Page 66 of The Photograph

The motherfucker raped her and…

I can’t help the growl that escapes my chest and fills the room as Cal clenches his jaw.

My friend resumes. “Wend requested an early emancipation for Aelin which was granted on the basis she would be in the care of an adult. He found Cara, who just turned nineteen at the time, and took her sister in. As part of the settlement, the Lockwoods were ordered to cover both girls’ life expenses until Aelin turned twenty-one if all parties’ identities stay protected.”

Vibrating with a rage that chokes me, I push on my knees and lurch to the window. I want to break something, starting with every bone in Lockwoods’ body.

Cal grabs my shoulder. “You good?”

No.I nod. “The girls changed their names. Cara took her maternal grandmother’s maiden name and Aelin legally chose her new last name when she turned eighteen. Sweets and Thorne, respectively. After the judgement, they left Leslieville, kept their head down, and worked hard to be able to pay for college for Cara while Aelin got a scholarship—”

I snap my eyes to Cal. “Why? You said—”

Cal sighs and swipes his hand over his face. “They never touched a cent of the money and paid for everything themselves. As of today, the balance on the account is nearly nineteen million dollars after their mother left them a living inheritance before passing away five years ago. They moved around a lot, for Cara’s job who’s making her name as a chef while Aelin became an interior designer after finishing arts school. They came here about seven years ago, then bought two old houses they redid themselves and never defaulted on a payment.”

Cal buries his fists in his pockets. And I brace myself. “Now here’s the kicker. Lockwoods remarried and tried to adopt another little girl. Luckily, an anonymous somebody notified Chris Wend. So, four months ago, he and Aelin went to family court to prevent the adoption. They presented Aelin’s file as evidence of the abuse which might be perpetrated on the little girl. They also introduced a pattern of behavior because the girl was a dead ringer for Cara and Aelin.”

Evil motherfucker. I drop my head and shut my eyes.I am not and never will be your little whore.The fear in her eyes when I reached for her…You both seem to agree on who I am.

Cal’s voice brings me back in the room. “My sources told me that against Wend’s advice, Aelin agreed to waive her right to anonymity if the case went to criminal court. The judge sided with her and Lockwoods wasn’t charged, but he won’t ever be able to adopt again. The new Mrs. Lockwoods filed and was granted divorce within a month.”

The day she came back from court, fighting the motherfucker who raped her, so another kid wouldn’t go through the same hell, I took her against a wall. Without a rubber.

Can you stay with me tonight? Just for tonight, please.She needed me to hold her, and I fled. Ran like a coward thinking she was…

‘I’ll tell you what I told him. I’m not and will never be your little whore.’

Shame splinters my chest and I brace my hand on the window. “Cal, the things I said to her…” I look at my friend. “I paid her… I shoved money in her hand and told her to leave.”Exactly like the motherfucker did.

Cal exhales sharply. “But that can be undone. Talk to—”

“She got pregnant.”

Caleb’s brows shoot up, and he shakes his head slowly. “Mike’s going to kill you,”

My breath saws out. “And I’d fucking deserve it.”

He grabs my shoulder. “G, sit down.”

Dropping heavily onto the couch, I set my forearms on my thighs as Cal settles next to me. “I went to see her yesterday and when she told me she wasn’t pregnant anymore… I…”

I hang my head low while my chest burns. “She lost it. She had a miscarriage, and I went at her like a fucking savage while she—”

Crushed under the guilt and the rage that choke me, I drop my head in my hands while tears run down my cheeks.

When Caleb wraps his arm around me, I grip his shoulder and weep.

****

The next day, I call Smithson to my office. She may never want to talk to me again, but I have to make this right. I grit my teeth at the flood of shame and guilt that tighten my chest.

When the lawyer knocks on the door, I answer without lifting my head from the screen of my laptop.

“Come in.”

“Surprise!” I whip my eyes up at Mike who walks in and opens his arms with a big grin. “How’s my great big brother?”

Fuck.

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