Piper stopped several paces away,her hands clenched into fists at her sides.
“There she is!”Paisley’s face lit up with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “Our darlin’ daughter! We’ve been so worried about ye, sweet girl! When we heard about that terrible business with those men, we thought we’d lost ye forever!”
“Stay back.”The words came out sharp, commanding. “Daenae come any closer.”
Paisley’s smile faltered.“Now, Piper, is that any way to greet yer maither? We’ve traveled all this way to see ye, to make sure ye’re all right.”
“I said stay back,or I’ll scream.” Piper’s voice rose. “I’ll scream loud enough that every guard in this castle comes runnin’ to toss ye both on yer arses.”
“Piper!”Findlay stepped forward, his expression hardening. “That’s nay way to speak to yer maither. Show some respect.”
“Respect?”Piper let out a bitter laugh. “Ye want me to show ye respect? After what ye did to me?”
“We didwhat we had to do,” Paisley said, her false sweetness replaced by steel. “We were in debt, lass. What were we supposed to do? Let them kill us?”
“Ye could have worked!”Piper’s voice shook. “Ye could have stopped gamblin’! Ye could have done anythin’ except sell yer own daughter like cattle!”
“We’re yer parents,”Paisley continued as if Piper hadn’t spoken. “We raised ye. Fed ye. Gave ye a home. Clothed ye.”
“Maithers daenae selltheir daughters as slaves,” Piper interrupted, her voice shaking with fury. “Faithers daenae handover their children to pay gamblin’ debts. So nay, ye’re nae me parents. Ye’re just two strangers who happened to birth me and then made me life a livin’ hell.”
Several servants had stoppedwhat they were doing, watching the confrontation with open curiosity. Piper didn’t care. Let them watch.
“How dare ye!”Findlay’s face flushed darker. “After everythin’ we did for ye! After all the sacrifices we made!”
“Sacrifices?”Piper’s voice rose to a near shout. “What sacrifices? Ye never sacrificed anythin’! I was the one who went without the barest necessities! I was the one who worked from dawn to dusk and gave ye every coin! I was the one who wore clothes that dinnae fit because ye spent all our money at the gamblin’ tables!”
“We gaveye a roof over yer head.”
“Aye,and beat me bloody under that roof!” Piper took a step forward, shaking with rage. “Do ye think I’ve forgotten? Do ye think I daenae remember every time ye came home drunk and used me as a target for yer frustrations? Every time ye told me I was worthless, ugly, a burden?”
“We never—”Paisley started.
“Ye did!Ye did all of that and more!” Piper’s eyes burned with tears she refused to shed. “And then, when yer debts finallycaught up with ye, when ye couldnae gamble yer way out anymore, ye sold me. Yer own daughter. To men who hunted me like an animal!”
“Now ye listen here—”Findlay’s voice took on a dangerous edge.
“Nay, ye listen.”Piper took another step forward, surprised by her own courage. “I want ye to leave. Get out of this castle, get out of this territory, and never come near me again. That’s yer only warnin’.”
“We’re nae leavin’,”Paisley said flatly. “Nae until ye give us what we’re owed.”
“What ye’re owed?”Piper stared at her in disbelief. “I daenae owe ye anythin’!”
“Ye owe us everythin’!”Findlay’s voice rose. “Twenty-four years we fed ye! Twenty-four years we kept a roof over yer head! Ye think that was free? Ye think food and shelter and clothes just appeared out of nowhere?”
“I workedfor every meal I ever ate in yer house!” Piper shot back. “From the time I was ten years old, I was givin’ ye me wages! I had nothin’, nae even clothes that fit properly, because ye took everythin’ from me! Every. Single. Thing.”
“Because it was ours by right,”Paisley said. “Just like yer wages now are ours by right. Ye’re livin’ in a castle, workin’ for awealthy laird, earnin’ what, ten pounds a month? Twenty? And we’re still scratchin’ by in that village, drownin’ in debt because of what ye cost us all those years.”
“What I cost ye?”Piper’s voice cracked. “I was yer daughter! Ye’re supposed to care for me, love me! But ye never gave me either of those, did ye? All ye gave me was pain and fear and the certainty that I was worth nothin’!”
“Stop bein’so dramatic,” Findlay sneered. “We gave ye discipline when ye needed it. That’s what parents do.”
“Discipline?”Piper pulled at the neckline of her dress, showing the edge of a scar on her collarbone. “This is nae discipline! This is abuse! And I bear the marks of yer ‘parentin’ all over me back!”
“Ye deserved every one of them,”Paisley said coldly. “Ye were always such a difficult child. Always cryin’, always complainin’.”
“I was a child!”Piper snapped. “I was just a child who wanted her parents to love her! But ye couldnae even give me that, could ye? Ye couldnae spare even a moment of kindness for yer own daughter!”
