Page 106 of My Undead Love Life

“Yes, it is!”

“He deserved it!” he snapped back, the words tearing out of him.

Olivia’s lips parted. “What could Dad have possibly done to deserve that?” The bite pulsed darkly against her skin. It was spreading fast.

Oxi noticed. His eyes dropped to the wound, and his face twisted like the sight physically hurt him. Then, he dragged his gaze back up to hers. “He hurt you.”

Olivia blinked. “What?”

“He didn’t stop,” Oxi continued, his voice gaining strength even as it shook. “He always hurt me. And Mom. But not you. Never you…until that night. Until he beat you so badly, you couldn’t even stand.”

Olivia’s face went pale.

“And you—” Oxi’s gaze snapped to his mother, shaking with anger, “you knew.”

“No,” Victoria said too quickly.

“I gave him something to make him stop for good,” Oxi admitted.

“You overdosed him,” Victoria spat.

“He finally stopped, didn’t he?” Oxi shot back, his voice breaking again. “I was trying to protect her. Something you never did for me.”

Silence crashed over the room again.

Olivia stared at him, her breathing hitching.

“You’re lying,” Victoria said again, but she sounded weaker now. Her voice fractured around the edges.

“You let him hurt me,” Oxi said, quieter now. “You watched it happen. Over and over again.”

“Stop it.”

“You never stopped him. You chose him,” he said. “Every time.”

“He was your father.”

“He broke my leg when I was four.”

“Stop it!” Victoria screamed.

Olivia made a small, broken sound. She stared at him in horror and shock, though the infection was already stealing focus from her eyes. “I remember,” she said faintly.

Victoria’s head snapped toward her. “No, you don’t.”

“I remember Dad the night before he died,” Olivia whispered. Tears slipped down her face. “He was angry about something. He’d been drinking…”

“Olivia, stop.”

“I do,” Olivia insisted weakly. “Not all of it. But enough to know Owen isn’t lying.”

Victoria’s mouth opened, but no sound came out.

“I tried to get you out,” Oxi said, softer now. “That night, I was the one who took you to the hospital. I called Grandma. I stayed until she came.”

Olivia’s lips parted. “You…were?”

He nodded once, but his shoulders trembled. “You just didn’t remember.”