Page 72 of Claiming Charlotte

He nodded and we switched the folders. I opened his slowly, afraid of what I would find.

Connor Anderson - Life Sentence- Smuggling and human trafficking

Mary Anderson- Deceased- Asphyxiation

Rowan Anderson - Reconditioning - Rowan will take on the full duty of breaking those to be sold, using force or physical harm when necessary. He will participate when asked, upholding the wishes of our customers, and will ensure continued care and compliance of Miss. Bennett while not in use.

I closed his file disgusted; not before I looked at him, making sure his eyes weren't on me. Then carefully, I slid the paper with the truth about his mother into my hand, and into my pocket. It must have happened the night of the fight, I remember him telling me about it, and I had found it odd already, when he described the way he found her. The truth would crush him, and it's my job to protect him from the hurt.

He flicked mine shut, his lips in a tight line. Neither of us spoke and I slid it toward him.

“He was going to make you do terrible things Rowan,” I whispered.

I stilled, watching him.

He ran his hand through his hair and laughed, but it was painful.

“Lottie, I will protect you from anything, you know that, but you also have a right to know.” He pressed on. “You tell me what you want to do, and I will do it.”

I thought for a few moments as I gathered up the other files. There was only one thing I wanted to know. Walker's plans didn’t matter to me anymore, and I didn’t want to know how my father suffered.

“I just want to know about my mother, Rowan,” I said shakily. “Please.”

He took a deep breath.

“She died in captivity, Charlotte; she tried to run, and they tortured her to death. I’m so sorry.”

“Was there a body?”

“There was.”

He was being cryptic, and I was getting irritated. I banged my fist on the table in frustration.

“Rowan,” I said sharply. “Where is it?”

His eyes pleaded with the demand in mine. Eventually he answered. “It was spread across the city.”

While it hurt to hear those words, I was glad I knew the truth. She did not abandon me, and I was thankful for that. But I couldn't even be mad at Walker, he was dead too, and Joshua's plans were becoming clear.

“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

He leaned back in his chair folding his hands behind his back and adorned a proud smile.

“Clever, Princess…I think we found an angle. At least a possible one.”

32

ROWAN

Even if she asked, I had no intention of telling her what was in her file. I’d looked at mine and while it angered me, it didn't surprise me. Although there was nothing on my mother, at least they had the humanity to leave a woman dying of cancer alone.

I didn't even tell her the whole truth about her mother. How would I tell Lottie she was born in captivity, her mother taken at six months pregnant, and raised by Richard Walker the first four years of her life?

The real reason they killed her mother. Because she was able to reach William and save Lottie. William ran, but her mother went back, knowing what she would face. I can't imagine being a parent in situations like these, and for the first time I was grateful William was gone during Charlotte's ordeal.

I continued to stare at the ceiling in thoughts when a whisper came from beside me. “Roe, are you awake?”

“Yes Princess, everything okay?” I rolled over and propped myself up with my elbow.

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