“You’re right. I don’t understand. And I want to help you, only because that helps your son, but I will never understand how a mother can selfishly choose to block out life rather than helping her own flesh and blood, but maybe, I’m the warped one.”
If she thought she’d gain my sympathy, she can think again. I know what it’s like to have voices and thoughts screaming in your head. I’ve often wondered what would’ve happened if Dad hadn’t been there, supporting and helping me every step of the way. I think Alisha has just given me my first answer.
No amount of support and help works unless the person is willing to support and help themselves.
Alisha has Galen’s love and support, but it wasn’t enough because she didn’t want to help herself.
I know now I would’ve been okay without Dad. The journey would’ve been tougher, but I would’ve come through it in the end because I didn’t want to be a victim.
I’m a survivor, and I will always choose to live.
“Sinner forced your father to have an affair with me,” she says, seemingly deciding I can be trusted. “It was a few months after your kidnapping,” she adds, confirming she knew who had taken me, and my regard for her sinks even lower. “He threatened to kill you if he didn’t do it.”
“And this was all about my mom? Some fucked-up plan to get her back?”
She bobs her head, taking a sip of water. It dribbles down her chin, slipping under her pajama top. “It has always been about Giana. Sinner has loved her with this obsessive need from the moment they met. It was always unhealthy, and I tried to warn her so many times, but she was in love, and she couldn’t see what the rest of us could see. That he was batshit crazy and a loose cannon but so fucking smart, and that scared me.”
“Did you meet Galen’s dad through my mom?”
She smiles sadly. “I did. Nix was nothing like his younger brother. He had a good heart. At least, before Neo stuck his claws in.” Her features harden. “It was Neo who introduced Nix and me to drugs. He rarely partook, and he forbid your mom from touching the stuff. We were idiots to not see the writing on the wall. By the time I realized, it was too late.”
She scrubs at her eyes, sniffing. “Anyway, with your dad, Sinner had him over a barrel. No one takes anything from Neo Lennox and lives to tell the tale. If he was insane before he lost your mom, he was completely psychotic after she married Trey. He threatened Trey from the very start. Told him he’d kill Giana. Forced your father to work for The Sainthood and then used that to threaten his career and his family. Trey tried to walk away, and they kidnapped you as a warning.”
I gulp my lukewarm coffee, waiting for her to continue.
“But Sinner wasn’t done punishing Trey. He told him to start an affair with me or he’d kill you next time.”
“Why?”
“Because he wanted to prove to Giana that she’d chosen the wrong man, and he wanted to hurt Nix.”
“Why would you agree to that?” She looks down at the table, and I swallow back bile. “For money,” I surmise.
“For drugs,” she whispers.
I shake my head, utterly disgusted. “And your husband knew?”
“Not at first, but I had to tell him when I got pregnant. That shouldn’t have happened because Trey always used condoms.”
I slam my coffee down and count to ten in my head. I donotwant to hear this.
This fucking woman.
“What happened next?” I clip out, barely keeping it together.
“I got money from your dad, and Sinner trotted off to Giana to break up her marriage.”
I sit up straighter, jerking my head up. “Wait? My momknew?”
“Of course, she did. That was the whole point of Neo’s plan. He thought she’d leave Trey and run straight back into his arms, but your mom is smart, Harlow. She knew Sinner was blackmailing your father.”
“Does she know Sinner kidnapped me?”
“I don’t know, sweetie. You’d have to ask her.”
“Why did my father have pictures of you high, fucking different men?”
Her face pales, and her lower lip wobbles. “I don’t know.” She brings the glass to her lips, but her hands are shaking so bad she can’t even swallow the water, and it trickles down her chin, down her pajamas, and on the table.
