Page 11 of Betrayed By Sin
She nods and the truth settles like a weight in my chest.“So, you sent me away.”
She finally turns to me, and for the first time, she doesn’t shield the ache in her eyes. “Because Cameron was five. Old enough to understand orders, to hide when told, to be trained. If I had disappeared with both of you, they would’ve known. They would’ve hunted us like animals. But one baby…?”She swallows.“A single child could vanish into the system unnoticed. An infant could be placed far away, and no one would ask questions.”
My heart clenches.
“I sent you away because it was the only way to keep you alive. You were defenseless. Cameron, for all his fear, was old enough to stay by my side. I couldn’t protect you both, not in that moment. I had seconds, Magnolia. Seconds. And I chose what I thought would save your life. No one even got to say goodbye.” She chokes on a sob, waving her hand towards the people inside.
Silence falls between us like ash, making me realize she not only lost her husband but her new baby too, all in one tragic night.
“I hated myself for it,”she whispers.“Every single day. But if I had run with you… you wouldn’t be here right now. They would’ve found us both. They would’ve used you to make us bleed.”
I feel something hot slide down my cheek.
“Your father’s last words… they became my mission. I honored them, even though it tore me apart. You were never abandoned, Magnolia. You were protected. And I would do it again if it meant you’d live.” I don’t know what to say. I just lean toward her, and she pulls me into a hug that trembles around theedges. She smells like rosemary and something warm something like home. “The plan was always for you to return to me.”
And for the first time, I start to understand the kind of love that breaks you apart just to keep your child whole.
A tear slips down my cheek before I can stop it, recalling Sin’s interception when I was leaving the orphanage.“Sin stopped my return.”
Her breath hitches.“That’s a story for another time.”
Silence stretches between us, thick with years of pain.
She lets out a broken laugh.“I wanted you back every day. We had so much planned for you, then you didn’t show up…” she looks away.
I stare at her, searching for something, anger, regret, love. I find all of it.
For so long, I thought I was abandoned. Unwanted. “I thought each day that passed that I was unlovable.”
“You were unadoptable by my choice, because I knew one day you would return. You were wanted Magnolia, and I am so sorry that this war and my actions caused you to feel less than that.”
I nod because now I know the truth.
I wasn’t abandoned.
I was saved.
And it breaks me just the same.
I should feel out of place. And I do.
But at the same time, there’s a dangerous, quiet part of me that wonders… what if I had been raised here?
Would I feel different? Would I feel whole?
I don’t know if I belong here.
But I do know that, for the first time since arriving, I don’t entirely hate the idea.
THREE
The next morning, a commotion in the foyerpulls me from my restless sleep.
I sit up too fast, my heart hammering, the unfamiliar weight of the Rusco estate pressing down on me.For a moment, I forget where I am.The towering ceilings, the carved wooden doors, the heavy silence of the house. It all feels like a dream I haven’t fully woken up from.
But then I hear it.
A bark.
