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“I have a theory,” she said

My lips thinned Of course, she did

And then she turned, pacing the length of the en suite as she spoke “I know you well Better than you’d care to admit After all, a mother knows her child”

The absolute gall My jaw steeled

Like she knew Lev? I quietly seethed, gripping the edge of the vanity hard enough to turn my knuckles white

As if she’d heard hts, she stalled, and when her eyes came to rest on me, she smiled in a perplexed way that said she knew it all And that smile of hers… it was deadly “Do your brothers know you raphs, cards, and letters? That you often revisit the past? That you smell my perfume and wear my jewelry, try on a dress or two?”

My expression hollow, I loathed the way my heart filled with shame

“Do they know you think about ed me one last time, even after all I did to your brother? That you watchedthey would put a bullet between my eyes?” She waited a moment “Do they know?”

Of course not How could I ever ad?

She looked raced” Mother took snified seat on the porcelain lip “No, you will never tell them, because you know they would never understand But I do Do you knohy?”

I shook my head

Her proud smile both warmed and chilled “Because you are just like me”

“No, I’m not,” I whispered The fear her state

She waved off my weak reply “Deny it all you want The facts speak louder than your feeble protests Now, I’ll ask again Where is Viktor?”

“We broke up” My voice shook

“No” Mother lifted her arer in the air “You broke up with him, because deep down, you are the product ofhter”

She rong

My brow furrowed “Stop it”

“NoNo prospects That matters to you, dear”

It didn’t “It doesn’t”

She leaned forward slightly, stressing each word “Then why aren’t you with him?”

My chest ached “Because…”

“Because why?” she prompted

It was hard to breathe “Because…”

Her eyes flashed “Say it!”