Page 39 of Under Their Protection

A disobedient tear sneaks down my cheek and I swipe it away before shaking my head. I can feel myself shutting down.“Let’s start this slowly then, okay?” he asks.

“Okay,” I say quietly.

“What do you mean by attempted?”

“Uh… They basically did everything except actual penetration,” I say. Oddly, that’s the easy part to say.

“Who was it?” he asks. I quickly shake my head. I am not putting that on record. I am not getting called a liar again. No one believed me then, so why now? “Was it family?” he asks, and I nod as more tears slip down my cheeks. Rowan hands me a tissue from the box beside him and they are both rubbing my back. I think they can sense how close I am to breaking down. “Do they know?”

“No. I’ve never told anyone,” I say quietly.

“Why don’t you want to say who it is?” he asks.

“Because I don’t want to be called a liar again,” I tell him.

“No one will call you a liar,” he states. “I feel like this is an important detail for the bigger picture.”

That is basically his way of telling me to give it up or he will have to write down that I’m being difficult. “It uh… It was my dad,” I say. “He used to drink a lot. One time he came into my room and was… touching me. Made me do things to him but before he got too far, Harper came in to tell me to be quiet because I was crying. He just got up and left. Harper told me to shut up and go to sleep and shut my door. When they read it in my journal, he denied it and I told my mom that Harper was there. Harper said I was lying, and I was crying because I had gotten in trouble for being awake past my bedtime.”

“Thank you for telling me that,” he says.

“You say that as if I have a choice. I should be used to that by now,” I frown.

“You feel like you don't have a choice in anything?” he asks.

“No. I exist to serve Harper. If it didn’t fit into that, my parents didn’t care.”

“Is that what led you to where we are now?” he asks.

“Kind of. Harper’s kidneys are failing, and she needs a transplant. I refused and they said they would basically just have me committed and sign for it to be done. I would have considered it if I hadn’t walked in on her fucking my fiancé,” I say.

“Rowan?” he asks.

“No, Isaac. I was essentially being forced to marry him. Although I did start dating him willingly,” I say.

“Is this why you married Rowan?” he asks. “So they couldn’t try and have you committed?”

“I… don’t think I should answer that,” I say slowly.

“You are not confessing to murder. It cannot and will not leave this session,” he says.

“Yeah… If they aren’t my next of kin then they cannot do any of that,” I admit.

“Do you regret doing it?” he asks.

“No,” I say confidently.

“Are you happy with the idea of staying married to him?” he asks.

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because I love them. I think I have for a while,” I say.

“Them,” he repeats my words as a statement.

“Yes. Rowan and Max,” I confirm.

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