Page 132 of What Goes Around

He swallowed. “I lost the love of my life. I didn’t survive it well. I was drowning. You were so small. I needed help. Marissa was there. She was pregnant. I thought I was doing the best I could.”

Marissa’s face twisted as the implication landed.

“A terrible mistake,” I said softly, watching her. “Is that what she was?”

Dad looked away.

Marissa snapped, “He was mine first. I stood by him when no one else would.”

“You stood by him because it benefited you,” I said. “And you punished me because I reminded you of what you replaced.”

Her voice rose. “I did not abuse you.”

“You starved me of affection,” I said. “You isolated me. You let your daughter lie about me. You watched her hurt people and blamed me for breathing wrong. You gaslit me until I stopped trusting my own memory. Call it whatever helps you sleep.”

Dad rubbed his face again. “Ashley, please.”

I turned back to him.

“Why did you cut off my mother’s family?” I asked quietly. “They could have helped. They wanted me.”

His head snapped up, anger flashing through grief. “Because they thought I killed her.”

I held his gaze. “Did you?”

“No,” he shouted. “I loved her. I would never hurt her.”

I nodded slowly. “Then you punished me for their suspicion.”

“I was protecting you,” he said weakly.

“You were protecting yourself.”

Marissa scoffed. “This is ridiculous. I did not abuse you.”

“You humiliated me,” I replied. “Controlled what I wore. What I said. Who I was allowed to be. You stole from me. You isolated me. You set your daughter against me and smiled while she destroyed my reputation.”

Apple made a small sound from the couch. I didn’t look at her.

Marissa bristled. “I will not be spoken to like this in my own house.”

“You will repay every dollar you took from my trust,” I said. “Every cent. You have ten days.”

She scoffed. “You can’t threaten us.”

“I can,” I said. “And if you don’t, I go public. The trust. The affair. The lies. All of it.”

Brandon’s shoulders sagged. “I’ll fix it. I swear.”

“I’m not asking,” I said. “I’m informing you.”

Marissa opened her mouth again.

“Enough, Marissa,” Brandon snapped. “Just stop.”

She stared at him, stunned.

“For once,” he continued, voice shaking, “stop making this worse.”