“That's where I was,” I say, cutting him off. My voice sounds hollow. Dead.
“What?”
I force myself to turn and meet his gaze. “You thought I ran away. Took a year off traveling or some shit, didn't you?”
His jaw clenches, eyes hardening to stone. “Didn't you?”
The laugh that escapes me is bitter. I look back out the window because I can't stand to see the judgment in his eyes.
“When I woke up in the hospital, I had no memories. Nothing.” I see him tense in my peripheral vision, his grip on the phone turning his knuckles white. “I begged my father, begged Masen to tell me where our friends were. Why no one would visit. I needed to call Kenna. I needed answers about what happened, why I was there…”
The weight of his stare burns into the side of my face. Finally, he'll hear the truth.
“When they discharged me, I thought… God, I thought I'd finally go home. See Kenna, Cas, Kellan. Get answers.” My voice cracks. “But the second I stepped through those hospital doors, there was a van waiting. Two male nurses. Two female.”
I have to force the next words out through the tightness in my throat.
“When those men grabbed me, I looked at my brother. I begged him with my eyes to help me. I needed Masen, needed him to save me… but he…” The memory stabs through me like a knife. “He looked away. Turned his back while they dragged me into that van and took me to my prison.”
“Walter House,” Xaden breathes beside me.
I nod, turning to face him so he can see the raw truth burning in my eyes. “I never ran away, Xaden. I didn't hide hoping people would forget. I didn't even know what happened that night.” My voice shakes with barely contained fury. “I was locked away by my own father. Forced to take the blame for a crime I didn't commit, all so my brother wouldn't lose his shot at being drafted. Masen making the NHL expanded Steven's reach. A senator with a major league hockey player as a son is good for business.”
The bitterness tastes like poison on my tongue.
“I rotted in that hell while they lived their lives. No visits. No calls. I was completely alone until…”
My gaze drops to his neck and the air in the car transforms into something volcanic.
He exhales like he's been gut-punched, reaching into his shirt to pull out the pendant. Tears blur my vision at the sight of it.
“I know you won't believe me.” My voice breaks. “I know I sound insane, but it's the truth. For that entire year, I saw your sister…”
The growl that rumbles from him could shake the earth, but I won't stop now.
“She was my salvation, Xaden.” The tears spill over. “She kept me from shattering completely. That necklace... when I finally escaped, it was the only piece of her I had left. It grounded me. Gave me something to hold onto when everything else fell apart. After Harper arrived, I thought it was strange she never acknowledged Em, never mentioned her. It all made horrifying sense when my memories came back.”
“She didn't see what you saw.” His voice is thick with anguish and I hate myself for causing him this pain, but he needs to know. He needs to understand I'm not the monster he believes I am.
I shake my head, tears streaming freely now. “Harper was never meant to see Em. She was mine… my burden, my blessing. And I carried her with me, grateful for every moment.” My voice softens. “I may have only met the version I created in my mind, but I believe she was real. I have to believe that.”
His eyes fill with something raw and vulnerable. “What was she like for you?” The question sounds almost desperate.
I smile through my tears at the memory of her. “Happy. Kind. Nurturing. Fierce. Bossy…”
A small smile tugs at his lips.
“She held me when I shattered. Forced me back to my feet when I wanted to give up. She helped me see the world through my own eyes, not the way my father demanded I see it. She and Harper?—”
“Cas's pet, Harper?”
I bristle but nod, the ache in my chest intensifying. “Yes.”
“She was with you at Walter House?”
“Yes.”
He spins in his seat, nodding as he taps his phone and brings it to his ear. “Drive, Tink. You're taking me there now.”
