Page 45 of Unwell
‘Since she was thirteen?’ She’d told me Elijah had been with her since then.
He sneered. ‘All lies.’
‘She told me there were other babies.’
‘What other babies?’ His eyes narrowed.
‘She said?—’
‘The girl’s aliar. She agreed to help us bring a baby into the world, and then went nuts after she got pregnant. It’s why she’s at Wellard, so I can keep her from hurtin’ herself or the child. I’ll sign her release papers the moment the baby is in your arms.’
I shook my head, trembling so hard I had to sit on the edge of the bed.
‘I didn’t ask for this. I didn’t make you fuck and incarcerate an innocent woman, Robert. That’s all on you.’
A dark flush rose on his neck.
‘Don’t you dare put this all onme. You’re the one who wanted a baby so badly. Every bloody month. The sulkin’. The tears. The black moods after every loss. Youmademe do this.You.’ Every word was filled with venom.
And they hit harder than any blow.
‘And Ginny?’ I whispered. ‘Is she nothing but an incubator or do you love her? Is that what this is?’
His eyes gleamed. He didn’t deny it.
Instead, he crossed the room and sat next to me, leaning close. ‘At least she gave me what you couldn’t.’
Heat scorched my face, shame and fury colliding at his cruel words. How could he? After everything I’d suffered to try to have a family with him.
‘And don’t act high and mighty,’ he added. ‘I saw you fingerin’ the whore. Don’t think I didn’t notice. You’re no different from me.’
Oh God. I didn’t think anyone had seen me giving in to Ginny’s plea. It had been wrong, but it was nothing like what Robert had done. He’d forced a child into his poor niece and then locked her up to watch her have it. And he’d lied to me for months.Maybe years. My vision blurred red.
I slapped him. The crack echoed through the room, my palm stinging with the force. For a heartbeat, he was stunned. Then his lips curled into a smile that made my blood run cold.
‘You swore to obey me,’ he hissed. ‘In front of God. In front of everyone. That’s what awifedoes. You’ll be quiet about Ginny. You’ll take the goddamned baby and bethankful.’
My world collapsed in on itself. The memory of standing at that altar and promising to honour him.To obey.I had meant the words back then. With that Robert. And he twisted them into shackles to silence me.
Something inside me shattered.
I snatched his aftershave from the dresser and hurled it at him with all the strength I could muster. Thebottle smashed against the wall, glass scattering across the floor. The scent grew thick, suffocating the air.
‘You bastard,’ I whispered. ‘Get out before I call the cops.’
His gravelly laughter fell over me as he stood. ‘You’re as pathetic as you are barren. At least I’ll have Ginny’s wet little cunt to warm my cock.’
He shoved clothes into a bag while muttering curses under his breath, before shouldering past me on his way to the door.
‘I can’t have you here,’ I whispered.
The door slammed behind him minutes later, rattling the old windows.
And then there was nothing but silence.
I sank to the floor amid the shards of glass, welcoming their bite as I waited for the tears to come.
Ginny’s hollow eyes flashed, and I couldn’t bring myself to hate her. Even with Robert’s scalpel-sharp words cutting into me.
