Chapter 48
“Robert jent here, Rachel,” I said carefully. “He’s in prison.”
“Hex ALWAYS here!” she shrieked. “He never leaves me!”
I noted the instability in her eyes.
She was unraveling–both more vulnerable and more dangerous.
My mother struggled against her restraints.
Rachel yanked the tape from her mouth.
“Sage, I’m so sorry, my mother sobbed. “Sorry I didn’t protect you… sorry I chose him over you…”
“Rachel,” she continued, “he hurt you too. Those things you never spoke about…”
“SHUT UP!” Rachel’s face drained of color.
Why track me down?” I asked.
“Why shoot Caspian? Was it worth all this?”
“Daddy said you had to pay,” she answered childishly. “That night you ran away, you destroyed our family.”
“No.” I countered. “Robert destroyed it when he first laid hands on me… on us.”
Rachel suddenly swung the knife toward my mother.
“Maybe I should deal with her first. She knew what he was doing to us and never stopped him.”
I stepped forward
“This is between us, Rachel.”
“Always so noble, she sneered. “Perfect Sage. Even in court, you had to be the brightest star.
This is a competition. I never wanted to hurt you.”
But you DID!” she snarled. “You destroyed my family! Now you’ll pay!”
She luured, knife aimed at
throat
twisted sideways, pulling something from my pocket–the lamp switch I’d carried for six years.
Remember this?
I’ve carried it every day to remind me why III never let anyone hurt me again”
attack again, the kitchen window shattered Marrys bursting through in a shower of glass. Bachel screamed, momentarily distracted.
karked the inde away, but Rachel grabbed a broken wine bottle, pressing its jagged edge against my mother’s throat.
The funds rashed open as agends stormed in
dde when bu taw m
Rachel, I and protly. He’s controlled you fou tou long. Let her go. End this.”
Chapter 48
“He said if I did this..
she sobbed, he would love me… like he loved you…”
“Love me?”
The words hit like a blow.
“Rachel, he never loved anyone. He only knew how to control and hurt.”
“Not He loved you! Always touching your hair… watching you… buying you gifts…
The horrible truth dawned on
“Rachel… he hurt you too, didn’t he? In the same way.
“SHUT UP!–
she screamed, tears streaming down her face.
My mother closed her eyes in pain, confirming she’d known all along.
“I see it now,” I said softly. “He hurt us both, just differently.
stly. I ran and you were forced to stay.”
hate you for leaving,” she sobbed. “For abandoning me to
me to face h
him alone….
“I didn’t know,” I said, my
voice breaking. “If I had, I would have taken you with me.”
For a moment, the world balanced on a
Then Rachel crumpled, the bottle falling as she collapsed into herself.
Hours later, wrapped in a blanket beside an ambulance, I learned Rachel was being sent to a psychiatric facility.
She needs treatment, not punishment,” I said quietly. “She’s as much a victim as I am
My mother
waited nearby, casting uncertain glances my way.
“Do you want to talk to her?”
Caspian asked gently.
I took a deep breath and walked over to her…
Dd
I asked directly.
About what he did to Rachel?
the nodded painfully
uspected but was too afraid to face it… I was a coward, Sage
sms, Mom,” I said quietly ‘Including Rachel‘
a folder.
