“First time she called me Mom.” “Night she tried to run away.” “The day she stopped laughing.”
“I’d rather stay in the guest house,” Chloe replied.
Chloe didn’t blink. She had known. Her father, Richard, had spent the last three years of his life in a fog of opioids and guilt. In the end, he had given everything to Irene — not out of love, Chloe suspected, but out of fear. PureTaboo - Aaliyah Love- Kristen Scott -The In...
Irene’s mask cracked — just for a second. “Because he had you. And I couldn’t save you from the outside.”
Irene descended slowly, each step deliberate. “This is where I kept you safe, Chloe. When Richard was drinking. When he would come home and look at you the way men look at things they want to break. You don’t remember, do you?” “First time she called me Mom
“I was hoping you’d find it,” Irene said softly. “I was hoping you’d come down here. So we could finally talk.” Chloe backed against the cold stone wall. “What is this place?”
That night, while Irene attended a gallery opening in the city, Chloe let herself into the main house. The key turned smoothly. The door opened onto a stairwell that smelled of cedar and something sweeter — vanilla, maybe, or decay. Her father, Richard, had spent the last three
Irene stood at the top of the stairs, still in her gallery coat, rain glistening on her hair.