Thorne Princess(97)

She stared at him with eyes full of fire and wrath. I stepped into her line of vision, snapping my fingers in her face.

“Focus,” I ordered.

“On what?” she cried out. “It’s obvious to all, Craig didn’t do it. It’s just a lie you made. I know about your little fling when you were in college. He told me! He may be a cheat, but he is not that kind of person. He—”

“He first molested me when I was fourteen,” I started, undeterred. Her mouth fell open.

“What?”

“And it went on for years. As recent as a few weeks ago, the day of your wedding rehearsal and the mysterious allergy. But I’m guessing you were onto him one of the later times he did it, and he told you I seduced him, right? That I wanted it. That I asked for it, even. Which is why you hate me so much these days.”

It all started to make sense to me now. Her behavior toward me. Toward Craig. She thought we were lovers.

Her face contorted in recognition. As if everything finally made sense now. Something else lurked behind her blue eyes. A vacant, hollow sadness I’d never seen before.

Transfixed on me, she collapsed on the arm of the sofa for support. “I…I…I didn’t…I never thought…”

“And you never asked,” I said pointedly.

“You’re right.” Her eyes filled with tears. “I just accepted his version, swallowed my pride, and moved on, thinking you must hate me so much to do this to me and my relationship. Please tell me everything, Hallie. Please.”

And so I did. I didn’t miss one detail, from the first time to the last one, just three weeks ago. The way I tried to fight him off. To stop him. How I’d changed, little by little, after each attack. Craig took pieces of my soul, until nothing was left. Until I became the plastic shell she’d seen plastered on Hollywood tabloids, flashing her nipple to the entire world.

Because I knew what I was.

Damaged goods.

“But why didn’t you tell me?” Hera flew up from the couch, walking over to her floor-to-ceiling window. She wasn’t crying anymore, but she looked wrecked.

“I wanted to.” I watched her back. “So many times. But each time I tried to speak to you, you were busy, or dismissive, or not available for me. You wanted nothing to do with me. I knew where I stood with you. You were ashamed of my dyslexia, with my lack of academic achievement. You didn’t want my averageness to rub off on you. You liked being completely separate entities. I never measured up to you. You were the shining star who burned everything in her path, and I was lost in your shadow.”

She turned around to me, wrapping her arms around herself. “How could I have missed this?”

“Easily,” I said tiredly. “Craig only showed one side of himself to you.”

She shook her head. “He had anger issues. I mean, does. He still has them. He broke one of Mom’s vases when we had a fight a while back. Another time, he kicked a friend of mine out of our apartment because she teased him about his SAT score. He’s been in therapy for a while now. Two, three years maybe? I thought he was doing better. I never imagined his hotheadedness could translate into…”

“Sexual violence?” I completed for her.

“Yes.”

Tears engulfed her eyes. She tried to fight them. After all, she was Hera, the wife of Zeus, the queen of all gods. Utterly untouchable.

“All this time, I stayed with him because I didn’t want to cause a headline. The public really loved that Craig and I were high school sweethearts, so I tried to push through with the relationship.” She sniffed. “So you didn’t make it all up to get back at me for that article?”

I closed my eyes, taking a breath. “Hera, I’m sorry to disappoint, but even though I’m not happy with the way my life has gone, I never wanted to be you. No offense, but it looks like you’re leading a pretty miserable life. You don’t give yourself any breathing room. You work yourself to the bone, exhaust your body with punishing workouts, and you always do whatever people expect of you, without any consideration for what you want. I don’t actually think you’re even in love with Craig. I’ve seen you two together. It looks more like an arrangement of convenience than anything else. You want to be this perfect creature, but Hera…” I opened my eyes, smiling sadly. “The person you’re trying to be doesn’t exist. You’re killing yourself trying to become her.”

Her tears fell freely now, covering her cheeks. She collapsed on the floor. Her forehead touched the cool marble. Her back quivered with sobs.

“I made a horrible mistake marrying him.”

“I’m sorry,” I whispered.

I didn’t fail to notice how Hera was still focused on her life, her decisions, her mistakes, her heartache. Even though I was the one with the trauma. The one who’d been wronged. I supposed sympathy was too much to ask. Especially considering we were all on the brink of a national scandal.

As if reading my thoughts, she tilted her head and stared at me. “Your life’s going to change forever, too, you know.” She used the couch’s back to try to steady herself before standing upright. “As soon as the news breaks, everyone will know. Are you ready for that?”

“Ready? No.” I smiled, turning around and ambling to the door. “Prepared? Yes.”