“Your parents.”
* * *
Part of me goes numb as he tells me the rest. I detach emotionally, unable to be fully present in my body as he describes how Blair and Vincent orchestrated our separation. Much as I want to deny his words, much as I wish he’s making it all up… I know better. Beyond the ring of truth in his story, there is the undeniable fact that I know, from nearly two decades of firsthand experience, exactly what my parents are capable of. I can envision it so clearly in my mind, it’s almost like I was there that day. I can almost see their expressions — that mix of haughty entitlement and blue-blooded superiority — as they pushed us around their chessboard like pawns. Each move a perfect calculation, designed for maximum impact.
Something breaks inside me as the story unfolds in painful fragments.
Something I thought had broken a long time ago. Something I thought I no longer possessed.
Hope.
My last shred of hope that I might someday forge a normal connection with the people who brought me into this world. My last sliver of optimism that maybe, in the distant future, our relationship might develop from begrudging tolerance to parental affection.
I’ve spent my life telling myself I didn’t mind that Blair and Vincent didn’t love me. Pretending that them treating me more like a feather of achievement in their cap than their beloved offspring wasn’t a deep wound in my soul. But as I listen to Archer speak, as I hear how they manipulated an untenable situation to their own advantage… I know I’ve been lying to myself.
The pain of it cripples me.
I do not cry or scream. I do not rage in Archer’s arms. But deep inside me, a cavern of despair tears wide open, swallowing me in slow degrees. It spreads through my whole body, leaving me hollowed out. Empty of every feeling but one.
Broken.
“Jo,” Archer is saying from somewhere very far away. His hands shake me lightly. “Jo, look at me.”
My eyes drag to his. I can barely focus on him.
“I’m sorry,” he whispers. There are tears glossing over his gorgeous hazel eyes. “You have to know how sorry I am. How much I’ve hated myself since that day — for agreeing to their plan, for hurting you. Every minute since I wrote that letter, I’ve wanted to take it back. Every second since I lost you, I’ve wished I’d been able to find some other way out.”
I blink at him, incapable of words. If I open my mouth, I have a feeling all that will escape is a scream.
“Jo…” He swallows roughly. “Are you okay?”
“Am I okay?” I laugh. The laugh catches in my throat, turns to a sob. I try to swallow it down, but it won’t budge. “No. No, Archer, I’m not okay.”
I jerk back, out of his grip, and scramble to my feet. I can’t sit still another second. If I do, I’ll fly apart into a thousand pieces, an explosion of emotional shrapnel. I pace in small loops across the tiny apartment, hands in my hair, mind racing ten times its normal speed, pulse thudding like a percussion band. Archer remains on the floor, watching me with wary eyes.
“I should’ve known,” I mutter. I’m not sure if I’m speaking to him or to myself. I’m not sure it matters. “I should’ve realized they had a hand in breaking us apart. Anything I’ve ever wanted that fell outside the parameters they deemed socially acceptable…”
“You couldn’t have known.” His voice is bitter. “They outplayed me. Outplayed us.”
“They’re masters at it,” I say hollowly. Is thatmyvoice — so exhausted? So strained? “They’ve been doing it my whole life.” I laugh-sob again. “They’ll keep doing it forever. It’s who they are. It’s how they operate.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Why are you sorry?” I shake my head. “I’ve been treating you like the villain this whole time when you’re the victim in all this. I should be the one apologizing. If my parents weren’t such monsters…” My hands tighten in my hair, tugging the roots to the point of pain. “God, I hate them. I hate them so much. I never want to see them again.”
He sighs. Something in the sound makes me look at him. When I see the expression on his face, my brows shoot up my forehead.
“What? Why are you looking at me like that?”
“They’re your parents, Jo.” He climbs to his feet. Walks toward me with cautious, measured steps. “Your family. No matter how you might wish otherwise at this particular moment… they’ll always be a part of your life.”
I shake my head, rejecting his words. But even as I do, I wonder if I’ll truly be able to excise Vincent and Blair out of my life like a fatal tumor. They won’t react well to their formerly obedient offspring attempting to cut ties. Even if I manage to slash my biological tethers… I know them well enough to know they won’t ever let me live in peace without them. They’ll make it their mission to dismantle any future I attempt to build, to derail any business I launch down the tracks. And with limitless funds and infinite connections at their disposal… they’ll more than likely succeed.
They didn’t reach the pinnacle of success by accident. When it comes to their enemies, they’re utterly ruthless.
I begin to pace again.
“You see now… why I didn’t want to tell you…” Archer murmurs knowingly. “I thought I could at least spare you this pain.”