Page 68 of The Scars Within
“I can tell by the look on your face—call it intuition. What in the elements happened?”
She gently guided us to the sitting area, where the crackling fireplace offered an oddly soothing comfort despite the summer heat. I rehashed everything that had happened between my father and me, carefullyomitting the part about channeling the air element. We could discuss that later; right now, I needed to know what my father meant when he spoke of my mother.
Cora’s face crumbled as I recounted the conversation with my father. Shayde held my hand and wrapped his arm around me, tracing slow circles against my lower back. Surprisingly, no more tears fell. Maybe I had already cried them all out, or perhaps my overprotective shield had locked back into place, dulling my emotions.
Cora, however, showed no such restraint. “Oh, honey, I am so sorry you had to go through that alone,” Cora said, her voice heavy with regret. “I warned Lily about Michael the day she first brought him home. He was nothing but a walking reputation... and I could sense the lies in every word he spoke. He knew exactly what to say, exactly what to do to win your mother’s heart.” She shook her head, smoothing the fabric of her pleated skirt. “They were great together, too great, until the day they weren’t. That day was when he returned from deployment, and she finally introduced him to his daughter... to you.”
She looked at me with pure sorrow in her eyes. Still confused, I asked, “I got the feeling that Captain Thorne doesn’t believe I’m his—that he’s my father. Is that true? Did my mother have an affair?”
Cora’s lips pursed, her unease evident in her expression.
“I need to know the truth, Aunt Cora. Please, tell me the truth,” I pleaded, my voice cracking.
She rose from her chair and moved to sit beside me on the sofa. Shayde and I shifted to make room for her. Taking both of my hands in hers, she said, “Lily wanted to be the one to tell you this, Scar. But unfortunately, she never got the chance.”
My heart twisted at her words. “I stayed with her while Michael was on deployment to help with the garden and keep her company. He was gone for a full year on a secret mission that Mageia wouldn’t let him disclose to your mother. At that time, we were embroiled in a protracted battle with Tyria. Your mother was worried sick about him.” She paused,her expression growing somber. “One night, after an elemental storm, Lily insisted on checking on the animals in the stables. Despite my pleas for her within the safety of the cottage, she went out. She wasn’t gone long, but when she returned… she was carrying a bundle of sheets in her arms.” A tear traced down her cheek, which she wiped away with the back of her hand.
My brows knitted in confusion. “I—I don’t understand.”
She opened her mouth, then closed it as if carefully choosing her words. “Then I saw a delicate little arm reach out from the bundle of sheets.” She smiled at me softly but without showing her teeth. “There was a note, and all it said was, ‘Please keep her safe.’ So that’s what your mother did,” Cora said, reaching up to cup my cheeks. “She kept you safe.”
Overwhelmed by disbelief and a sense of betrayal, I shook my head. “But she didn’t, though,” I whispered.
Cora looked at me, confusion etched on her face. She didn’t understand what I meant. I hadn’t yet told her the truth about what happened to me after the Happy Roast. I stood up, needing to pace the room to calm my racing thoughts. I placed a hand over my heart, feeling its rapid beats. Looking back at Cora, I asked, “So what does that mean? Was she not really my mother? And is Thorne not my father?”
Cora stood up with me then, Shayde following closely behind her. “Lily is your mother, child.” Her voice broke with emotion. “She loved you more than anything in this world. She was overjoyed to tell Michael the truth when he returned. But that pathetic asshole didn’t believe her.” Her voice rose with frustration. “He accused your mother of having an affair while he was gone, an affair with unexpected consequences. He swore up and down that the truth was a lie—that Lily made it up to protect herself, to keep him from leaving her, and to prevent him from abandoning you.”
I took a few steps back, coming to a halt when I felt the wall press against the heels of my boots. My breathing was ragged, and sharp painsstabbed through my chest. I wanted to rage, to scream from the top of my lungs, to shatter everything in my path.
My entire life, I’ve been abandoned by the ones around me. I’ve been kicked while I was down; I’ve been dragged through the mud. I’ve lived my entire twenty-one years with the shame of being a failure of a daughter. A daughter that wasn’t worthy of my father staying with us. I’ve blamed myself for not being good enough my whole life.
When really, everything was my birth mother’s fault.
Myrealmother.
Whomever she is, she failed to be good enough to raise me so she dropped me off at someone’s doorstep instead. Instead of loving me too much to ever let me go, she left a note with no true explanation. She just…
I covered my face with my hands, rubbing my swollen eyes with my thumbs. I took a deep breath, closed my eyes, and released it once I felt somewhat steady. Cora took a few steps toward me, but I raised my hand in protest.
I left the room without any explanation.
Just like the one who brought me into this world.
Chapter 27
I let my feet guide me. My heart had nowhere it wanted to be.
It feels utterly lost.
The sensation of fresh air on my face was the only thing my soul craved. My fath– no– Captain Thorne may have invaded my special place. But that was the last time he would steal my peace from this rooftop.
My entire life, my greatest demon has been someone who didn’t even acknowledge my existence. I’ve let a villain treat me as their victim without them needing to do any real work.
While I was slowly dying inside, he was living in a world where there was nome.
I’m done cowering from his whip—one that I’ve inflicted upon myself.
As I stood there, mentally retreating into the depths of my Rock Bottom, a shining light pulled me back.
