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A few minutes later, looking far more relaxed, he takes a deep breath and tells me the reason he brought me here. Even before he starts, I know this is going to be big.
“I found footage confirming that Mel is more involved in this than we first thought. Rather than explain it myself, I’ll let you watch,” he says, as he turns to his computer and begins rapidly tapping on the keyboard.
Just a few seconds later, the giant screen in the middle of the wall in front of us flickers to life, and it’s a video of Mel in Whitlock’s office. She looks the same as she always does; perfectly put together, not a hair strand out of place, wearing a classy designer skirt suit. The only thing off about her is that she’s pacing around in front of her husband’s desk. Normally, she’s perfectly composed, not a hint of anxiety present. She wears her mask well, but in this clip, she appears to have let it slip.
I’ve never met Mortimer in person, but he looks exactly how I expect him to. He’s the male version of Mel. He’s perfectly put together in a suit worth more than my flat, with nothing out of place. He’s wearing a blank expression, but his sharp gaze is fixed on his wife. It’s not until Kel turns up the volume that I realise they’re in the middle of an argument.
“I’m serious, Mortimer. We had a deal, and I have given you more than enough time to follow through with your end. Her absence is starting to be noticed. How the hell can I rule over the high society women if I have no heir to succeed me?” she asks, as she throws herself into the seat opposite her husband, separated by his large mahogany desk.
“I’ve told you…this has become a much more delicate situation than I anticipated. Her loyalty to that family…to him…is abhorrent. But if I act now, they will fight back, and we’re not quite ready,” he explains calmly, only the slight tick in his jaw giving away how pissed off he really is with his wife.
She points her finger at her husband, her anger clear even through the recording. “I don’t want excuses… I want my daughter back!”
Oh shit, they’re talking about Mia. No wonder Kellan wants to keep this away from everyone else for now. My heart races and it feels as though my stomach is in my throat as I wait for what happens next.
“You think I don’t?” Mortimer yells as he jumps to his feet, pushing his chair so forcefully that it flies backwards. “She’s my daughter too, and I hate that she’s sided with those…people. She’s worth so much more. I can assure you, I’m doing everything in my power to get her back. And when I do, she will fulfil all the duties that are expected of her. I can promise you that.”
He stalks towards his wife, his hands open and closing into fists as he gets closer. Mel shrinks back in her chair, clearlyintimidated by her husband. But before he can tower over her, she straightens up and faces him. Despite the cameras not being perfect quality, her forced glare is easy to see.
“Don’t make excuses with me, Mortimer. I have more than fulfilled my end of the bargain… Now it’s your turn. I let you have Mia as a child, to use in any sick way you wanted. I turned a blind eye to all those other whore girls you brought into this house to use and abuse. I have kept your secrets, even going as far as to help you get access to some of the most coveted little girls you had your eye on. I did all of this because we had a deal.
“In exchange for my help, my silence, and our daughter’s virginity, all you had to do was give me the lifestyle I have now, and allow me to marry off our daughter to the person of my choosing. Had she been a male heir, you would have had the rights to her future, but as a female, those rights fall to me.
“I need her to strengthen this family’s position in high society. It was on shaky ground after she didn’t appear as a debutante, but we managed to dismiss that by explaining about her mental afflictions. But society is growing restless. If I don’t have an heir, others will groom theirs to take the title from me, and I absolutely will not allow that.
“I know the marriage to Kyle fell through, but I have at least two others lined up. They’re both willing to overlook the fact she’s currently living in sin, and that her virginity cannot be used as part of the exchange. Despite this, I still feel I can make her a good match. I just need her here to go through with it. That was your part of the deal, Mortimer.”
I gasp as the words register in my brain, and Kellan pauses the recording. I can almost hear my heart ringing loudly in my ears, and I struggle to catch my breath.
I’ve spent months with Mel, and even though I was starting to suspect she wasn’t a nice person, I had no idea she was evil. I didn’t think she was involved in Mortimer’s world. I questionedwhether she was turning a blind eye, so she could reap the benefits, but I never really believed she could be this embroiled.
Once I’ve gained control of my breathing, I cast a glance over at my brother, who, despite looking a little green, is fuming, and I can understand why. His girlfriend’s mum basically confessed to allowing her to be abused as a child, selling Mia’s virginity to her own father, and then bartering to sell her hand in marriage…all to further her status in high society. For her reputation.
I’m surprised my hotheaded brother hasn’t destroyed stuff by now. Then I remember this isn’t the first time he’s seen this recording.
I open my mouth, trying to find the right words, but close it again quickly when I struggle. “I…I-I don’t…”
Kellan shakes his head. “Try doing that for the next eight hours and you might be where I am now. I have no fucking clue what to do with this information.”
Now when I look at Kellan, I can see the stress on his face, the vacant expression in his normally bright blue eyes. No matter how hard that was for me to hear, the subject isn’t the girl I love. We all know that Mia has a past she doesn’t talk about, and it’s clear from her behaviour sometimes that she’s known trauma, but this…
Despite how angry Kellan looks, he doesn’t look as soul destroyed as I’m sure he would be if he’d just discovered some of this information for the first time. Mia must have told him about her dad abusing her and taking her virginity as a child. If she hadn’t, this would have gone down in a very different way.
“You knew about some of this, I’m guessing.” It’s more a statement than a question, but he nods his head to confirm, anyway.
“Yes. I knew her asshole of a father abused her as a child, and that he took her virginity. He also sold her to other men for most of her childhood. It’s not something she talks about, and I wouldbe grateful if you could keep this to yourself,” he says, looking at me almost pleadingly.
“You didn’t have to ask me that, but I can promise I will. Shit, Bro. I mean, I think we all worked out she’d been through a lot of trauma, but none of us imagined anything like this. Mia’s a lot fucking stronger than any of us realise. Reminds me a lot of what Shayla went through,” I add without thinking, and wince when I remember how much Kel hates it when his ex is mentioned.
A small smile crosses his face when he sees how awkward I am about the slip up. He knows me and Shay have kept in touch, since we met all those years ago in the hotel room, when he introduced us. She was a scared girl, running from a shitty home situation. I know she made a lot of fucking mistakes, and my brother got really fucking hurt in the process, but she had her reasons.
Kellan will never be able to forgive her for abandoning Hallie, and he has every right to defend his daughter, but I can see all sides of the situation with a bit more clarity, and I understand. Shayla did what she did to protect Hallie.
While the Reapers are around, Hallie’s life would have always been under threat. They’d want to pull her in, to ruin her the way they ruined Shay, and that’s the last thing she wanted.
She fought so hard for her own freedom, but didn’t pause even for a heartbeat to hand it over to her daughter. The one maternal decision she got to make was to give Hallie the chance at a better life, even if that meant giving her up. I saw the heartbreak that decision caused, and how much it destroyed Shay to make it.
It took a long time for her to come to terms with those choices, and it wasn’t until she saw Hallie with Mia that she knew she’d done the right thing. No matter how much it hurt her, and I imagine there are still days she holds regrets, she knows she gave Hallie the chance at a life she never had.
