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“You know I didn’t mean it like that.” He sighed. “Of course he’s not irrelevant. That was a shitty thing for me to say.”

“Yeah,” I choked out, chest heaving. “It was.”

“What I was trying to say is that Joey’s over eighteen. Legally, he’s an adult and the social workers aren’t interested in him. They’re concentrating on the minor children—you, Tadhg, Ollie, and Sean. He’s not on their radar.”

“Have you met Sean yet?” I heard myself ask, tone harder than I knew I was capable of. “Ollie got big, didn’t he? Tadhg, too. What age were they when you last saw them? Three and six, wasn’t it?” I knew I should stop and rein it in, but I couldn’t. I was so furious that he could be so flippant with his words. It hurt to hear him call Joeyirrelevantbecause I knew that was exactly how Joey was feeling when he stormed out earlier. “I was ten. Joey was twelve—barely older than Tadhg is now. Do you think we have changed, Darren?”

“A lot has changed,” he whispered.

“Yeah, it has,” I agreed, voice quavering. “And the mother that was so good toyou, the Mamyouremember, isn’t the oneweexperienced.”

“She’s still your mother.”

“See, you keep calling her that, but I only remember havingoneof those.”

“Shannon—”

“His name isJoey,” I choked out, fisting the sheets. “Theirrelevantone.He’sbeen our mother, Darren, when our real one checked out.” Tears spilled down my cheeks as I spoke, forcing myself to get it out and for him to hear it. “When you left, somethingdiedinside of her. She wasn’t the same. Everything went dark. You think you know, but you don’t. You can’t know because you didn’t see…”

“I’ve seen enough, Shannon,” he replied wearily. “Believe me.”

“Whatever you saw, it was during a time when she waspresent,” I bit out. I wasn’t saying any of this to hurt him. I just needed him toget it. “She hasn’t been present in a very long time.”

“Look, I’m not going to force your hand here,” he finally replied. “Whatever you want to do is your choice.”

But…

“But this isn’t just about you,” he continued. “Tadhg, Ollie, and Sean’s futures are at stake here, too.”

So, you have no choice…

“Mam is trying, Shan,” he coaxed. “She’s willing to do whatever it takes to make this work.”

You’re trapped…

“She just needs some guidance,” he whispered. “So, if you just trust me and follow my lead on this, I promise you that I can give you guys a better life. You won’t have to worry about him coming back because I won’t let that happen ever again. And once the Gards get your statement and this goes to court, you’ll never have to worry about—”

“Wh-what? I’m not going to court,” I choked out, hurrying to get there first. “I’m not going against him, Darren.” I shook my head, body shaking violently. “No way.”

“Shannon, he can’t hurt you anymore,” Darren urged. “I swear, this will be—”

“You just told me that he wasn’t arrested for this,” I bit out. “That means he’s out there.” I bit back the urge to scream and gripped the mattress. “This is bad, Darren. You don’t get it, but I do. Isee. This will all go away, she’ll take him back, and then he’ll make me pay for getting him into t-trouble.” Sniffling, I reached up and roughly wiped the tears from my cheeks. “Joey’s right, there’s no justice for people like us. He’ll get a slap on the wrist—and that’s if we’re really lucky. No, I’m not saying anything about him.”

“He has to pay, Shannon.”

“Easy for you to say,” I shot back, trembling. “When you’re not the price.”

“What?” Darren frowned. “Shannon, that makes no sense.”

“Whatever, Darren. You wouldn’t understand.” I sniffled. “He loved you best.”

Darren balked like he couldn’t believe the words that had just come out of my mouth. “You couldn’t be more wrong,” he choked out. “You’re so fucking wrong, Shannon.”

“You gotwords,” I hissed defensively. “Cruel words, horrible words, things that never should have been said to you, and I am so sorry for that, but you didn’t get what we got—” I had to stop and take a few steadying breaths before I could finish. “However bad you think it was when you lived at home, however many slaps you thinkyoutook, I promise that it got a million times worse after you left. I promise you that Joey and I tookmore.”

“And neither of you got what I got,” he snarled, losing his cool with me. “You got a nice little family for six months. You got ice creams and fucking hugs. You didn’t get what I got, Shannon, and be very fucking glad about that!”

I flinched from his words.

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