Malcolm faced his brother, his face red with anger. “All this time... I did not suspect that you were responsible for my misery, my own blood.”
“Malcolm, look at me. I would never do anything to hurt you. I have devoted my whole life to ensuring your safety. Yours and your children’s.”
Malcolm laughed aloud at that. “No, Kenneth. My whole life, I have been hurtbecauseof you.”
Without any warning, Malcolm stormed toward his brother and gave him a punch right to his nose. Madeline let out a cry as Kenneth staggered, blood spurting through his fingers as he held his nose. But he did not raise a hand against Malcolm. He only caught his brother’s next swing and held it, and when Malcolm threw himself at him, Kenneth let the weight take them both down to the floor. They struggled there, Malcolm hurling accusations as he fought, Kenneth absorbing every blow he could not block.
“You were always the one who made me suffer, Kenneth!” Malcolm’s voice cracked as he swung again. “Every time you failed, it was me he took it out on. And you let him!”
“Malcolm—”
“I was a child, Kenneth! I did not understand why I was being punished for sins that were not mine. I only knew that the better you were, the more it cost me.” He landed another blow, his eyes wet now. “You were his favorite.”
“It is not the boon you think it was, Malcolm!” Kenneth retorted.
“You always had everything! And you also wantedmy wife?”
They rolled to the other side, with Malcolm trying to pummel Kenneth with more punches while his brother simply held on to him.
“Damn you, Kenneth! How could you do this to me?”
“I did not do anything! I intended to tell you what happened, but...”
Tristan seemed to have reached the end of his self-control, rising from his seat and flinging himself at the brothers. He tried to pull the two apart.
“Stay out of this!” Malcolm yelled as he tried to punch Kenneth in the face one more time.
Kenneth would not hit Malcolm back. They continued to struggle as the younger brother continued to pummel his brother while the older blocked the blows. Madeline could bear it no longer. She rose, snatched up her glass of water, and threw it over both of them.
“That is enough!”
Chapter 27
“Ido not believe Kenneth tried to assault Roberta,” Madeline declared, meeting everyone’s gaze, daring them to say anything.
She knew her husband. He had refused to take her until she asked him to, and he had stopped the moment she set a condition between them. He had paid her father’s debts and never once asked for anything in return. She knew he would do anything for his family. He would never hurt his own brother. Whatever Roberta was, she was not telling the truth.
The two men had already scrambled to their feet, slightly damp from Madeline’s glass of water. Both were panting heavily, watching each other cautiously.
“Malcolm, you have to believe me. I would never do that,” Kenneth repeated, and Madeline knew that he would keep on saying these words until Malcolm accepted them. “I admit that I might have been responsible for your misery. But I... I have suffered in guilt every single day. I did all I could to be the perfect son, to never provoke our father. I would never risk your happiness for something so terrible as forcing your wife!”
“Do not listen to him,” Roberta urged. “After he had his way with me, he sent me away. I was forced to live away from my children for too long! Do not let your brother ruin our family any longer.”
Malcolm looked at Roberta, mouth open as if he was about to say something. Then, he turned to Kenneth, still speechless. He looked conflicted, and for a moment, it almost seemed like he was going to choose his brother. Kenneth held his breath as he watched several emotions play on his brother’s face.
“Roberta, I...”
She must have seen the wavering, too, for she moved at once. She crossed to Malcolm and took his face in her hands, forcing his eyes to hers and away from his brother.
“Look at me, my love. Only at me.” Her voice broke. “Do you think I wanted to leave you? I have spent two years away from you, away from my own children, crying myself to sleep, all because I was too ashamed to tell you what your brother did to me. I stayed silent to spare you this very thing, and still he poisons you against me.” A tear spilled down her cheek. “Would I have come back at all, if it were not true? Would I have walked into this house, in front of all these strangers, only to be called a liar?”
Madeline watched her work, and it turned her stomach. The tears, the trembling. It was a performance, and a skilled one.
“Roberta would not... She would never lie about something like that,” Malcolm said. “She could never do that to me. She loved me.”
Madeline wondered if Malcolm was aware of how he used the past tense to talk about Roberta’s love.
“Malcolm, Roberta threw herself at me more than once.” Kenneth’s voice was steady, even if his eyes were not. “I refused her, I warned her, I urged her to stop, even. When she walked into my room naked and tried to seduce me, I sent her away. I could not keep a woman under my roof who would betray her own husband, my brother, the way she tried to. That is the truth, whatever she tells you.”
