“Rodrick tried to tell him, both about the past sexual abuse and what came afterward, the physical abuse, the beatings. The duke conveniently chose not to believe his son. That’s when I entered their lives.”
I hold my breath, my intuition telling me the worst has yet to be said.
“Rodrick and I formed an instant connection. Perhaps because I always respected him and never treated him like a problem child, even when he misbehaved. One day, he found the courage to tell me everything. I’m a lawyer. I work with facts and, above all, evidence. I advised him to film her, and that’s what he did.”
“To blackmail her?”
“To try to put an end to Iona’s cruelty once and for all, since Donell wouldn’t take him seriously. Rodrick pretended to accept her advances. He arranged to meet his stepmother in his bedroom and placed a video feed in the duke’s study, showingeverything that would take place in the bedroom. He knew that on that day his father would be working from home. In fact, he was only a few steps away from Rodrick’s room. In any case, by that point Rodrick was already big and strong, and if anything went wrong, Iona wouldn’t be able to force him into anything. The plan went exactly as expected. The woman undressed . . .” He looks uncomfortable. “I’m sorry to recount something so sordid, Jazmina, but if you want to understand your husband’s mind, you need to hear it through to the end.”
“I won’t lie and say this is easy. I myself would kill her if I had the chance. I hate her with every fiber of my being.”
“So do I, my child, and I hope she’s burning in hell.”
“Please, go on.”
“The duke entered the room with a gun in his hand. He shot his wife and then himself.”
The room spins as I try to imagine the horror of that moment.
Agitated, I stand up, but my legs give out and everything goes black.
Chapter 46
“What happened, Athol?”
“Forgive me, Princess. I shouldn’t have told you anything.”
“You should have. I needed to know. It’s the only way I have to reach him. He’ll never be able to open up, and now I know why. I can’t even imagine all the horror he went through.” I start crying again. “I’m not usually emotional, but I love him. I can feel his suffering as if it were my own.”
“I understand.”
“And his father . . .what he did is unforgivable. Negligent. As if it weren’t enough to fail by not believing his son, traumatizing an already abused child by committing such an act right in front of him . . .”
“I think he did it out of remorse. He was consumed by guilt, and in his mind perhaps killing the woman who’d abused his son and then himself was a form of atonement.”
“To me, it was a final act of selfishness. If he had thought of Rodrick, he would never have done something like that in front of him. There’s no excuse for his behavior.” Then I remember something. “Athol, why does Rodrick hate Gilroy somuch? Did he perhaps . . .?” I can’t finish the sentence. The terror of the mere possibility makes me dizzy again.
“No. The hatred comes from the fact that Gilroy knew Rodrick was telling the truth and lied in front of the duke, defending his mother.”
“He knew?”
“Yes. That’s why Rodrick expelled him from his lands after he became duke. There’s a lot of resentment between the two of them. Only recently did I learn that Gilroy himself was also a victim of that woman. I’m not defending him, but his life wasn’t easy. He became a drug user and is now trying to get back on his feet.”
“She abused her son?”
“Yes. According to what he told me, from the very beginning. Have you ever heard the story of the elephant that’s tied to a stake when it’s small? It grows, becomes strong, but inside it still believes it’s a calf. That woman was toxic, abusive, and cruel. She nearly destroyed the lives of two little boys.”
“Even so, that doesn’t excuse his lying. If he had supported his foster brother, the outcome might have been different.”
“We’ll never know, lass. We’ll never know.”
“I understand why Rodrick hates him.”
“So do I, but life isn’t black and white. Emotions like fear and guilt can create chaos inside a child. Shape their character.”
“You feel sorry for Gilroy.”
“Yes, I do.”