Page 54 of Forged in Flames (Made of Steel 2)

"Yes. She was my neighbor."

"You lived at several addresses with your parents. Which address was she a neighbor at?"

"The last one."

Liza jotted something down in her notebook. "Okay, so Rebecca Young was the only person looking for you. Is that something we should look into? Maybe..."

"No." I was surprised by how authoritative my voice sounded. "Can we please just leave her and her family out of it? I don't want to pull anyone else into this mess."

"I haven't left a cyber footprint since I was five. I think it's worth looking into. But right now, we're talking about what we already know." She pulled out a file from her bag and opened it. "Back to where your story left off. Summer lived with Don Roberts for almost six years. During that time she was physically assaulted on multiple occasions, leaving her with dozens of broken bones, yet only one known trip to the emergency room. She was also sexually assaulted..."

"Liza please stop," I said.

Liza ignored me. "And she suffered irreparable damage to..."

"Liza stop."

"...Her pelvis."

The air seemed to leave my lungs.

Eli's arm fell from around my shoulders. "What does that mean exactly?" He grabbed one of the papers from Liza's file and looked at the report she had written up.

"It means I can't have children," I said. It was probably the first time I had ever spoken those words out loud. Hearing it made it seem so final. I placed my hand on my stomach, remembering everything Don had taken from me. "I'll be right back." My chair squeaked behind me as I abruptly stood up. "I just need to use the restroom." I walked away before anyone said anything to me.

I locked the door behind me, placed both hands on the vanity, and stared at my reflection in the mirror. And for a brief moment I saw it. I saw the look that was in Don's eyes. In the real Sadie Davis' eyes. Death. I lifted my hands and took a step back. I was becoming them. He was turning me into my worst nightmare.

I ran my fingers through my hair and turned away from the mirror. He had killed my hopes and dreams. He had killed my reason to live. Maybe continuing down this path was what he wanted. I suddenly felt exhausted. Like all the fight in me had just seeped out of my bones.

Tonight wasn't going as planned. I didn't expect my most intimate details to be revealed. No one at the table needed to know about my likelihood of reproduction. Or lack thereof. Liza had crossed the line. How could she have not seen that revealing that would hurt me? I took a deep breath to try to calm myself down.

None of that mattered. Especially if we didn't figure out what the real Sadie Davis was going to do in four days. We had more to talk about. Me locking myself in the bathroom wasn't helping anyone. Without taking another glance in the mirror, I walked back out into the hall.

I froze when I saw a picture being projected onto the wall in front of the glass table. I pressed my lips together. It was of Miles' family. And me. His mom and dad were standing with their arms wrapped around each other's backs, huge smiles on their faces. Miles and I were standing in front of his parents and his father's hand was on his son's shoulder. There was an awkward gap between me and Miles. When I was little, I had always wanted that space to disappear. But what I hadn't realized was that the space between us never existed. I thought about Miles' story about meeting me. And how different it was from what I thought had happened. It was clear as day in the picture though. Because Miles wasn't staring at the camera. He was staring at me.

I quickly wiped away a tear that had fallen down my cheek. "I asked you not to look into the Young family."

The three of them turned toward me. I guess they hadn't heard me exit the bathroom.

"When were you going to tell us that your RA was Rebecca Young's son?" Eli asked.

"I..." my voice trailed off. "I didn't think it was important. It was a long time ago. He doesn't know that I'm Summer."

"You don't know that for sure."

"Yes I do. He would never lie to me." I let that thought sink in. All I had been doing to Miles since I was nine years old was lying to him. Telling him I was fine. Telling him I didn't mind foster care. Telling him no one was hurting me.

"People change, Summer."

I knew that better than anyone. Because I wasn't Summer anymore. I looked back up at the picture on the wall. He loved me. And I let him down.

"If she doesn't think her identity has been compromised, then it's not an issue," V said.

"You may have been watching her, but so have I." Eli stood up. "This Miles guy wants her. You should see the way he looks at her, like a fucking piece of meat."

"He doesn't." How dare he talk about him that way? I walked back over to the table. "You don't know him. He's not like that."

"Miles Young has probably slept with half the women on campus," Eli said. "He's a womanizer."

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