Page 4 of Broken Prince

I was glad she was not looking at me as I couldn’t help but wince at the first page title.

‘Riverside Monsters - jailed for life!’ The main title appeared in black letters but instead of a picture of them, it was me on the front page of the Riverside Herald, standing alone on the steps of the courthouse, my unruly red hair flying around my face. I looked grim, defeated, and I was. My life had taken a turn for the worse, but I was not defeated because of their sentencing. No, that had been the only good thing in all of this.

My parents had always been emotional terrorists, using me and subsequently Jude for their own horrible schemes. It had been hard finding out in court that Jude was conceived via insemination not because they were dying for another child but because I’d been growing up and didn’t look that cute anymore and therefore didn’t inspire that much trust anymore.

What I'd always taken as nothing more than the lack of parental instinct and a busy work life had been, in fact, so much worse than I could have ever imagined. We had been toys, props, nothing more.

I hoped that Jude would never find out he had been nothing more than a means to an end. A card added to the table without any feeling involved.

I also hoped I loved him hard enough to make up for all the scars inflicted on him by the monsters who had put us in this world.

I forced a smile when I met Mrs. Broussard's concerned eyes and put my plate in the dishwasher before going to rummage in the two little suitcases I’ve been allowed to take with me.

I prayed I had something suitable to go see Ms. Lebowitz because when I left home, I’d expected to go back eventually. I hadn't expected everything to last that long.

When the FBI had shown up at our house, I had been happy that Jude was at school. Tens of agents just took over the place, turning the house upside down, and informed me that the house was now under Asset seizure.

No one wanted to tell me what happened and even if I suspected my parents may have embezzled money, I never would have imagined the true horror.

After a moment an agent had come up to me, a big terrifying man, and barked that I had thirty minutes to pack what my brother and I would need for a few weeks.

I packed two suitcases for me and one for Jude as quickly as I could under his watchful eyes. Was he expecting me to hide something? Did he think I was involved in whatever my parents had done?

The agent then mentioned me toward his big black SUV.

“Can I take my car?” I had asked, pointing to the Toyota my parents had bought me earlier this year. It had not been a heartfelt present; they just needed me to chauffeur Jude around and do all the shopping they were not bothered to do.

He shook his head. “No, all assets owned by Martha and John West are now seized by the federal government of the United States.” He opened the back door of the car. “Where will you be staying?”

I froze at that moment. Where would I be staying? I’d been so busy with nursing school and taking care of Jude, making up for all my parents’ shortcomings, that I didn’t really have friends, at least no one close enough to give me a place to stay.

“She’ll stay with me, won’t you, Cassie?”

I’d turned around and let out a little tearless sob of relief when Mrs. Broussard came toward me already dressed to leave.

“I need to go pick up Jude—”

“Jude West will be picked up by social services.” The agent tried to grab the suitcase I made for Jude.

I’d tightened my hold on the handle and took a step back. “I have to talk to him; he’ll be scared. Please, sir. He’s just a little boy,” I begged, my voice breaking at the thought of my little brother scared and alone.

He had looked at me for a second and sighed. “Social services will be going to school in the next thirty minutes or so; you can go wait there.”

And I went with Mrs. Broussard, swearing to my terrified little brother that I was going to fix everything soon, but I was four months in now and I was not a step closer to getting him back.

The assets were still frozen and all my parents' belongings were to be sold for the compensations the victims’ families were awarded. I couldn’t care less about the house, cars, and bank accounts—I didn’t want anything. I would never consider enjoying anything they acquired with the literal blood of other people, but I would have loved being able to go get more clothes and other things for Jude and me.

I sighed, rummaging through the clothes and settling for my pair of dark jeans and a long-sleeve green shirt, hoping it would look professional enough.

“See you later!” Mrs. Broussard shouted from behind the bathroom’s door as I jumped into the shower.

Once she was gone, I could finally let go of my strong facade and I cried as the warm water hit my face, my tears mixing with the water. I didn’t even try to contain my sobs as more and more tears ran down my face.

I cried for my little brother and the abuse I could not protect him from. He was the loveliest little boy, with a heart so big he could fit the world, and I could only imagine how the hate received was affecting him.

I had a hard time with it myself…death threats, insults, ostracized. It was a heavy cross to bear for me, I could not even start to comprehend how heavy it might be for him.

Once the water turned cold and my tears dried up, I got out of the shower, put my unruly hair in a bun, and put on some makeup for the first time in months.

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