I knew she’d been one of the people Roman’s team had pulled out of that manor, but this was the first time I was seeing her with my own eyes.
Even knowing I’d believed she was dead, she still refused to see me until now. I wasn’t sure what to do with the way that made me feel.
“Well?” she prompted when I remained silent.
“He’s okay,” I said, making sure my voice didn’t crack. “He’s lucky; the bullet missed all his major organs.”
“And his eye?” she asked, her tone cold, as if we were strangers. “Roman asked for an update.”
His left eye was still a mess amongst the cuts and bruises, but the specialist had said he may have corneal trauma from a fractured eye socket. “They won’t know until the swelling goes down,” I whispered.
“I’m happy he survived,” she said, voice stiff and controlled. “You… you deserve to have someone like that. Someone who’d risk everything for you.”
I took a step closer. “Mum, I?—”
“I’m sorry,” she said, cutting me off. “I… I never wanted you to know.”
“Know what?” I asked. “That you killed my biological mother? Or that you tried to sell me?”
Her expression fractured, but only for a second before she forced it back into something cold and unreadable. “I don’t expect you to understand.”
“Thenhelpme understand,” I cried. “Please. Just… explain it to me.”
Mum stood there, her lips thinned, eyes wide and uncertain.
“God, even now you can’t be honest with me?” I couldn’t keep my voice down, years of anger and pain surging to the surface like a flood. “Why are you even here?”
Mum stared at me for a long, brittle moment, and I refused to feel guilty when a single tear slipped free and raced down her cheek.
“I was one of Emil’s dolls,” she said quietly, a soft tremor in her voice.“Before Aria, that was her name, the woman who birthed you.Iwas his favourite doll. So when she came, I became jealous.”
“How old were you?”
Mum’s tears came freely now, but she didn’t reach up to rub them away. “Fourteen, I think?”
A child.
I swallowed hard, forcing down the sting in my own eyes. I couldn’t let my horror overwhelm her. Not now. Not when she was finally letting me in.
“I hated her,” mum said, a dark, hollow laugh slipping out. “I understand now that the jealousy was twisted. Manipulated by the man I looked at like he was a god, because he was the only thing I had. I didn’t want to hurt her. Not really. But my jealousy, my stupidity, is what got us both sent to the Caretaker. And then suddenlyshewas his favourite, too.”
Her shoulders shook, hands curled at her sides.
“I couldn’t take it. Imagine being a child, told every day you’re nothing, and then suddenly you’re chosen. Given attention, even if it’s the wrong kind. And then having it yanked away because someone prettier walked in.” She swallowed hard. “So when I found out she was pregnant, ruined, I wanted to gloat. I made her tea with roots I knew would make her sick… and I gave it to her.”
Mum trembled, and I found myself inching closer, afraid she’d disappear if I didn’t.
“I went back to Emil… and she didn’t. I didn’t mean for her to die; I just wanted to make her sick, make her uglier so maybe I’d be the favourite again.” Her voice cracked. “Years later, I was sent back to the Caretaker for misbehaving, and that’s where I found you. This beautiful, tiny toddler.”
Her chest hitched around a quiet sob.
“I heard what they had planned for you. And then I hated you too, because I thought you’ll take Emil away from me just like she did.” Her eyes were hollow when they met mine. “What kind of person feels something like that?”
Every word was a blade to my heart. “Mum?—”
She lifted a hand, stopping me. “He was right. I was going to sell you. But then you giggled, this soft little sound. So innocent.” Her voice dropped to a whisper. “I was never innocent. And suddenly, I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t sell you, knowing what kind of people existed who bought children.
“So I took you, named you Violet, and gave you the necklace Emil gifted me so I could never forget what I was. What I’d done.” A hiccup, followed by a sob. “I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry, my flower.”
