Page 64 of Unbound
"His parents were there," Diana said quietly.
"I know. Jesse told me before the debate." I stopped pacing, facing them. "Rebecca confronted me after Jesse ran away, and told me something else. Things I should have known, should have figured out weeks ago."
"What?" Andrew's voice was careful.
"Jesse's father isn't just any Topeka Covenant member. He's Elder David Miller. One of their inner circle. And Jesse—" I swallowed hard. "Jesse is their poster child. Their success story."
Phoenix looked up from their phone, face pale. "Success story for what?"
"Conversion therapy," I said quietly. "When he was fourteen, they found gay porn on his computer. Sent him away for eight months. When he came back, he was perfect. The ideal Christian son who never stepped out of line again."
The silence that followed was deafening.
"Jesus fucking Christ," Phoenix breathed.
"Language," Diana said automatically, then shook her head. "Sorry. Force of habit. But—Adrian, that explains so much."
"His rigid control," Elijah said quietly. "The way he flinches when people get too close."
"The way he talks like every word is being monitored," Andrew added.
"Because it was," I said. "For years, it was. And now—now I've proved that their flagship success story was actually a failure. That their golden boy was still gay, still 'broken,' still everything they've spent years saying they fixed."
Sam leaned forward. "So this isn't just about Jesse losing his family."
"No. This is about the public humiliation of one of their most prominent leaders. About their entire ideology being called into question." I sank into the nearest chair. "They can't just quietly disown him. Not when he's been their poster child."
"They'll have to make an example of him," Andrew said grimly.
"Rebecca said they'll send him back. But not quietly this time. Publicly, as a demonstration of their commitment to their beliefs."
Phoenix had been scrolling through their phone, their expression growing more alarmed. "It's getting worse. The video's everywhere. Someone already identified his father in the background, found old interviews about Jesse's 'recovery.'"
They held up their phone showing a grainy photo from what looked like a church newsletter. Jesse, maybe sixteen, standing next to his father at some kind of podium. He looked hollow, empty, like someone had scooped out everything that made him himself.
"Two million views and counting," Phoenix continued. "People are sharing it with captions like 'conversion therapy exposed' and 'poster child for failure.'"
"So Jesse isn't just facing personal consequences," Diana realized. "He's become a symbol."
"For both sides," I agreed. "Which means they can't let him just disappear quietly. They have to respond. Publicly."
Jamie's crying got louder. "What does that mean for him?"
"It means they'll break him down again," I said, the words tasting like ash. "But this time everyone will be watching."
"There's something else," I continued, remembering the rest of Rebecca's revelation. "Rebecca's been protecting him. All this time, their relationship—she knew he was gay. She's been planning to marry him anyway, to give him cover, to keep him safe from his parents and the church."
"She was going to sacrifice her entire life for him," Elijah said quietly.
"And he doesn't even know. He thinks their relationship is just what his parents want." I buried my face in my hands. "I didn't just destroy Jesse's protection. I destroyed the one person who was willing to give up everything to keep him safe."
The room stayed quiet for a long moment.
"That's why she was so angry," Diana said softly.
"She's lost him too," Sam added, their earlier hostility replaced by something like sympathy. "Everything she's been planning, everything she was willing to sacrifice—it's all gone now."
"Because of me," I said. "Because I couldn't leave well enough alone. Because I had to push and push until—"
