"You can't guilt your son into spending the rest of his life taking care of her just because you feel sorry for what happened to her as a child." Her lips curled. "Because she was violated. That's not fair to him."
The words detonated in my ears like thunder.
Stifled gasps rippled through the crowd.
Every pair of eyes locked onto me. Heads leaned together. Fingers pointed. Whispers slithered.
My mind went blank.
The thing I'd been terrified of my entire life had finally happened.
Fear and fury crashed over me in a single, drowning wave.
I lost control.
I lunged at Camille, shoving her to the ground, my fingers tangling in her hair as we grappled.
A brutal force seized my arm and wrenched me away.
My body slammed into the corner of a table. Pain exploded through me, and my vision went black at the edges.
Kevin pulled Camille into his arms, shielding her. His eyes blazed with rage.
"Have you lost your mind, Millicent?!"
My voice came out raw, shredded. "You didn't see that she did it on purpose?! She said it loud enough for everyone to hear!"
"So what if she did!"
Kevin cut me off, his voice venomous.
"She was telling the truth!"
The murmurs around us sharpened into clarity.
"Oh my god, it's actually true? That poor girl..."
"Still, she shouldn't have hidden it. That's basically tricking an honest man into cleaning up someone else's mess. Making him look like a fool."
Pity. Contempt. The words stabbed into my back like needles.
I swallowed past the lump choking my throat, but tears spilled over anyway.
"I told you about this in confidence," I rasped. "Was that so you could announce it to the whole world?"
The tenderness Kevin used to look at me with was gone. Erased. As if it had never existed.
"You're the one who told me. You clearly didn't care that much about keeping it secret—why should I have to cover for you?"
He wasn't done.
"Besides, how come you're the one this happened to?"
His lip curled.
"Takes two to tango. Maybe if you hadn't dressed so provocatively back then, it wouldn't have—"
CRACK.
Kevin's head snapped to the side. A vivid handprint bloomed across his cheek.
Alma stood there, chest heaving, her palm still raised. Her eyes held nothing but devastation.
"You animal."
"Do you have any idea that what happened to Millicent is because of you?"
