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I stiffened as our eyes met.
The guilt inside me swarmed thicker.
And then she noticed why I was guilty as her dark blue gaze landed on my father.
“Jack?” Her eyes popped wide in horror. “Oh my God, Jack!” Running to his side, she dropped to her knees and grabbed my father’s suit lapels. “Jack. Honey. Wake up!”
“Mrs Taylor, I must request that you don’t shake him,” the taller officer muttered. “He might have spinal injuries that we’re unaware of—”
“What?” Tears streamed from her eyes. “Spinal injuries. W-What happened? H-How could Aslan do this? After everything we did for him!” Rage thickened her voice. Her fingers clawed at my father. “Get out there and find Aslan Avci, right now!”
I winced at the hate in her tone. At the awful, awful belief that the boy she’d welcomed into our family wasn’t the kind, loyal, and hardworking illegal immigrant she’d grown to love as her own, but was somehow a complete stranger. A stranger who’d become a daughter molester, father hitter, and criminal.
He’s none of those things.
How could she believe them when she knew him?
How could she question his loyalty after he’d given every part of himself to us?
Another gush of anger heated my blood, followed by panic rippling down my spine.
I’d ruined everything.
Every mistake and consequence was my fault, and I refused to let Aslan pay.
Not even for a second.
My kneecaps bounced as I stepped around the shorter cop. “It wasn’t Aslan, Mum.”
Her frantic stare ripped to mine. With her hands still on Dad’s chest, she narrowed her eyes. “Of course, it was him. He hurt you, and then he hurt Jack to get away. We had him so wrong.” More tears coursed over her cheeks. “We didn’t know him at all—”
“You know he adores us,” I hissed. “To doubt his integrity and devotion to our family is just plain wrong, Mum.”
“But he hurt you—”
“No. He didn’t. If everyone had stopped for a damn fucking second and listened to me, you’d see the truth instead of making up lies.”
Her lips thinned. “Nerida, you’re in shock and—”
“It was me,” I snapped. “I hit Dad when he went to hurt Aslan again.”
Everyone froze.
The two police officers glowered at me with matching condemning stares. “I think you better explain.”
For a moment, I stared at the four people in my ramshackle bedroom. My mosquito net, that I’d yanked from the ceiling by accident when Aslan had tackled me, lay bunched by the end of the bed. Pillows were strewn all over the floor, and my rumpled blankets shared a tale of despair. It painted a scene of a man forcing me down and touching me against my will.
I understood why my dad had jumped to conclusions. I could see why the police had condemned Aslan before they’d even talked to him.
But what they didn’t know was why.
Why Aslan had ‘attacked’ me. Why he’d put his entire life on the line to save mine. Why he’d done whatever he could to take me back to that awful night.
I couldn’t stop thinking about it, despite all my promises to forget.
Aslan had made me hurt him.
He’d willingly worn the pain I needed to inflict.
