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“Yeah, he was twenty. With no living relatives except my step-grandparents, who wanted nothing to do with me because I wasn’t related by blood, Caleb dropped out of Emory University to take care of me. He basically inherited me when he got his father’s house.”

It sounded messed up when said aloud. She sounded like an heirloom, passed down to the next member of the family. She certainly felt like an object.

Blaire brushed at her plaid skirt. “I wish I’d known at sixteen what I do now. We got along then. He acted like the doting big brother he should have been. When the state suggested foster care, his grandparents petitioned the courts that separating ‘two loving siblings’ would be ‘too tragic’ to add on top of the loss of our parents and ‘they need one another in this time of grieving.’ It was a disgusting farce they all presented until the case closed, and I naïvely went along with it. I’m sure money was involved.” Blaire snorted. “I hadn’t thought about it before, but the Wilcox influence might reach state level.”

“That’s messed up,” Riley said. “But back up. I want to know more about the other stuff.”

Blaire sighed, putting her head back, running a hand through her long hair. “Well, if I stepped out of line and didn’t give him my tip money, for example, he’d hit me. If he didn’t like what I wore, he would discipline me.”

Riley raised both eyebrows at that. “What in the hell are you talking about? ‘Discipline’? What’s that supposed to mean?”

Blaire closed her eyes and a couple of tears rolled down her cheeks. She wasn’t sure she could continue this conversation. She could barely tell Charlotte when things went bad. Charlotte grew up with her, so she knew something was wrong before Blaire ever admitted to it. One night when she was seventeen, about two months after Caleb became physical, she couldn’t hold it in anymore. She never stopped telling Charlotte after that. But she swore her to secrecy. No one else knew.

Riley put a hand on top of hers. “You don’t have to say anything else. I really want to know, but if it’s too hard…”

Blaire shook her head quickly, a few more tears escaping when she opened her eyes. “No, I need to finish it. There’s no sense starting and not seeing this through.” If she didn’t get it out now, she would close up tighter than a clam.

Riley nodded quietly, waiting patiently for Blaire to continue.

Taking a steadying breath through her nose and exhaling out of her mouth slowly, she pressed on. “For the first year after our parents passed, he was fine. He treated me like he always did. Sure, a few bullying comments made me uncomfortable, but those grew into controlling behaviors and demands. Once I turned seventeen, he got physical. Not only did he hit me, but he also pushed me, pulled me through the house by my hair, and even locked me in the basement for a ‘time-out,’ which could last for hours, or even overnight if he felt so inclined, or forgot me.”

Riley narrowed her eyes, shaking with anger. “That is beyond screwed up, Blaire! Your stepbrother is a piece of shit. There’s no way you’re going back to him.”

Blaire frowned. “I’ve been trying to leave the Valley for months now to get away from him, but he keeps taking my money. He always took my tips, and anytime I got anything worth much in the bank, he would clean me out because he had access to the account. I opened a secret account, but with my old boss telling him what my wages were, I could only split my tips to slowly pad the account. It’s not like I wanted to be there.”

“I didn’t think you wanted to go back there or be there…”

“I know, I’m just saying. Caleb didn’t know I still tried to leave, because if he knew, I’d probably have suffered something far worse than what I already have. His grandparents made sure I knew that.” She shrugged. “I mean, when he discovered I had looked at apartments a few months ago, I spent the weekend in a dark basement with no food or light. Well… except for the lightning through a tiny window after the power went out.”

Riley sat with her mouth hanging open, no doubt surprised she could talk about something traumatic so casually, but here they were.

“I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if he doesn’t try to get to me here and pull me out of the school, even though I’m of legal age.” She sighed and shook her head. “He’s controlled my life for years, and he knows people in town… he’s got connections. And if he does run into opposition? Well, Mollie and Richard are there to save the day.”

“Mollie and Richard?”

“His grandparents. Mollie and Richard Wilcox. Old money. They helped him claim me when our parents died. They’ve helped him obtain anything else he needed or wanted, knowing how sick and twisted his mind is. He was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. Expectations and entitlement were ingrained into him early on. Richard owns over half of the shops in Rosebrook. He’s made a career leasing and micromanaging the business owners there. Much of the town itself has been in the Wilcox’s family possession for several generations. I honestly believe there’s more than just real estate involved in their high dollar dealings.”

Blaire shifted her position, her skirt riding up slightly. Riley gasped.

Following Riley’s line of sight, Blaire bit hard onto her lower lip. That bastard Aryan had pulled down her stocking enough to expose the bruising on her inner thigh.

If she didn’t put up a fight every time Caleb tried something, and just let him have his way, she wouldn’t have bruises like this, but she wasn’t that type of person. She would fight him until it killed her. She wouldn’t belong to him.

She pulled her stocking higher and tugged down on her uniform skirt, looking away.

“Shit, Blaire… just how much did he beat you?”

That was enough to break her.

Blaire sobbed, wrapping her arms around herself. The shame overwhelmed her, and she trembled.

Riley was taken aback and then, as if something dawned on her, she opened her eyes wide. “No way… he didn’t. Did he?”

Blaire shook her head rapidly, her tears not ceasing. She knew what Riley meant. No, Caleb had never raped her, but based on what happened the other day, it was only a matter of time. He manhandled her in so many other ways. Sexual violation was inevitable. She’d be damned if she allowed that monster to take everything from her.

Choking down her sobs, she whispered, her voice raw, and throat dry, “No… but he’s come close recently.”

Riley’s forehead wrinkled. “Has he tried before?”