Page 54 of Rent Free

By the time I was through, my voice was slightly hoarse from talking so much.

When I was finally done, not able to think of a single thing more—though I was more than aware there was a whole lot that I’d either blocked out or missed—I turned to survey the man sitting in the seat beside me.

He looked… blank.

There wasn’t a single expression on his face.

“That’s all I can think of,” I admitted. “There’s more, I’m sure. But yeah…”

What I’d told him was enough.

“There’s a lot to address there…” he finally stated.

I’ll never understand why Ariel didn’t just grab a pen and a piece of paper and tell Eric that Ursula stole her voice.

—Atlas to Pepper as they watch Ariel

ATLAS

This had been the worst day of my life.

Honestly, I’d thought it couldn’t get worse.

But then Pepper had started talking.

She’d told me everything that had happened from the moment Sage had turned into a ‘monster’ as she’d coined her sister.

She ended it with what she thought had happened the night that Sage had entered my life.

“There’s a lot to address here,” I said into the silence, my eyes on my son, still unmoving on the bed.

The doctor had explained to me that until he was off the sedation meds, he would appear to be in a coma.

He wasn’t.

The doctor just wanted to monitor his brain, and keep him comfortable, while they did that.

“She abused you,” I said softly.

“I have proof,” she immediately replied. “Anything you need. I have proof.”

“And you said that all of her psychological evaluations were good?” I pushed.

“Yes,” she said. “It’s like she’s the world’s best psycho. She can literally adapt to any situation. Kind of like her newest obsession with the police department. It’s just unreal how well she can blend in and act normal. It surprises everyone when she starts to turn into this person they don’t know.”

“And your brothers, your family, will corroborate this?”

She pulled out her phone and immediately dialed her brothers.

They both answered on Facetime, happy to see Pepper’s face.

They instantly knew something was wrong, though.

Everest on the left, the younger of the two, said, “What did Sage do now?”

Pepper looked over at me with a forced smile before she told them a little bit about what happened today.

“Doesn’t surprise me that she would try to find his weakness,” Everest, said. The one on the right, Tarrant, grunted out an agreement.

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