Mother’s eyes widen. I shoot to my feet.
“So, all this time, you didn’t give a shit about what was happening to me. You were worried about Daddy?”
Her brow scrunches. “You’re safe. And you fell in love with that thing. There was nothing to worry about.”
“You didn’t know that,” I shout. “For as much as you knew, he could have been beating my ass and raping me every day.”
She waves me off. “But he wasn’t.”
Staring at the emotionless expression on her face tells me everything I need to know. This woman doesn’t give a shit about me. She never has.
Nodding my head, I look away from her as tears form in my eyes. “Did you even want kids?”
She scoffs. “No.”
Another piece of my heart breaks away. I shouldn’t be shocked because she has proven this multiple times over the years.
“Then why?” I ask, tossing my hands out to my sides before dropping them back down.
She shrugs. “Because Vanessa didn’t have any.”
Damn. That’s all I was to her. A way to level the playing field with his wife.
She chuckles and places her hands down in her lap. “You weren’t my first. I had multiple miscarriages before you. And every time I got pregnant, he doted on me.” She’s not looking at me as she speaks.
“He was so loving and barely went home to her when I was pregnant. I knew that if I gave him a child before her, he would finally leave Vanessa and be with me. And then you were born.” She frowns at this part of the story.
“You couldn’t even come on your due date. You had one fucking job. Still, I thought it would be fine. I’d had his first child.
“Then the doctors started talking about surgeries and heart problems and worst-case scenarios. I saw the look in his eyes that day. You were too much of a burden for him. He didn’t want a sick child who could barely stay alive. He wanted a normal one.
“Then, that bitch finally got pregnant. No miscarriages, just a normal pregnancy. I knew that the same way he loved on me when I was pregnant, he would do the same for her. I couldn’t let her have my man.”
I shake my head, staring at my mother with fresh eyes. “That’s the thing, Angelica; he was never your man.”
Her gaze snaps to me, and if her eyes were a weapon, I’d be dead. I was done with my mother. I needed nothing else from her. No, I would not call my dad and plead for him to come back to her. I was finally going to break this bullshit cycle.
I hope Vanessa does divorce him and finds her own happiness with someone else. And I hoped my father would never get over her leaving, and he would never come back to my mother. I turn to head toward the door.
“Wait,” Mother says, jumping to her feet. “I…uh… need to get you something.”
“I want nothing you have.”
“No,” she pleads. “Just wait here. I’ll bring it to you.”
She hurries down the hallway to her bedroom. Erazel pushes away from the door and walks over to me.
“Are you alright, Ms. Boss Lady?”
I shake my head. “Part of me already knew this truth, but it still hurts to hear it.”
He nods. “Well, in demon culture, if a parent doesn’t want their offspring, they’d usually sell it to another demon, place it in a workhouse, or eat it. So, at least you didn’t have to worry about that.”
I snort at his attempt to make me laugh. At least, I hope it was just a joke.
“Is that you as a baby?” Era asks as he moves over to the pictures on the mantle.
“Yes, that was the day they brought me home from the hospital.” He picks up the picture off the mantle and admires it before placing it down and picking up another one.
