit lets out a ragged breath. “She said that she won’t speak to you until you release Father.”
“I can’t do that. You know I can’t do that.” I refuse immediately. “After everything Bernard has done, we can’t trust him not to try and start a war again as soon as he’s free. He’s too dangerous.”
Bernard had tried to kill me, his own daughter, for getting in his way and exposing him for the terrible person that he is. I shudder to think what he will do if he ever gets out of the dungeons.
“Could you talk to Mom?” I ask. “Just try to persuade her to talk to me. I really need to talk to her about something.”
“About what?”
“I’m not ready to tell you that yet. Just help me out with Mom, please.”
“I try, but I can’t promise she’ll listen.”
I thank my brother for all of his help. I’m truly surprised he isn’t more upset that he’s no longer going to be the Alpha. The call ends soon after that. I hang up the phone and cover my face with my hands, feeling weary and overwrought. My own mother doesn’t want to talk to me because my terrible father is my prisoner. When did my life become this tragedy?
All I want is to talk to my mom about my pregnancy. I want to hear her advice on what to do and for her
to share what her own pregnancies had been like. When I was younger, I would talk to her about anything. and she’d make everything better somehow. I want that.
Chapter 0121
Lex
+25 BONUS
I have never lived outside of Crimson Peak. I stayed in other kingdoms for short periods of time as a guest or a tourist. Being a political hostage means I could be living in Scarlett Thunder for decades or even centuries. If worse came to worst, I could never even come back.
My bags are packed. I have my entire life squeezed into half a dozen trunks. The items I will leave behind have been deemed unnecessary to be brought along into my new life. I’ve spent the day walking around the castle and the grounds, looking at my home for what might be the last time.
Only a few people have been informed of my departure. My mother makes a show of being quietly dignified before giving in to a few tears and hugging me. She is reminded of her brother being sent off to a similar life, and now she has to see her own son have the same fate. Uncle Cyrus was lucky. He came back.
