VICTOR

As I curl my fingers into fists, I take a step closer to her.

“Tell me that this man is lying.” I begin to say as she turns to face me, tears already rising in her eyes. Liar. Liar, liar, liar! “Tell me that this man who you claim is Diana’s father is lying about the money he’s been giving you. Tell me that he’s lying, Mum, because if he isn’t, and he’s telling the truth, Diana and I are out right fucking now.”

Her lips tremble and her fake act begins all over again.

Typical.

“I’m sorry, Victor. I didn’t know how to bring up the money without you both asking me questions. I didn’t know how I’d be able to explain myself.”

“We don’t care about how you would have explained it, we care about the fact that we could have all lived comfortably if you were being honest about the money! Besides, how can you feel okay taking money off of a stranger?”

At least in my case, I was offering my body in return for money. From what Gideon has said, he’s been giving her money for the sake of giving her money–because he’s pitied her.

And she’s been stupid enough to take it and not mention a word of it to us.

“He’s not a stranger, Victor. He’s…he’s the father to my daughters.”

And boom.

The bomb’s been dropped.

As I try to make sense of her words, I feel my heart pounding in my chest. Diana takes a sharp breath behind me, and I’m pretty certain that Gideon does too.

Daughters?

“You have more children?”

My sister asks, and as soon as she does, our mother snaps all over again.

“Shut it, Diana! Because of you, your brother has to work to make ends meet! We barely have anything to get by because of you!”

My head’s shaking before she’s even finished speaking.

What a fucking liar.

Gideon moves closer, his face furious as he towers over Mum’s frame all over again.

“Don’t you fucking dare put this on her, Serena. You know damn well the money I’ve given you is enough for the three of you, two times over. I made sure neither you nor your son would struggle, and that money I’ve been paying you for the last fifteen years guaranteed it.”

Even though I want to get a hammer, break everything in this room and leave my mother with dust, I keep my cool. I take deep breaths in through my nose and out through my mouth, forcing my body to relax before I can speak again.

“If he’s been giving you all of this money, why the fuck am I killing myself each day by working as if we can’t afford anything?”

“We can’t afford anything, baby. I don’t have any money because I’m in a lot of debt and I owe a lot of people a lot of money. There’s barely anything left for us by the time I finish paying off my debts to people.”

Fucking typical.

“If you really owed a shit-ton of people money, you would have left this house and looked for a job. You’re a fucking liar and the only person you care about is yourself! How is it fair that I’ve been working for years now when you’ve been handed all this money for no fucking reason?!”

My fingers are curled into fists and my breathing is erratic.

I feel Diana move as she puts a hand on my back, trying to tug me away.

Knowing that Gideon is seeing me act like that sets my entire body on fire. There’s no need to feel embarrassed but I can feel the shame physically crawling up my body.

How did things change so quickly?

“Get out of my fucking house! I can’t deal with this anymore–get out!” Mum’s screaming now.

“Where will we go? Victor’s given the last of his paycheck to you, Mum. There’s nowhere for us to go.”

Diana says quietly as Mum glares at her once again. I can feel my sister shrink into herself beside me.

“Become a whore if you need to–I don’t give a fuck! Just get out of my house!”

At that word, whore,I turn to look at Gideon.

Gideon doesn’t look too impressed, and I’m sure that I don’t either, but this isn’t good enough. She’s had all of this money for fifteen years and it’s only just coming out now.

Would she have even told us about this if it wasn’t for us seeing Gideon tonight?

I know she wouldn’t have.

She’s too selfish to think about anyone other than herself.

“Yes, because being a whore earns us so much money, doesn’t it?”

I’m laughing hysterically now.

Tears prick the back of my eyes and if it wasn’t for Gideon standing here, watching this all go down, I would have been bawling a long time ago.

“Victor, shut up!” My sister hisses out as I feel Gideon turn to look at her, a small dip between his eyebrows.

I ignore her as I move closer to my mother.

“Being a whore guarantees we’ve got a roof over our heads, clothes on our bodies, food on the table, doesn’t it?”

I repeat Gideon’s words from earlier on and it makes my stomach flip. He’s been supporting us for so many years, but we’ve still been struggling.

How the fuck was that fair?

“What are you talking about, Victor? Spit it out clearly!”

I take a deep breath in.

And finally, the truth is revealed.

“I’m a prostitute, Mum. I’m a fucking whore.” Her face drops before it scrunches into an expression of disgust. “What else could a drop-out like myself be? Being a whore meant I would be selling my body for some quick cash, and you didn’t seem to mind when I put that same cash in your hand.”

A beat passes between us.

“Get the fuck out of my house.”

Turning around, I grip Diana’s wrist, ready to leave to go anywhere that isn’t here when Gideon moves first. His hand goes to his pocket and as he fishes his keys out, he passes it to me.

As he does, our fingers brush.

It’s a stupid thing to think about but it’s all I can focus on, even though his fingers were on mine for only a second or so.

“You and Diana go and take a seat in my car. I’ll be out in a second.”

My eyes dart between his before I finally nod and take Diana’s hand in mine, turning as we step out of the kitchen and walk through the house.

As soon as we’ve left the room, Mum’s begun again.

“The world could do with more men like Gideon Florian James, always the knight in fucking armour, making everyone around him seem like the villain!”

I squeeze Diana’s hand and tug her out from the house.

We barely speak as we unlock his car and open the door, scooting into the back as we sit patiently, waiting for him to come.