Page 152 of Demise

“When I was engaged to Henry Parris, there was another who vied for my hand.”

“My father,” Asher guesses.

Her gaze locks on Asher before nodding. “The resemblance between you two is quite frightening.”

He frowns like that’s offensive. “I’m sorry, trust me, I wish I’d have taken after my mother.”

My mom smiles sadly. “She was one of my best friends. I was heartbroken to hear about her death.”

Asher nods as she continues.

“Christopher had decided that he wanted me instead, and tried to convince his father, Luther, to switch brides. Give Isabel to Henry, and me to him. Thankfully, he didn’t approve.”

“Thankfully?” Ronan questions. “You preferred Henry?”

She nods hollowly at Ronan. “Henry is a nasty son of a bitch, but he doesn’t hold a candle to the evil inside Christopher.”

I feel Asher’s eyes on me as I look at him and remember that day in his father’s house. My back practically burns like the wounds are fresh at the reminder.

“Christopher didn’t like that,” Liam guesses.

My mom shakes her head. “He and Henry would play this…game. They’d tie me up and—”

“We know the rest,” Wesley says with a sad shake of his head. “I’m so sorry you had to live through that.”

She gives him an appreciative smile and nods.

“That went on for…months. I was desensitized, floating through life, until one day I met Jonathan,” she says as she smiles at him. He grins down at her, giving her a quick kiss to the cheek. “Literally, we ran into each other at the grocery store, of all places. He knew who I was immediately, and I knew he wasn’t a part of the Brethren. Fate kept pushing us together, running into each other at a park, at the dry cleaners, even restaurants.”

“I may have been keeping tabs on her, a little,” my dad admits.

“Stalking is the proper word,” my mom corrects.

He scoffs but doesn’t deny it. “She was so beautiful. I could see she had a pure heart, but it was shrouded in darkness. She was trapped, and…something told me I was the one that could save her.”

“We fell in love,” she says, staring into his eyes. “And I fell pregnant with you.”

Her eyes meet mine, and I turn my head to the side softly.

“I’m sorry to ask, but how do you know Henry is not my father? If you were married to him, and he and Christopher were both forcing themselves on you, isn’t it possible one of them could be my father?”

Ronan and Asher look at me with panicked expressions and my mother shakes her head.

“Christopher was forbidden from seeing me while he and Isabelle were conceiving…you,” she says as she points to Asher. “And Henry is sterile.”

“What?” I ask.

My mom nods. “We’d been in the process of conceiving for months, consensually or not, and I wasn’t getting pregnant. We went to specialists who deemed him unable to father children.”

“So, he knows he’s not my father?” I ask.

“Yes, when I was pregnant, he knew it couldn’t be his. I tried to hide the pregnancy as long as I could while Jonathan and I came up with an…exit strategy, I suppose. I was discovered before we could actually pull it off. He nearly beat me to death.” She laughs on a sob before banishing it away.

“He told me we’d tell everyone that it was his. That way he’s producing an ‘heir,’ and I get to keep my lifestyle. Like I wanted it,” she adds.

“What happened?” I ask, desperate for more.

“Obviously, I told Henry I’d stopped seeing Jonathan, but…we made it work. I’d take you on a walk and he’d meet us in thepark, or we’d drive out of state to have lunch, as a family. You even called him dada when you were just under two.”

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