Rose hands me the tablet she has been holding, squeezing my hand before letting go. I press the play button on the video segment we have prepared. It’s from the camera he was wearing when he met Jordan. I turn the screen to show him what exactly I’ve watched, what we all watched, since the live recording started yesterday. “Dad,” I say, unable to hide the pain in my voice at the revelation. “What did you do?”
Mom, who was glaring at me only a moment ago, suddenly rips the tablet out of my hands, staring at it. I let her. It’s not like she can do anything. We have backed-up the video plenty of times and already handed it over to the prison elders as evidence.
What surprises me is how shocked my mother is. She fast-forwards the video a little. “Fuck you!” she yells all of a sudden. Before she can lunge at my father, Griffin holds her back.
“What are you getting upset about?” he snarls. “Don’t be ridiculous, Donna! You always knew!”
“I knew that you were sleeping around,” she yells. “But this… here? This is a kid! How old is that girl in the video? Sixteen?”
“Fourteen,” I say. “She is fourteen.”
Mom stares at me first before turning toward my father again. “You disgusting pedophile,” she hisses.
“Lissa was one of your victims, too, wasn’t she?” Rose asks all of a sudden. “You groomed her.”
“I didnotgroom her,” Dad hisses. “She came to me willingly. She was happy about the attention I gave her.”
“Goddess,” I groan, trying to remember for how long I have known Lissa, and for how long she was friends with my family. How old was she back then? It does not take away from the crimes Lissa herself committed, but fuck, this is just despicable.
Mom has frozen completely. “Lissa?” she asks. “That girl was like a daughter to me.”
“Don’t be so sentimental,” Dad shrugs. “She was disposable.”
“You wanted her as Forest’s mate,” Mom exclaims. “You pushed for her and him to be together, while you were actually sleeping with her?”
“That’swhere you draw the line?” Dad laughs.
“You—” Mom takes a shaky breath before her eyes grow darker. For a moment, it looks like she is about to attack him again, then she turns to me. “He killed her,” she says bluntly.
Dad looks up. “What are you—”
“It was his idea. Not that I stopped him, but he was the one who came up with it, he planned it—”
“Donna!” Dad is about to jump up again, but this time Griffin pushes him back into his seat.
“Shut up!”
“He killed your mate,” Mom continues. “He killed that girl named Hannah. I will tell you everything, if it means you will lock him away forever.”
“Are you certain you want to do that?” Dr. Francis says. “It means you will need to admit to your own complicity.”
“Yes,” she exclaims. “I’m sure. I will tell you everything.”
forty-nine
Hannah
*ROSEA*
The original plan was to have breakfast together right after the interrogation of Forest’s parents, but it takes only one glance to realize that Forest is not in the right space for it. I send Griffin ahead to meet with Martin and Rory, while Forest and I just grab something from the kitchen and then go for a walk. Dr. Francis stayed behind to oversee everything. Harry will be picked up by the guards soon, and Donna will leave too, though they will keep her separated from Harry.
She did help us by finally telling the truth and offering to be a witness.
Nothing she said was new to us, but still, to hear how callous and aloof they were about killing a young woman, just because she was fated to Forest and not to their liking, hits differently.
“How are you doing?” I ask quietly.
Forest takes my hand. “Okay,” he admits. “Just hits hard to realize how awful my parents truly were. My dad, a pedo and trafficker, and my mom… Well, not sure how to explain her mindset. She went along with everything my father did. She only drew a line when she saw he was involved with minors.”
