Page 123 of Cruel Deception
Is Cassian torturing her the way she once tortured him and his mother?
I don’t know what’s worse—the thought of Cassian hurting her... or the part of me that understands why he would.
I wrap my arms around myself. I can’t breathe.
Cassian isn’t just my husband. He’s the boy no one saved.
And now... I’m the one paying for what my mother did.
“So now you know, Charlotte,” Elodie whispered. “He doesn’t hate you because you shot him. He hates you because your mother broke him. And every time he looks at you... he sees her.”
I wiped my eyes, my fingers trembling.
“But he still wants you,” she added softly. “Still craves you. Maybe because you remind him of what he couldn’t save. Or maybe... because some part of him hopes you’re not like her.”
Elodie turned toward the door.
“His back...” I choked. “I want to see it.”
“You will,” she said. “When he’s ready to let you.”
Then Elodie reached for the door, her hand on the knob. But she didn’t leave.
She paused. Turned.
“There’s no point hiding the rest,” she whispered, voice raw. “I’ve already told you so much... but...”
Her voice broke.
More tears spilled down her cheeks as her body trembled—violently this time. A kind of shaking that wasn’t anger. It was agony.
“Charlotte,” she choked, her breath catching like she was drowning, “there were nights... when Matteo raped her.”
She stared at the floor as if she could burn through it. “He raped our mother while your mother stood there. And the worst part?”
Her eyes lifted—bloodshot, hollow. “Cassian was there too.”
My breath caught.
“He used to cover his eyes, but your mother... Seraphina would pry his hands away and force him to watch.”
Elodie didn’t wait for a response. She turned sharply and stormed out—sobbing so loud her cries echoed through the hall like thunder. A sound I would never forget.
The door slammed shut behind her.
And I crumbled.
Not from fear. Not from guilt.
But from heartbreak.
I collapsed to the floor and wept—not for myself this time, but for the little boy who was forced to bleed for his mother.
For the child who became a monster because no one saved him.
For the man who now wears those scars like armor... and wields them like chains.
Chapter 20
