I don’t know whether to fire off a thousand questions or wait for her to start at her own pace.
Asher makes the decision for the three of us.
“Stepmother?” he whispers cautiously. “Is that true?”
She holds our stare, watching both of us carefully as she considers the question herself. Slowly, she nods, that same fearful look in her eyes.
Good God.
Adrianna is a fucking monster, more than we could’ve imagined. Because if Adrianna’s Cirella’s stepmother, she’s the goddamn evil bitch who’s instilled this fear in her.
The slap sounds in my mind, pissing me off all over again.
I’m filled with anger, but I try to soften my voice, “I’m guessing that’s not the first time she’s struck you.”
“It’s not,” Asher says certainly. “I spoke with Cirella in the house the other day, concerned about the marks on her. I didn’t know she was … well,herat the time.”
“That will be the last to strikes you,” I swear to her. “She will never touch you again. We won’t let her.”
A humorless laugh leaves her. “Unfortunately, you can’t control that.”
“The hell I can’t,” I scoff, my voice sharp.
She steps forward, her hands up in front of her, approaching me with caution. “It’s okay. I’ll be done with her soon. Then it won’t matter anymore.” Taking a big, deep breath, she strides forward again, taking Gus into her hands. “Thank you for keeping him safe.”
“I have a thousand questions,” I warn her.
She gestures to the bed. “I know. I’ll answer every one of them.”
Ash and I sit on the bed as she retrieves the rolling stool by her workstation, sitting a few feet away from us, Gus perched on her shoulder.
She sighs heavily. “My name isn’t Cirella Matthews. Well, my nameisCirella. But my real last name is”—her big blue eyes study us nervously—“Chamberlain.”
My mind starts racing.Chamberlain.
“Patrick Chamberlain had a daughter?” My question is fast and breathy with uncertainty, but I already know the truth from the haunting look in her eyes.
Her gaze shifts anywhere but on us. “Yeah. He kept me hidden from the spotlight so I was safe from all of the watching eyes and scrutiny. He never intended to keep me quiet forever, but once he passed away when I was twelve, it didn’t matter anymore.”
“And Adrianna was your stepmother?” Asher asks.
She nods. “My dad had gotten lost in her spell, just like yours is. He trusted her to care for me once he was gone. He left her everything in the will. I couldn’t have escaped her if I tried.”
My mind immediately waves a red flag. “He left hereverything?” I pause, trying not to harass her with too many questions at once. “How long did they know each other?”
She shrugs. “Before his passing? A year? Maybe more?”
“That’s it?” I ask, uneasiness churning my stomach. “And he left hereverything?”
She nods again.
That doesn’t make sense.
Patrick Chamberlain was abrilliantbusinessman. If he cared enough to protect Cirella from the public eye altogether, he wouldn’t have risked handing everything over to a near stranger.
“You saw the will?” I push further, finding it harder and harder to believe.
“Yeah. We had to meet with the lawyers and everything.”
