Page 126 of My Fiancé's Brother 2

Jackson breathed hard, and one lone tear traced down his face. “They were worse than Ted. Do you want to know why? Because they enjoyed hurting me. They relished it. They wanted to cause me pain, and unlike Ted, they never said they were sorry.”

I was pretty sure my heart was breaking.

“That journal doesn’t cover half of what Irene did to me. How she locked me up in the closet for hours at a time. Or how every single time I walked by her, she either pinched or slapped me. But her words, they were the real mind fuck. Telling me what a piece ofgarbage I was. Telling me that I was a bastard and unworthy. Telling me that no one would love me. That I didn’t deserve happiness. That I wasn’t a nice boy. That no matter what I did or who I became, no one would ever be able to love me. She was relentless, and I believed every single fucking word she told me.”

“Jackson. No. That’s not the truth.”

“If it’s not the truth, then why do I still believe it?” he yelled. He turned away. His hands pushed in his hair.

I could not stop crying. “I love you.”

“Just stop. I do not want to hear it. Just stop.”

He looked back at me. His face was so broken. “Anything else you want to know?”

Tears streaked down my face. “Why didn’t you tell Ted what Irene was doing to you?”

“Because Harry and Irene were his dream for me.”

“What?”

He gave a big, sad shrug. “Ted told me that Harry was my father when I was seven.”

“What?” Shock. “How?”

“Ted was friends with my mom. She had told him enough to put two and two together that when an older cop started paying a lot of attention to us, he figured it out. I didn’t want to stay with Harry and Irene. I fought going there. But Ted had some fucked up dream for me, that if I just got in with some all American family, I would break out of the bonds of poverty and alcoholism. So he told me that Harry was my Dad when I was seven.”

“You knew? All that time?”

“Ted had a big plan devised. He told me that if I was really good, if I was the best kid possible, that if I impressed them, then Harry would have no choice but to acknowledge me as his and I could become part of a real family.”

I felt my heart crack. I brought my hand up to my mouth. “So you excelled at everything.”

“It didn’t do much good. Ted and I did everything we could thinkof. Best grades. Best at sports. Do all my chores. Never talk back. Never get in trouble. Be quiet. Don’t act out. Ted wanted me to be part of that family more than I did. I hated them. I hated going there, but I did it for Ted.”

I couldn’t speak for a moment as I tried to fight my tears. “And Harry never admitted to you that he was your father.”

“That completely broke Ted’s heart.” He looked disgusted. “But after Harry murdered Ted, he acknowledged me as his son in his suicide note.” Jackson’s voice was matter-of-fact. Flat.

I wept. “You didn’t deserve that.”

He stood there breathing hard. “You know what I deserve? I deserved a wife that I could trust. I thought you were different. I thought I could trust you.”

“You can!”

He shook his head. “You’re just like everyone else.”

“No, Jackson.”

“You can’t tell me that knowing this about me doesn’t disgust you.”

“It makes me love you more.”

He stared at the wall for a long moment and then he spoke. Monotone. “I leave on a mission tomorrow. I'll be gone for two weeks. When I get back, I think you should be gone.”

“What?” I was so shocked. I couldn’t even breathe.

He pulled on a shirt, not giving me a second glance. “It’s over, Emily. I thought you were different, but you’re just like all the rest of them.”

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