In that instant, Gilbert held his breath, his gaze locked unblinking on Sherilyn.
Her voice trembled, no matter how hard she tried to steady it. The fear from that day clung to her, crawling back with every word she spoke.
They cornered me in the alley. Tore at my clothes… She gripped the edge of the cushion, knuckles white. I grabbed whatever I could reach and fought them off. I threw anything-anything I could get my hands on. But…
Her voice faltered, and silent tears streamed down her cheeks.
Jenna started crying.
Her jaw clenched, voice shaking with fury. They weren’t even human-monsters, animals. They threatened me with Jenna! But, but…..”
The tears came harder now, unstoppable.
Jenna wouldn’t stop crying. She was so scared… She cried so loudly they got annoyed. And then-they tried to smother her with a pillow.
She was just a baby. That act alone was enough to kill her, enough to kill a mother’s soul.
A bitter laugh escaped Sherilyn. Her eyes glittered with something fierce and wild. They underestimated what a mother would do to save her child. I would have died before letting them lay a finger on Jenna.
She’d injured two of those men and ended up at the police station.
Everything that happened after that, Joyce had already told him…
From the sofa, Gilbert looked ashen, like a ghost in daylight.
She’d spoken so plainly, yet every word painted a picture so vivid it made his heart ache.
He sat in stunned silence, staring at her.
He remembered, just over a year ago, when she’d returned to Sunhaven…
Seeing her again after all those years, he thought she’d simply grown up, gotten independent.
How naïve he’d been.
What a cruel joke. Behind that so-called strength was a truth far uglier.
It wasn’t just life that had changed her-it was hell itself. It had stripped her bare, broken her bones, severed her from everything she’d once been.
Yet somehow, she had stitched herself back together, piece by shattered piece.
By the time she came back to Sunhaven, she was nothing like the woman who had left.
His wife he’d sent her away to Crestwood.
His wife she’d died in Crestwood.
The words lodged in Gilbert’s throat. He tried, again and again, to speak, but no sound came out.
You…
Sherilyn stopped and looked at him.
Her heart twisted. Are you… crying?
Tears streamed down his handsome face, his eyes red-rimmed and swollen, his gaze bloodshot and raw.
A shaky laugh escaped Sherilyn, half-choked, half-broken. You don’t have to…
It’s not like they got away with it. I fought back. Smashed their heads open, gave as good as I got.
Sherilyn!
Gilbert shot to his feet, crossing the coffee table in two strides. He knelt before her. What else? What else don’t I know?
Is there more?
Sherilyn frowned, thinking hard.
There was.
Oh, right. Back then, Jenna was just born… I had no milk, no money. I couldn’t buy formula, couldn’t buy diapers. So what was I supposed to do?
She took a shaky breath. So I stole…
The tears fell like rain, unstoppable.
But, I got caught. Right there and then…
She looked up at Gilbert, her voice slow, deliberate, every word stabbing deep. They pinned me to the ground. Beat me while I was down. And little Jenna-she just lay in my arms, so quiet. She didn’t cry. Not even once.
Gilbert squeezed his eyes shut, darkness swimming before him. His whole body shuddered, threatening to collapse.
When he opened his eyes again, he tasted blood.
His voice shook uncontrollably. Is there… is there more? Please. Tell me. I need to know. All of it.
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