Page 91 of Fracture

I pray to see horror in her face. I hope and pray that she didn’t know.Please, you can’t have known.No mother could know that was happening to their little girl, and do nothing.Please, please, tell me you didn’t know.

But Molly’s sagging shoulders and shining eyes, the down-turned corners of her mouth, confirm my very worst fears.

“I’m so sorry, Dylan.”

“Save it,” I snap, my hands trembling against my body. “I don’t need your fucking apologies.” I take a deep breath, gritting my teeth, trying to get a handle on my fury. “When did she tell you?”

“When she had the abortion.”

My heart fucking stops.Abortion. I try to kickstart my brain, to absorb what that word means, to make sure I actually understand it.Stella had an abortion.

“What abortion?” I ask, watching as Molly continues to sway on her unsteady legs. “Molly, when did Stella have an abortion?”

She rubs her forehead, closing her eyes. “Her first year of college. She was a mess when you both went inside. She slept with everyone, anyone who’d look at her. She was throwing it around like a little wh-”

I lunge at Molly, baring my teeth like I’m a fucking wild animal, and cage her in against the tree. Her eyes widen, and she hiccups loudly, covering her mouth with her hands.

“You call your daughter a whore and I will fucking end you, you disgusting old drunk. Now tell me what happened.”

“I-I don’t know, some guy she slept with got her pregnant, so she had an abortion.” Molly sounds almost indignant, shaking her shoulders and looking up at me. “You think you were the only man for her? That she’d wait for you? I told her to forget about you and move on, but then she rang me crying, saying she’d had an abortion. I was berating her for it, telling her she should take responsibility for herself and not just erase her problems.”

She jumps when a growl echoes through my chest, and her eyes widen a little.

“I was wrong to say that, I know that, OK? I… I was in shock. And then…” She sweeps a hand through the air. “Then it all just came out. She told me everything, what her father forced her to do, what she’d been subjected to.”

“And then what?”

“She asked me to come home,” Molly says, her hands jerking upwards in a little helpless gesture. “She was upset, said she wanted me there.”

“And?” I lean closer into Molly’s face, even though her breath is heavy with wine and liquor and makes me want to gag. “Did you come home to your daughter when she needed you?”

“No,” she spits back, and instantly her face is overcome with shame. Her eyes drop from mine, her shoulders sagging. “No,”she says again, softly this time, her voice full of defeat. “No, I did not. I told her I’d call her aunt, and have her come to her.”

“And how’d that work out?”

Molly sighs, shrugging heavily and pushing me away. “What do you want from me, Dylan? I fucked up, OK? I was a terrible mother, and I fucked up. I let her down.” She lifts a finger. “But I am here to tell you that Stella is no saint.”

“You fucking disgust me.” I turn away from her, sure I'm going to beat the shit out of this woman if I have to look at her any longer. “You all really just abandoned her, and then blamed her for the fallout.”

“Stella is an adult now, she has to make her own choices.”

I round on this stupid old woman, clutching her pathetic empty wine glass, and she suppresses a shriek. “Have you seen what she’s made of herself? Have you even fucking opened your eyes and seen how brilliant she is? How far has she come, and all on her own? Do you even see how amazing your own daughter is?”

Molly nods briefly, her face full of indignation. “Yes, of course.”

“Good. Then know you had absolutely nothing to do with that.”

Her face drops back into that expression of helpless shame, her brow furrowing, lifting the wine glass to her lips like it will somehow magically refill and she’ll be able to drink away all her guilt.

“I’m sorry,” she whispers.

I spit at her feet, and she recoils, taking a step back.

“Brudny.”Filth. “Fuck you, Molly. I told you, I don’t need your fucking apologies.” I jab a finger in her direction. “You come near my girl with your poison again, and I will be a fucking problem for you, you understand?”

Molly blinks slowly at me, her mouth gaping. “Are you telling me to stay away from my own daughter?”

“You lost the privilege to be near her when you left her with a fucking predator. You are not welcome around her anymore. And I will enforce that. Trust me.”

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