Jade shifted in her chair, the movement causing her to wince as she continued her story.“After you left for the cabin, he was obsessed with finding you.When he couldn’t, he started drinking more, getting angrier.”
She pressed her good hand against her ribs, as if holding herself together physically while her words unraveled a horror story I never could have imagined.
“Then when he found out where you were and who you were with…” She shook her head slightly, her eyes distant with remembered fear.“I’ve never seen anyone so consumed with rage.He made me help him track you down,” she continued.“I had to call your department head, pretending I was worried about you.When that didn’t work, he made me get into your email because I knew your password from when we shared a dorm.”
Shame colored her admission.“That’s how he found out about which cabin rental you used and the address where you’d be staying.”She took a breath.“When he came back from trying to see you the other day,” Jade whispered, “he was different.Dangerous in a way I’d never seen before.He kept saying I helped him lose you to a bunch of thugs.”
Her fingers trembled as she touched the bruises on her neck.She shifted again, her breath catching sharply in pain.“This isn’t the first time he’s hurt me, but never like this.Never where people could see.”Her gaze dropped to the cast on her arm.“He broke my arm when I tried to leave.Said if I ever tried again, he’d release the videos and then kill me and make it look like a suicide.”
I struggled to reconcile two violently opposing realities.My shock at discovering Jade had been a victim all along versus the horror of recognizing Eric’s systematic abuse was nearly too much to comprehend.The man I’d once trusted enough to live with, to consider marrying, had orchestrated this elaborate web of manipulation and violence, using both Jade and me as pawns in whatever twisted game satisfied his need for control.
The door opened behind me with a soft click.I didn’t need to turn to know who it was.The subtle change in Jade’s expression as her eyes widened with alarm, the instinctive way my own body relaxed even as my mind raced, all told me Oktober had arrived.
He moved into my peripheral vision, his large frame filling the doorway with a quiet, contained power that seemed to change the dimensions of the room.His eyes narrowed at Jade, taking in her injuries with a clinical assessment that reminded me he’d seen violence before, had perhaps even inflicted it on those who deserved it.
But when his gaze met mine, it softened immediately.Without a word, he stepped behind my chair, his hand coming to rest on my shoulder.The weight of it grounded me, his thumb brushing lightly against the nape of my neck in a subtle gesture of comfort.I reached up and covered his hand with mine, drawing strength from his presence.
“You heard?”I asked quietly.
“Enough,” he replied, his voice low, the German accent more pronounced as it always was when his emotions ran high.“Ada texted you might need me.”
Jade watched our exchange with an expression I couldn’t quite read.I thought perhaps I saw wonder, maybe a hint of fear.But I also saw a quiet relief that made me realize maybe I couldn’t cut Jade out of my life just yet.Her gaze lingered on Oktober’s hand on my shoulder.
“I didn’t know where else to go,” she said finally.“The hospital called Ms.Thompson, and she brought me here.She said it was the safest place.”Her eyes found mine again.“I can leave if you want.I understand if you don’t want me here --”
“No,” I interrupted, surprised at the firmness in my own voice.“The past is the past.Right now, you need to heal, and healing and protection is what Haven is all about.”I felt Oktober’s fingers tighten slightly on my shoulder, not in warning or disagreement, but in support.
Something shifted in Jade’s posture, a fractional relaxation as if she’d been bracing for rejection and found acceptance instead.Tears spilled silently down her cheeks.“Thank you,” she whispered brokenly.
“We need to complete your intake,” Lana said gently, bringing us back to the practical matters at hand.“Mia, since you know Jade personally, would you be comfortable being her advocate here or would you prefer we assign someone else?”
I didn’t hesitate.“I’ll do it.”
Oktober’s hand squeezed my shoulder once more before he moved to lean against the wall beside the door.“Gut,” he said simply.His eyes met mine, communicating volumes in a single glance.He might not trust Jade, but he trusted me and my judgment.And he was proud I’d taken the stance I had.
As Ada spoke to Jade, giving her a quick rundown of how things worked and what would be expected of her.Everyone pulled their weight, but Jade needed to rest, eat good food, and heal first.
I found myself watching Oktober instead of Jade.He stood silent and vigilant, his presence a physical manifestation of everything that had changed in my life since leaving Eric.I had found not just love but a strength I never knew I possessed, a family formed by choice rather than blood, and the means to help others escape the kind of control I hadn’t even recognized I was under.
And now, impossibly, I had the chance to extend that same lifeline to the woman I’d called my best friend and had believed betrayed me.It sounded like she’d been trapped all along, groomed to accept Eric’s humiliation and abuse until she’d had nothing left of herself with which to fight.I knew mine and Jade’s friendship might never be the same, but I also recognized I needed to stop and regroup.Jade had been my best friend, the woman I told everything in my heart.I might never have that friendship with her again, but I could never turn my back on her when she was at her lowest.I’d help Jade in whatever way I could.Anything that happened next… Well.I’d cross that bridge when I came to it.
Chapter Fifteen
Oktober
I sat on the edge of our bed, watching Mia pace up and down the length of our bedroom absently.Her shadow stretched and contracted with each pass beneath the overhead light.Outside, the compound had settled into its nighttime rhythms, but inside our room, tension crackled like static electricity before a storm.The revelation about Jade had shaken Mia.
“I don’t understand how I missed it,” she said, her voice tight with frustration.“I lived with him for a long time.Slept beside him.Trusted him.”She stopped abruptly, turning to face me with eyes that held equal parts anger and devastation.“How did I not see what he was capable of?”
I let the question hang in the air for a moment, considering my words carefully.“People like Eric,” I said finally.“They don’t show their true faces to everyone.They are chameleons.”
“But those bruises, Oktober.”Her hands trembled as she moved one to her own throat.“The broken arm.God, those videos he used to control her… How long was she living with that while I thought she was just my best friend with a busy schedule?”She looked down at her feet in shame.“Some best friend I turned out to be.”
“Come here,Kätzchen,” I patted the space beside me on the bed.She hesitated for only a second before crossing to me, her body radiating tension as she sank down.I took her hand, turning it over to trace the lines of her palm with my thumb.“You didn’t see because he didn’t want you to see.That’s how men like him operate.”
“I hated her,” Mia whispered, her voice cracking on the admission.“After I walked in on them.I hated them both.But now I just feel sick thinking about what he did to her.All these years, she was just another victim.I abandoned her when she needed someone most.”
I shook my head, squeezing her hand gently.“No.You didn’t know.You couldn’t have known.”
