AllFreeNovel
Share Us
‘Chris got crazier? When was this? How long ago?’
‘About the time you started getting mystery withdrawals on your bank account.’
‘But that was… I mean, I found those withdrawals on my credit card account… eventually… Ihatepaperwork, and I almost never check my bills,’ she gives me a guilty look, ‘so it took me a while to figure it out… but I called the police about it… They said they arrested the guy who did it… Oh god.’ Her hand flies to her mouth as the realization hits her. ‘I got Chris arrested?’
Hearing her blame herself like this makes me want to put my knuckles through brick.
‘Hey, he gothimselfarrested. By breaking the law. But obviously, that’s not the way he saw it. And when you throw into the mix the fact that, in spite of it all, hedidactually seem to love you, and was jealous as hell of any guy that came close to you… well, it’s a heady combination. Before the arrest, he’d been ramping up his dangerous behavior. He’d hit the drink pretty heavy — some drugs too, your father believed — and he started gambling to try to pay his debts. By the time that he was arrested, he was in a sorry state by all accounts.’
‘Oh my goodness. I knew he needed money. He kept asking me for more and more. But, I had no idea it washimwho was stealing from me… He really ended up in jail?’
‘A full year in the slammer,’ I reply. ‘Plus community service. After that, he got out on parole for good behavior.’
‘That’s when your sister started talking to me about the marriage again. She saw that he’d gotten out, and was back in Denver. Had a Google alert on his name to check for new activity. Knew it was likely he’d seek you down after being in the cooler for so long, cooped up with nothing else to do but obsess over you.’
‘And that’s why he wrote that article. He always did have aspirations to work as a writer. It’s all starting to make sense now.’
Addison’s body starts to visibly crumple on the couch. I hate doing this to her, being the bearer of bad news, but I can’t deny it — it’s a relief to finally have some of this stuff out in the open.
‘So, are you like an ABDL fashion designer?’
She nods. ‘Kinda, I guess. I mean, I design outfits for Little Boys and Girls, but I also do more vanilla stuff with a cute twist. Like my sweater, before It got all shredded.’
‘Makes sense,’ I say. ‘By the way, your sister didn’t want to go to Borneo,’ I tell her, noticing the way her ample bosom has started to heave up and down as her breath has become shallower.
Focus, Finn. Don’t let your mind wander. Not yet.
‘Violet was terrified about leaving you here, all alone,’ I say. ‘We talked through the marriage idea your father had come up with one more time, and Violet agreed it was worth a shot. You’d spend six months married to me, living off-grid, away from social media and CCTV and all that Big Brother stuff — and chances are, if Chris everdidfind out where you were, he’d leave you be.’
‘What made you so sure he’d leave me alone once he found out I was married?’
‘Well, that’s what happened with his other ex-girlfriend. Tanya.’
Addison furrows her brow. ‘Tanya? He was only with her six months.’
‘You know about the acid, though, right? The vitriol he threw at her face, about a year after they split up? Stole it from some fertilizer manufacturer.’
The confusion on her face deepens.
‘But a year after he and Tanya broke up, me and him were… Oh god. But IknowTanya. She was alright. She didn’t get hurt.’
‘Because he missed her — narrowly. She never ended up pressing charges. Probably terrified of what would happen if she did.’
‘She never told me it happened…’
Poor girl, finding all this out in one go like this. It’s gotta be a total headfuck.
‘Why would she? You weredatingthe guy. You wouldn’t have believed her.’
‘How does my sister know all this?’
‘She hired a private detective. A couple of times, actually. She did it the first time after he started blackmailing Gerald.’
Her eyes widen. She rubs her hands nervously together. She’s panicking, and it takes all my strength to stop me leaning in and giving her a hug. ‘He blackmailed Dad? She hired a private detective? Oh my god. This is all so… serious. Why didn’t anyone ever tell me?’
It’s a great question, and I wish I could give her a great answer. But I can’t. None of them thought she could take it, so they kept her in the dark.
I can’t believe I have to be the one to tell her all this, either. It's just so damn stupid that Violet has flown off to the other end of the earth — might as well be on Mars right now — and I'm left to sort all this shit out for her. I guess that's what I'm getting paid for.
