Page 112 of Broken Beauty
I shake my head and I look up at the ceiling.
The only thing that is going through my head is who did this to him? Who would hurt him?
I know Ash isn't a good person. He isn't nice, he doesn't care about a lot of people, he can be selfish sometimes.
But Ash is also the guy who bought me every single book I touched in a bookstore once.
He is the guy who took me to New York.
He is the guy who made my entire summer feel like I was dancing through fireworks and playing with the stars.
He is the guy who would do anything to protect his future daughter and make sure she is getting messages about how beautiful and amazing she is.
Ash is the person to help Jace with his homework.
He saw a man drop a hundred-dollar bill on the street once and he told the man.
He is the guy who tips servers more money than the actual bill.
Yea, sometimes he is an asshole who shows he doesn't care but secretly he does.
Secretly Ash has a heart.
I put my hands on his jaw to make him look at me. His eyes are red and puffy and I look down at his hands and see new fresh cuts that are bloody and deep.
More tears fall down my face. One of his hands reaches up and wipes a tear which makes more fall.
“Tell me. Don't hide from me. I'm not going to leave you, Ash. I promise. I swear on my mom I won't leave you,” I beg before looking at him. “Please, I need to know who did this.”
Ash sighs and licks the tears off his lips. “My mom.”
“What did she do?”
Ash pulls me closer to him and he rests his head on my chest again. I lean my back against the wall and rest my hands in his hair.
Fifty-Four
Ariella
Present
“My mom was an addict. Most of the time she didn't even realize she was awake. She was there but she wasn't really there,” Ash starts. “She loved drugs. Drugs were her one and only love. She and my dad met at a club and they hooked up. My dad didn't know the type of person she was. Not until it was too late. They saw each other for a few more weeks until she found out she was pregnant and she told my dad she wanted to abort it. My dad didn't want that so he forced her to keep me, but she tried to make herself have a miscarriage. My father made sure she wasn't around drugs or alcohol. He said he didn't want a child of his to be born with any defects. So, he trapped her in a room to make sure she didn't do anything stupid. But one night my dad found her with a hanger between her legs. She was trying to get rid of me herself.”
I choke on my tears and it's so hard to not cry, but knowing someone did that makes me sick.
Before I can say anything, Ash speaks again.
“He put her in a mental institution until I was born. My dad took care of me for three years while my mom was still in the mental institution. She eventually came back and said she wanted to meet me. My dad didn't let her meet me until I was five years old. He wanted to make sure that she was okay mentally and wouldn't do anything stupid. He didn't trust her with me. They dated for about two years and my dad made sure to wear a condom every time they hooked up. When I finally met her, I didn't know what to think. I don't even remember that well. My earliest memory of her is smiling at me while giving me a toy truck. Everything before that I don't remember that well. My father said she was normal with me though. But all of the memories after that one were tarnished. They are all dark and twisted memories and I can never get those out of my head.”
Ash's finger starts to rub my leg softly and I don't stop touching his hair.
Blood is covering my leg but I pay no attention to that.
“What happened? What did she do to you?”
“She went back into her drug addiction. She didn't trust some of the drugs that her suppliers gave her so she made me try them. It started when I was six.”
The syringe tattoos.
