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I clenched my hands into fists.
They lit my house on fire! And the firemen, they just stood there.
Waiting for permission to put it out.
I wanted to kill them!
And my mom. Oh my god. I just remembered. I’d been so focused on doing what they wanted that I… I hadn’t even had time to process it.
They’d killed her because dad tried to fight back.
And all those other people…
Who was I to stop them?
It was all so...
I was suddenly sitting on the bed, not able to keep on my feet.
I suddenly missed my dad.
It hit me then—a sudden realization. Despite him pushing me away, my struggles at that school, then later, looking after Callie, I now saw that he had been there in his own way. He’d taken care of me, in ways I hadn't seen until this moment.
And now the Magnolia controlled me. After everything dad had done to get us out of it.
Lux sat next to me, sighing. "I know. It's a lot."
"You tried to warn me, but I didn't listen. And now I...I..." I bit on my lip, trying not to cry.
“I heard about your house,” she said after a moment.
I nodded, not looking at her.
“If it helps, Rook signed the contract with the Magnolia. Your contract.”
I snapped my head upwards, “When?”
“This morning. He was on his way there when he called me.”
“I feel so stupid.”
"You didn't know," she soothed, patting my hand, "Honestly, I blame it on your father. He should've warned you."
“You knew my dad?"
She glanced away, but squeezed my hand tighter. "Yes. I knew him."
"How?"
“Mmm,” she murmured, staring towards the window for a long moment. So long, that I thought she might not answer. But finally, she inhaled a slow breath, then looked back at me. "I'm only telling you this because we're at Rook's house. He's the only one I trust. Otherwise, I don’t even speak about the Magnolia." She gave me a serious look, straight in my eyes. “To anyone.”
"Okay." There was a sudden lump in my throat, a squeezing in my chest.
"The Magnolia is part of the Veritas, which is a…network. Of people. Their roots run deep--they've existed since before this country was even born. They keep to the shadows. Like a secret society.” Like Rook had tried to warn me. “And even though the outside world doesn't even know they exist, anyone who is anything in this world knows about them."
“But who are they?"
"I only know that the high ranking officials are mostly part of a large family. It’s all male dominated. Olivia seems to be an exception.”
