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“He’s been making me repeat stupid mantras like ‘I’m a stupid insignificant bitch,’ or something like that, and he’s been raising his hand to me or smashing it on the desk in front of me. I showed him fear, and he knows how to abuse it. Your father uses it to his advantage, and he corners me every chance he gets so he can belittle and abuse me.”
His top lip curls up as he turns his head away from me, but I continue, “The day I fell over in the Anderson meeting… yeah, that wasn’t a fall, Niall tripped me. Your father said that if I told you what he was doing to me that he would do all sorts of crazy shit. But the doozy was getting Jason released on a day pass. Honestly, Aiden, I don’t know how I’d function knowing Jason was out of that place. Aiden, I was trying to protect you from it all, and I knew once you found out, you would do exactly this. I was trying to protect your relationship with him. So, it’s not like I didn’t trust you per se, Aiden, it’s more about not taking the risk.” I take Aiden’s stiff hand in mine.
“Jeni, I love you, but sometimes you can be so naïve. Father doesn’t know the warden’s son. He made that shit up to scare you,” he says, making me frown.
“Oh…” I say as the realization hits me that maybe Niall has been playing me all along. Anger surges through me, pure unadulterated hatred toward him, and in this moment, I decide he no longer deserves my attempts to protect his relationship with his son.
Aiden needs to know absolutely everything.
“The worst part is yet to come.”
He glances at me sideways. “What do you mean the worst part?”
I inhale deeply. “That day, when you went to the Anderson’s, and I fell off the ladder in the kitchen…” his eyebrows furrow while he listens intently, “… Niall pulled me down from the ladder. He watched me fall and saw the box land on my stomach, and then he left me there on the floor to fend for myself.”
Aiden stops breathing, his eyes glaze over like he’s completely lost. It’s as if his soul has left his body, and he’s just a shell of a man standing in front of me while he processes the information I’ve just laid out in front of him. His lips tighten into a tight, thin line as I watch his face turn red. A small grunt escapes his mouth, while his nostrils flare. “Fuuuck!” he yells, making me jump.
Suddenly, he turns toward his desk, picks up his desk lamp and throws it against the wall, smashing it to pieces. I watch as he paces around the room, breathing heavily.
“Babe…” My breathing is rushed. I hate seeing him like this.
“Don’t. Don’t talk to me right now. How… how could you not tell me this, Jeni?” he yells at me for the first time.
Tears form and then run down my cheeks and pool at my chin. I’ve never seen him like this.
I reach out my hand to touch his, but he pulls away. Aiden’s breathing is erratic as he paces the floor, stomping his feet with every step. He’s so angry, it’s almost scary.
“He killed our baby,” he mumbles under his breath.
“Aiden,” I say, trying to gain his attention.
He shakes his head and storms over to the door, pulling it open with such force that when it opens, the door handle smashes against the wall behind it, leaving a gaping hole in the plasterboard. I run behind him as he stomps over to his father’s office and makes his way inside.
“Aiden, stop!” I yell, but he ignores me.
I make it to the doorway just in time to see Aiden pick his father up by the scruff of his neck and push him up against the wall behind him.
“Son, think about who you’re manhandling,” Niall warns as he’s thrust up against the wall, his feet barely touching the floor.
Aiden doesn’t say anything, but I see his right fist clench, and then in what seems like slow motion, he punches Niall in the nose, a resounding thwack filters through the air. Niall groans, falling to the floor, and Aiden hovers over the top of his father, landing blow after vicious blow into Niall’s face. Blood pools onto the floor as Brielle screams at Aiden to stop, but he repeatedly punches Niall into a bloody mess.
Numb—I feel numb.
I’m standing, not doing anything, but watching Aiden beat his father repeatedly.
Bree runs up to Aiden grabbing his arm. He glares at her with an intense burn in his eyes that sends fear into even me.
“Aiden, stop! Please, stop! You’re going to kill him,” Bree begs as tears run down her cheeks.
Aiden looks down at his father moaning on the floor and exhales. He glances over at me, and my bottom lip quivers. I’m shaking so much my vision is blurred.
Bree kneels to tend to her father as Aiden stands and storms out of the office in a huff. He pushes past me, making his way back to his office.
Feeling completely impassive, I follow slowly. I walk into his office and see him pacing the floor again. Biting my bottom lip, I stand in the doorway watching him.
“I can’t believe this,” he grunts under his breath as he stops and looks at me. His brows furrow as he takes in a deep breath. He shakes his head and walks toward me, bloodstains on his clothes. I feel completely emotionless as I watch him walk past me and toward the elevator.
I turn to watch him pressing the button over and over again. “Aiden, where are you going?” I ask with a weak voice.
