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"Let's cut to the chase," I said, leaning forward. "I want to know about my father."
"Always so impatient," Aunt Clarissa tsked and took her seat at the head of the table, the queen presiding over her twisted court.
"Patience was never my virtue," I replied, my heart hammering against my ribs. "Answers, Clarissa. Now."
"Always so demanding, too," Tristan earned himself another lethal glare. He simply raised his glass in a mock toast and relished in the turmoil he’d incited.
"Easy, tiger," Isla cooed, her lips curled in amusement. "You'll scare the help."
"Wouldn't be the first time," I thought back to the days when I was the help in this house of horrors, scrubbing floors to earn my keep, each bucket of soapy water a sea of unshed tears.
"Is this why you really came here, Averill? To dredge up the past?" Aunt Clarissa’s voice was smooth as silk and twice as suffocating.
"Maybe," I conceded, my jaw setting hard. "Or maybe I'm tired of burying it."
"Be careful what you dig for," Tristan warned. "You might not like what you find."
My aunt, a portrait of icy disdain in her Chanel suit, sipped her tea with the nonchalance of someone discussing the weather, not family secrets.
"Tell me where he is, Clarissa," I said, my voice steady despite the chaos that brewed inside me. "I need to see him."
"You and your needs," she growled and set down her cup with a clink. "Always so dramatic. Just like your mother."
Her eyes flicked to my arms, where inked memories snaked their way across my skin—a tapestry of survival. "And those tattoos… Goodness, you look more ready for incarceration yourself than a family gathering. A walking cliché of rebellion."
"Nice," I shot back, feeling the tug-of-war between hurt and anger. "But it's not like I had much of a family to gather with, did I?"
"Family," she scoffed and leaned back against her chair, upholstered in some absurdly expensive fabric I couldn't name. "That word lost its meaning here long ago."
"Maybe for you," I countered, my determination a hard knot in my throat. "But I'm not letting go that easily. Now where is he, Clarissa? I have a right to know."
"Rights," she mused like she was contemplating the concept for the first time. "You think you're entitled to so much, Averill. Yet what have you contributed? Besides trouble and now, it seems, demands."
"Contributed?" The irony tasted bitter on my tongue. "How quickly we forget the past. Or does scrubbing your floors and enduring your venom not count?"
"Ah, yes, playing the victim. How quaint," she remarked dryly. "Your father is where he belongs, and that's all you need to know."
"Belongs?" The word was a slap. "He's still my father, regardless of what he's done or what you think of him."
"Think of him?" Her voice raised an octave, laced with something that almost resembled emotion. "He tore this family apart. And you, a constant reminder of that destruction."
"Then help me understand!" I pleaded and my voice cracked with desperation. "Help me put it back together! Tell me where he is!"
"Understand?" Her laugh was cold and sharp. "What is there to understand? He killed your mother, and your delusional quest won't change that."
"Delusional?" I was on my feet now, every muscle coiled tight. "No, Clarissa. It’s you who refuses to see beyond the walls of this fucking cage. But I won’t be caged. Not by you, and not by the past."
"Sit down, Averill," she ordered, her tone leaving no room for argument. "You're making a scene."
"Scene?" My voice dripped with sarcasm. "Honey, I haven't even started."
"Enough," she hissed and stood to match my height, but she could never measure up where it counted. "You want to find him so badly? Do it without my help. You're good at being alone, aren't you?"
“Better alone than with snakes," I growled. "One day, Auntie dearest, you'll choke on your own venom."
"Your obsession with finding him is unhealthy," she tutted, examining her nails as if this whole conversation was beneath her. "Move on with your life, Averill."
"Unhealthy?" I laughed, the sound bitter in my ears. "What would you know about health? You poison everything you touch."
