Total pages in book: 140
Estimated words: 137144 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 686(@200wpm)___ 549(@250wpm)___ 457(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 137144 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 686(@200wpm)___ 549(@250wpm)___ 457(@300wpm)
Jaret gave her an interested look.
“And that Mother helped him come up with that lie and that when you said you were going to tell me the truth, she attacked you.”
“She attacked you?” Jaret asked, looking concerned.
“I don’t understand why they did that . . . actually, I guess I do. It was to isolate me from everyone. I didn’t have anyone else who truly cared about me and they thought they would ensure that any relationship between us was severed.” Lily let out a sad laugh. “Guess they succeeded.”
“Not necessarily,” Clem said.
Did that mean that Clem could forgive her? That maybe they could build a relationship again? Well, she hadn’t kicked her out of her life entirely, had she?
“Did you tell anyone that she attacked you?” Jaret asked.
“I didn’t remember that it even happened until I had a nightmare a while ago. Then it came back to me. She drugged me and when I woke up, I was in a small, private hospital. She told me that I’d had some sort of episode where I attacked her. She had scratches on her arms, and photos of the wrecked living room. She said that I tried to kill her. And I sort of had these memories of doing that. I could remember screaming at her. I could remember trying to hurt someone. I spent a few days under Dr. Wallace’s care, and he gave me these pills to take. He said that I had to take them to keep myself steady, that my central nervous system was all out of whack and was causing me to become violent.”
“Jesus, no one would blame you if you did attack that witch,” Clem said.
“What were the pills, Lily?” Jaret asked.
“They were meant to be a mild sedative. At least, that’s what it said on the bottle. But it turns out that they were laced with Devil’s Breath.”
“What the heck is Devil’s Breath?” Clem asked.
Lily explained what Devil’s Breath was and how it made her suggestible to things. Compliant. How it could erase memories or change them.
“Jesus, so your mother and this doctor were drugging you to make you do what your mother wanted?” Jaret asked.
“Yes, but there was actually more to it,” she said. “Mother also did it for the money.”
“The money? Clem asked. “What money? She didn’t have any money left. How was she paying for those pills once she lost all her money?”
“Doctor Wallace offered her a deal. He’d supply the pills and pay her if she’d let him have me for a couple of nights every fortnight. Sometimes, I remember her saying that I was going in for a checkup. Other times, I don’t even remember going to the clinic.”
“What was he doing in that clinic?” Clem asked in a quiet voice. “What was he doing to you?”
Lily couldn’t answer.
They both stared at her. Clem was pale, her eyes wide, and Jaret just looked concerned.
“What was the doctor doing to you?” Clem repeated in a low voice.
Lily moved her gaze back to her hands. She couldn’t tell them this part while looking at them.
“He was videoing me,” she whispered. “In a special area of his private clinic. He’d strip me down and move me into different positions, he’d touch my body, do things without my permission.”
“What . . . what the fuck?” Jaret said. “Did he . . . did he . . .”
“Rape me?” she asked. “No. No, he didn’t go that far, mainly because that was a condition my mother made. I don’t think the other women he videoed were that . . . lucky.” That wasn’t the right word to use. She wasn’t lucky because he didn’t rape her. “But he did other things that I never consented to. Things that make me feel . . . violated. Since I saw one of the videos, I’ve been in a weird headspace. I’ve had nightmares, panic attacks; I’ve had to talk to a therapist just so I could learn how to function again. I haven’t had much self-esteem or self-confidence for months. Probably longer. Harvey was trying to build that up again, but then we learned all of this and any sense of self-worth I had has disappeared.”
That’s partly why she’d run when she’d heard Fiadh and Amanda talking. Because their words just validated her feelings of being unworthy.
Clem got up when she finished and started pacing back and forth. Jaret stared at Clem for a long time, looking pained. Then he turned back to Lily.
“Lily, I’m so sorry that happened to you.”
Lily nodded. She didn’t really know what to say in return. She was sorry it had happened to her as well, and she wouldn’t wish that on her worst enemy.
“That fucking bastard! Please tell me that he’s been stopped,” Clem said. Stilling, she clenched and unclenched her hands.