Page 132 of Downfall

She lets out a low sigh. “How is that helpful Rose? You can’t just have a paddy and then pull a disappearing act.”

“I didn’t have a paddy.”

“No?” She says looking more disappointed. “So how do you excuse pointing a gun at your own father? You put a bullet in his bookcase.”

I narrow my eyes, crossing my arms. “He bloody deserved it.” I snap. “He’s kept Lara from me from the last six years, dangling her like a fucking carrot.”

She shakes her head, stepping closer to me. “Is that how you see it Rose?”

“Isn’t it?” I retort. “The only reason he didn’t force me to have an abortion was because he wanted her as leverage.”

“No.” She replies. “You’re wrong there. It was me that wanted her as leverage.”

My jaw drops. What the fuck?

“Excuse me?” I manage to say. I’m shaking with anger already and it’s taking all of my self-control not to completely lose it.

She steps closer, that look of sympathy on her face. “What else was there to be done? You were acting out, misbehaving. I needed to ensure you wouldn’t whore yourself out further. This was the best way to protect you, to protect us, to protect our family name.”

“You…” I gasp as my heart clenches. I always thought she was on my side. Not entirely. Not a hundred per cent but at least she always seemed compassionate, caring.

“You think we didn’t know? You think we didn’t realise you were having sex with that boy. Carter told us, he’d seen you sneaking out, saw you with him.” She states. “So we slipped some sleeping pills into your food, switched your phone out while you were asleep. Made sure all the numbers were correct, and every time he messaged you on the right one, we’d ensure you got it. We knew everything that was going on, right up to when he killed Tybalt.”

I gulp stepping back, putting it all together. “You sent that message. You’re the reason I thought he left us.”

She lets out a sigh. “Yes Rose, I had no choice, I had to protect you.”

“How was that protecting me?” I snarl.

She gives me a look like I’m an idiot. “He’s a Montague. And besides, we had a future planned for you. A good future. With Paris. We needed to ensure your marriage went ahead. Calvin had ordered it and we weren’t going to lose any of our standing because our daughter had grown up to be a slut.”

She says it so calmly, so logically it’s hard to put her actual words with the tone.

“Did you even stop and consider what I wanted?” I ask. “Did you ever even ask yourself that?”

She shakes her head. “You’re being ridiculous. You never had a future with that boy. You would have ruined your life and ruined ours too. It was better we took charge. Better we took control seeing as you’d lost leave of your senses.”

“I trusted you.” I reply. “Out of everyone, I trusted you.”

She steps closer and my body reacts, my adrenaline spikes, my fists clench and it’s all I can do not to launch myself at her and rip out her very eyeballs over what she’s done to me.

“You were a fool Rose. You always have been.” She states.

“I’m your daughter.” I half scream. “How could you have treated me like that?”

She pulls herself up. “Because you were meant to be a boy. A true heir not some useless girl. I saw the look on Ignatio’s face, I saw how disappointed he was, and then the doctors told me that I’d never be able to have anymore, that you’d ruined my body.”

“I was a child, your child.”

“You were unwanted.” She says emotionlessly. “The only thing we could do was ensure we made a good match, ensure that our future was secure despite your failure. I wasn’t going to sit by and watch you throw that away for all of us.”

“You’re not even a Capulet.” I spit. “You married into this…”

“Yes I did.” She replies. “And I will give my last breath to ensure our future, our legacy, our family comes out on top.”

“You’re fucking mad.” I hiss. “All of you are.”

She laughs and as I watch in horror she sees what I don’t. That Bella is right there, within reaching distance. She snatches her up before I can stop her. Bella yelps, kicking out but, my mother’s grip is too tight for her to get free.

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