“You are not the one in control,” she grits.
“Really?” I hum, tallying everything I’ve done. “You wanted Asher to be here. I killed him. You have an obsession with twins. Guess who didn’t have twins? Oh, what else is there? You wanted Ruby to marry your fuck budd—Actually, do you prefer if I call him your son?”
Her arms shake as she forcefully breathes in.
“Okay, we’ll stick with fuck buddy for now,” I amend. “Ruby didn’t marry him, did she? Which was because of…”
She’s weaker since I stabbed her. I should have slit her fucking throat, but it was the first time I ever stabbed anyone. The weakness and anger make her even funnier, so I answer for her since she’s clearly struggling. “It was because of me, wasn’t it, you senile bitch? Yeah, it was.” My voice is airy like I’m speaking to a child. “And then you tried to make Kane hate me. He hated me so much he had to have me again. Not just have me. He kept me away fromyou.He made a life away from everyone, refused to join you because that hate made himmine. That hurt your plan, didn’t it? Poor old Helene was trapped on her little island without any friends because she’s a decrepit little cunt with dead thi?—”
The air whistles as she smacks her stick into my thigh with so much force the metal visibly bends. I can’t hold back my scream as I’m forced off the small wooden edge of the chairback I was balancing on.
Something in my neck clicks as my hair is pulled tighter around the hoop. I don’t know if it’s due to the abrupt drop or how long I’ve been forced to stand on the tips of my toes, but I can’t feel my legs. They dangle below me as she continues beating me with the stick. Each strike is harder while she moves around my body, forcing me to swing by my hair.
I pinch my eyes closed, screaming over whatever bullshit she says. If I can’t move my body, Icanstop myself from hearing her. Air hits my exposed ribs without a corresponding strike. I stop screaming to see if she’s dropped dead like I’ve been wishing for.
She’s alive when I peel my eyes open.
Kane glares down at her with his hand tightly wrapped around her broken stick. Lenny smoothly removes his suit jacket, covering my nakedness without touching me. He uses theempty sleeve to tug me back to rest on the chair as I watch Kane to see if he’s going against his plan. This is too much; it has to be. He has to know there’s a threshold of what I can put up with.
“Don’t hit her stomach.” He slowly lets go of the stick. “It’s the only part of her that’s useful.”
Helene hasn’t managed to make me cry with her torture or her taunts. It’s Kane’s coldness that destroys me. My tears burn, thickening my throat as I croak, “Fuck you.” All of his anger is directed at me as he turns. Without any thought of the damage it will cause to my scalp, I kick out, screaming, “Fuck you! You don’t get anything from me!”
He catches my ankle as he stretches forward, snatching my jaw so tightly I’m forced to grind my teeth. I twist my hands to free them, but it only makes my body ache even more while he spits, “You are nothing. I will take whatever the fuck I want from you because you are a whore that belongs to me.”
He rubs one of my thick tears against my lips as he becomes even crueler, dropping my ankle to push his fingers through my matted hair. The strands snap but he doesn’t stop attempting to get through it.
Lenny doesn’t stop him either. I look out of the corner of my eye as he stands there without any emotion on his face like a statue, refusing to look at me.
“Get her down,” Kane snaps as his thumb continues harshly rubbing my lips, pushing my tears between them.
“You may do what you need here,” Helene says.
Kane drops his hold on me like I’m nothing and walks out of the room, leaving me with Helene. Death seems more enticing, so I goad her as I gesture to Lennox. “Do you fuck this one too?” Her lips curl up in disgust like her sons aren’t identical. “Or is it just yourdefectiveson who needs mommy’s rancid cunt?”
Rage takes over her features as she quickly raises her stick, but Lennox brackets my side, stopping her from striking meas Kane’s steps get closer to the room. He speeds up, barking, “Enough!”
Helene stumbles back as he roughly grabs her elbow to pull her away from me. “She was sold tome. That means she belongs to me until she’s served her use. I’ve told you before, no one will punish my wife other than me. That includes you.”
He moves faster than I can anticipate as he wraps his arm around my waist and brings his other hand up to my hair. There’s something shiny in it, but it’s not until I hear the metallic snip of the shears that I realize what he’s doing.
My hair.
He’s hacking through my hair.
I scream in pain. More pain than when she was hitting me. It’s mine,myhair onmybody, but he cuts through it without any care. I fall forward, hitting his chest as soon as I’m cut off the hoop. He just cut my hair off. All of it is gone. The heat emanating from my sore scalp doesn’t detract from the new breeze I shouldn’t be able to feel.
My wrists are tugged, then my arms limply fall to my sides as a deep sob erupts through my body. I’m shifted up, held against him as he turns, forcing me to see Helene’s smug face when I don’t have the energy to fight her anymore.
It’s just hair, but it’s another choice I don’t get. I’ve put up with everything else. They drug me, beat me, fucking rape me—I survived it. This is different. I’m going to spend years remembering this moment without being able to hide from it. I’ll always be able to see they won.
My sobs choke me, black spots dancing in my vision as we get further away. My hair. It was mine.
When we enter the room with the marble painted wall, Kane becomes softer. He kisses my cheek and whispers, “I’m sorry. I couldn’t get you down without cutting you free.”
“I hate you,” I splutter.
“I know.” He rocks me while I mourn the loss of another part of myself. “You’re okay now. No one will hurt you again.”
