Page 99 of Bleeding Hearts

“I didn’t mean for any of this to happen, Lo.” I look at her and I can see the sympathy shining in her eyes.

“I know, Dem.” She nods. “None of this is your fault, okay? We’re going to figure all of this out and make sure your father never has the chance to hurt you again. Right?” She looks up at Kaden as he walks back over to us.

She doesn’t say it, but I can see that she’s scared, looking to him for reassurance.

“Right.” He assures her, although I know it’s a lie.

He can’t know that for sure. Nobody can.

Alexander will manipulate this situation in whatever way he needs to make Asher look like the villain and he’ll look like the victim in the end. He’s been doing it all his life, and he’s pretty fantastic at it.

“King is meeting Ash at the station now. He won’t be alone.” Kaden looks at me. “Will you please let the paramedics check you out now?”

“In a second,” I say, looking over to where my mother is standing in the corner of the foyer. I watch as the cop questioning her walks away, and I push myself off the ground to stand, ignoring the pain as I do.

She watches me as I walk straight toward her.

“What did you tell them?” I ask her blankly. I’d say anything would be better than her silence from when they dragged Asher out of here, but I know that’s not true. Because there’s one thing worse than my mother’s silence, and that’s her lies.

“I told them the truth. I was in the other room and didn’t see anyth—”

“Bullshit,” I cut her off. “I saw you. When he first attacked me, I saw you standing there, watching, like you always do. How you apparently still do. Maybe you ran when you saw the others arrive, but you saw him hurt me, Mother.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Demi. As I told the police officers, I was in the other room the whole time. I never witnessed your father lay a hand on you.” She sniffs, pulling her shoulders back and standing tall. Willing herself to believe her own lies.

“You know, over the years, I’ve shoved down my anger toward you, telling myself you were innocent, but you’re just as bad as him. You abused me the same as he did, except you used your words rather than your fists. But I pushed it all aside because I know that he hurts you too. I know that you’re in pain, and pain makes people do all sorts of crazy things.” I pause, swallowing to try to soothe my throat of the pain searing through it. “But I was in pain too, Mother. I was in so much fucking pain, and still, I chose to show you kindness. Why is it that you can never do the same for me?”

She goes to open her mouth to speak but then closes it as if she doesn’t know what to say. How to respond to me finally calling her out for her mistakes.

“The sad part is that I still love you, Mom. I still want to help you. But I need you to help me first.” I reach out, grabbing her frail hand in mine, and I see it. A crack in her mask, a flicker of emotion behind the wall of stone. “Tell the cops the truth about what you saw today and about what’s happened every day before. Tell them everything he’s done. Don’t let the amazing man who was protecting me, your daughter, go to jail to save the monster who’s caused us more pain and suffering than I can put into words. Please, Mom. Help me,” I beg her.

I don’t wait for her response before turning and walking away from her, letting her sit on everything I just said to her.

I let the paramedics check me out and take me to the hospital, Logan riding with me in the ambulance while Kaden follows in his car, saying he’ll go back to get mine after.

Logan refuses to leave my side through everything, using her connections at the hospital to be able to stay with me.

It’s nice to have her there with me, supporting me. She puts on a brave face, but I can tell that I scared her. Logan’s lost so many people in her life, and I think seeing me the way that she did, the thought of losing me too, shook her more than she’ll ever be willing to admit.

The doctors come in and out, checking me out and wheeling me off for scans then bringing me back to my room.

Hours later, the damage isn’t as bad as I thought it’d be. My throat is bruised and swollen but will heal on its own. The doctor did advise me to rest my voice as much as possible, though. Logan mumbled something about that being highly unlikely.

She’s not wrong.

My ribs are also bruised, which is another thing that just requires time and rest to heal, and last, my left wrist is fractured. Sadly, that injury requires a cast, which I ensure is the brightest pink.

In between all the treatment, two cops stop in the room, asking to speak to me and for my statement.

It was the easiest decision to tell them everything. I tell them from the very first time my father hurt me up to detailing all the events that took place today.

Logan holds my good hand in hers, supporting me as the cops take down every bit of information.

Kaden walks into the room about halfway through my recap of the abuse I went through. He stands in the corner, his arms crossed over his chest, watching me as I speak, guilt and regret filling his eyes as I do.

Growing up, Kaden and I never had a relationship. My father never spoke about him, and I didn’t even learn of his existence until I was eight and I overheard a conversation between him and my mother.

My mother was talking about his mother and how she heard she wasn’t doing well. She was discussing with my father if it would be a good idea to invite Kaden to stay with us, something my father immediately shot down.

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