Page 135 of Crowned In Venom

I have always known.

The look in her eyes—this is not a mother’s love.

It never was.

"I am not your son," I whisper.

She stiffens.

Then—a slow, knowing smile.

"Oh?" she hums. "What gave it away?"

A breath of silence.

She leans down, pressing her lips near my ear.

"Was it the way I look at you?"

My stomach turns.

I feel sick.

She brushes her fingers over my lips, over the curve of my jaw.

"Your father looked just like you," she murmurs, almost dreamily.

"But unlike you, he never belonged to me."

I flinch.

"Not truly."

Her fingers curl, digging into my chin.

"But you?"

Her smile is a blade.

"I made you mine."

Everything inside me screams.

I want to rip the skin from my bones, to carve out every memory that ties me to her.

She never loved my father.

She never loved me.

"I knew," I whisper, the words strangling in my throat.

I always knew.

But I didn’t want to accept it.

Because if I did?—

Then I would be nothing.

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