Page 266 of Kentrell

“Zoe, baby… if you’re mad, take it out on me,” she said gently as my eyes started to burn.

“I made the decision?—”

“You made the decision, but he upheld it,” I snapped, swiping roughly at my cheeks to clear the tears that fell faster than I could catch them. “So you both are to blame.”

It didn’t do anything for me to know he wanted me back then.

Wanted me… but still let me grow up without him.

“I had family I could’ve met. Known. Grandparents!”

I sucked in air through my stuffy nose, trying to keep from falling apart.

“They knew you,” she whispered. “But I made the decision on your third birthday to pull away from everybody.”

“Why?” My voice cracked, though I’d calmed down just enough to ask.

Her answer came without hesitation.

“Because I didn’t marry into the kind of family that buries secrets six feet.”

My breath caught.

“They wanted to kill me?”

“No.” Her voice dropped. “She wanted to kill me.”

I knew exactly who she meant. And I hated the idea of Vivian Anderson taking out her frustrations on my mother… over an affair her husband willingly participated in.

“I just… I knew you needed to be protected,” she said, her voice thinner now. “From the streets I was still running in… and from people in high places who’d do whatever they could to erase you.”

She exhaled sharply.

“I wanted you, Zoe. And your father wanted you. But in order to keep you safe, I had to keep you away from everybody. His family loved you. Still loves you.”

My heart thudded at that.

“But I couldn’t risk playing the ‘what if’ game with your life. Darius reluctantly agreed… under the condition that it was temporary. That he could still provide for you. Pay for your schooling… our home… everything you needed. And once you graduated college, we’d sit you down and tell you.”

Her voice cracked, and my bottom lip trembled.

“But I talked him out of it,” she admitted. “Because by then… I’d done more than just lie about who he was. I lied about him being alive. And I didn’t trust that Vivian would ever welcome you into their home.”

I swallowed hard, anger and sadness mixing in my throat.

“So why would you trust I’d be safe working under him?”

She paused like she hadn’t expected that question. Then…

“Because your father—Darius…” She caught herself as my jaw tightened. “He assured me nothing would happen to you. That Vivian was… sorry. That she regretted overreacting.”

I didn’t believe that. Not for one second.

And I definitely didn’t feel safe going back to work—not with the way Vivian treated me when we were alone.

Even if she never laid a finger on me… she never forgot.

And she’d never let me forget either.

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