ME
THE
FUCK
ALONE
DON’T
FUCKING
TOUCH
ME
Throat raw, hands sore—
Fuck, I must have screamed that out loud—
What did I do with my hands? What’s happening? How destructive is the fallout?
A flash across my mind—the wall. I slapped the wall, over and over, screaming at her not to touch me, and now she’s staring back at me like a deer in headlights, and everyone’s staring at me—
Oh God, oh God, no, no, no…
I bite the inside of my cheek, hard enough to taste iron, but it’s still not enough to ground me here, to give me back control, and so I crumble into pieces, sobs taking over the entirety of me.
“You’re fucking insane,” Martine utters, but the indignation barely makes a dent in the storm of emotions that’s driving me.
I can’t move, I can hardly breathe, and—
“You,” a deep, booming voice echoes from above, “donotget to talk to my wife like that.”
Karan.
CHapter 36
Karan
When I ran down the stairs at the sound of my wife’s screams—and at the loud thump of knocking against the walls—I had no idea what to expect.
The very last thing I expected was to overhear my own mother speak to Rachel in this way.
Oh,hellno.
Mom’s reaction is instant. She turns to me swiftly, eyes wild and bewildered. Next to her, Rachel is still crumpled to the ground and shaking, sobs taking over her entire body like waves.
It breaks my heart all over again.
“It’s unacceptable,” I continue.
I don’t yell. I don’t raise my voice to her.
I’m not my father.
But I’m firm, and I stand taller than I ever have. It’s all it takes for her to shrink down.
Jocelyne is at my side almost instantly. “Karan, calm down.”
