Page 38 of Don't You Dare Marry Me

“Parents?” Abagail asked.

“Both parents were killed in a motor vehicle accident involving a drunk driver.”

Abagail froze. Her hands trembled. She glanced from the folder up to Grace’s eyes, meeting her gaze over the desk. “Killed?”

Grace nodded, confirming what Abagail had heard. “It was a brutal accident. I printed out the details for you, but to sum it up quickly, they were driving home from a dance tournament when a drunk driver hit them head on. The driver survived.”

“But her parents didn’t,” Abagail surmised. She wasn’t sure she wanted to read that report. She would, of course, read it, because she wanted all the information she possibly could have on Nicola, but it didn’t mean she wanted to.

“They didn’t. But their younger daughter did.”

“Younger daughter…” Abagail echoed, running her fingers over the edge of the envelope as a way to center herself.

Grace nodded and hummed. “She was injured badly and has since been hospitalized for the last six years and currently resides at an in-patient care facility. She won’t ever be able to live at home on her own, and unless someone is willing and able to stay with her full time, she won’t be able to live outside of a facility again.”

“The aunt?”

Grace shook her head. “She works full time and lives on the other side of the state. This will need to be someone who doesn’t work and is solely a caregiver.”

Abagail’s stomach twisted. Nicola had never mentioned any of this, and if she was still talking to her sister frequently, then that would mean that they were still in contact with each other. “Nicola wasn’t in the car?”

“No, she wasn’t.”

“I can’t imagine…” Abagail trailed off, not entirely sure where she was going with that comment. She couldn’t imagine what it’d be like to get that news. She couldn’t believe how hard that must have been on a nineteen-year-old girl to have her entire life just ripped away from her in seconds. She couldn’t understand how Nicola had survived up to this point.

“There’s also the matter of finances, which you asked me specifically to look into.”

“Right.” Abagail cleared her throat and the trail of thoughts she’d just taken. She needed to keep herself grounded. “She’s broke.”

“More than broke,” Grace confirmed. “She’s destitute.”

“What?” Abagail looked at her directly. “It can’t be that bad.”

“It is. The rehabilitation facility that Alanna is at isn’t cheap, and insurance only goes so far, as does the money from the accident. Well, that money is gone—what they received of it. Alanna is on disability but it doesn’t cover nearly half the things that it should. She probably needs an experienced lawyer to help her sort those issues out to get Alanna exactly what she needs. Those issues are difficult to navigate for someone whounderstandsthe system.”

“Wait. Hold on. If she’s destitute?—”

“She has nothing, Ms. Kerrbox. Nothing at all.” Grace slid her palms against her thighs, uncomfortable at having to share this information. “She doesn’t even own the car that she’s driving,not that it’s worth anything. She’s upside down on that loan. She owes the rehabilitation facility close to six figures and she makes payments when she can, but they are filing suit against her.”

This was all too much. Abagail’s brain spun with the information and she hadn’t even dug into it deeply. Nicola never indicated… she had to stop thinking that way. There had been signs, if Abagail looked at them the right way, with this lens in mind. Nicola jumped at the chance for Abagail to pay her for sex. She’d never once peeped about the fact that Abagail had forced her hand to get the car fixed. She’d never objected when Abagail had given her a card to buy some clothes.

How had she missed it before now?

Abagail knew the answer to that, and she wasn’t sure she wanted to dig too deep into the whys. She hadn’t looked for it. She’d been selfish in how she’d found Nicola and how she’d kept Nicola within her grasp. And she hadn’t looked for anything that might indicate a deeper relationship—not just for her sake but for Nicola’s. In turn, Nicola had kept all of this from her.

“Thank you,” Abagail finally said, her voice cracking on the word. “Is there anything else?”

“Your nephew, Warren.” Grace stopped there, looking into Abagail’s eyes for the indication that she wanted Grace to continue. At Abagail’s nod, Grace said, “He’d been cheating on Nicola fairly consistently throughout their relationship. From what I could glean, Nicola was unaware of his infidelity until Chaya.”

Well, that did at least give Abagail some solace. Nicola wasn’t someone who would keep going back to a cheater. “And what ended that relationship?”

“Warren did.” Grace folded her hands across her belly. “Nicola couldn’t afford to be the one to break it off.”

“What do you mean?”

“Warren was funding a lot of her lifestyle—actually all of it. She was completely dependent on him, and any money she earned from working went straight to her sister. It was never enough, but it was what she had. So Warren is the one who ended it because Nicola couldn’t.”

“She was trapped.” The words escaped Abagail’s lips before she could stop them.

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