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“Test here,” he repeats. He gives Baxter a funny look and sheepishly adds,“test five people.”
“That’s really not necessary,” Baxter begins but Raven cuts him off.
“It’s fine. Just do it.”
He nods.
“Okay, let’s sort that in a minute. First, tell us everything,” I press urgently.
And they do. Between the three of them, they tell me, and the others, exactly what Cordelia was up to. What the court papers say, the reasons cited for the custody battle. Raven fills us in on what Charlie has said: how his family was connected to both Michael’s and Cordelia’s. There were still gaps in the story, but things were becoming a lot clearer.
“We’ll help,” I announce when they’ve finished speaking.
“Of course we will!” Thorn adds.
“Jax?” Ace prompts when he doesn’t say anything. I look at him and can see a muscle twitching in his jaw. His fingers are gripping the edge of the table and he seems to be vibrating with rage. I don’t think it’s aimed at Raven though.
He jumps to his feet and begins to pace around the room, thinking hard. He mutters to himself under his breath the whole time.
“Jax?” I prompt. No answer. “JAX!”
He stops pacing and stares at me blankly.
“Are you going to help us?” I ask.
“No.” He says and my heart starts to sink. “I’m going to fucking kill the bitch.”
Charlotte’sRaven’s Diary
Present day
I can’t go by that name anymore. I won’t. And I don’t want to talk about what happened with Charlie him. Just writing his name makes my throat burn with bile. I’m putting on a brave face, but…I feeldevastated. I don’t even have words to describe how I’m feeling. I refused to talk to anyone at the hospital about it. I shut the guys out when they try to bring it up. I don’t even want to know what’s happened to...him. And the lies he told his father! Or that Charles Snr claimed. I couldn’t believe it when he appeared in my hospital room, begging me not to ruin his son’s life. But it’s okay for his son to ruin mine?!His behaviour sickens me almost as much as his son’s. I don’t ever want to see or speak to either of them again. I don’t care about pressing charges if I just don’t have to deal with it. Maybe that makes me a coward...Lord knows I’m nowhere near as strong as Lizzie. When I got home I unearthed her diary from the box under my bed and reread through her diary entries. The ones from after her ra the party. I was horrified and sickened the first time I read them, and consumed by guilt for not knowing and being able to support her. Now, reading her words on the page, every single word is like a knife to my gut, and I know all too well, exactly what she had to go through.
