Page 131 of Beautiful Venom
Just because I said I didn’t want to see his face for three days. I was actually being vengeful because he refused to get together if sex wasn’t involved, but I didn’t think he’d take it literally.
So I sent him a text this morning.
Wow. Talk about petty.
He left me on Read.
Not gonna lie, I don’t like it when my tactics are used against me.
But, anyway, Kane who?
The guy I can’t stop being curious about and, therefore, dropped by his parents’ house, that’s who.
With an internal groan, I focus back on Helena. “Is Sora always this greedy?”
She laughs, the sound airy. “I suppose. He’s the oldest and believes in hierarchy.”
“Just like Kane.”
Her smile disappears. “No. Kane believes in control. Just like his father.”
My fingers pause and Helena throws some food, her gaze lost in the depths of the dark pond.
“I don’t want to be nosy, and you don’t have to tell me if you don’t feel comfortable, but I’ve been curious…” I swallow. “Why is your relationship with Kane so strained?”
“Have you seen the scars on his back?” she asks, not looking at me.
“Yes, and I also noticed bruises on his wrists not too long ago.”
She stiffens, her face becoming so pale, I think she’s getting sick. But when she speaks, her voice is strained, as though she’s barely holding it together. “He’s been trained or, more accurately,torturedby his father ever since he was six years old. He’s had to go through physical, mental, and even poison training since he was a kid. And while he’s more independent now, if he doesn’t meet Grant’s expectations, he’s punished severely. I didn’t protect him and he hates me. Rightfully so.”
My lips part and the bowl nearly falls from my hand. “You mean to tell me those hideous scars were caused by hisfather? What type of father hurts his son that badly?”
“The type who’s raising an heir and that heir needs to be a machine.” A shine appears in her sunken eyes. “Before all of this, Kane was the sweetest boy. He was kind and happy. He felt bad for others and helped them. He played with the staff’s children and gave them his favorite toys. He used to read me bedtime stories, not the other way around, and loved plucking flowers from the garden and giving them to me.”
As she speaks, her smile widens, but then it disappears as the wind ruffles her hair. “But those beautiful personality traits were seen as weaknesses in Grant’s eyes. He told me that his son would not grow up into a useless philanthropist, and there was nothing I could do to stop it. If I wanted to leave, so be it. But I didn’t, and I had to stand helpless as Grant set out to destroy Kane’s soul and purge all those pure emotions until he was as bleak and soulless as himself. And he succeeded. With flying colors.”
A fierce surge of rage floods through me.
I don’t even know who I’m angry at. Kane’s dad or the damn world he was born into. I’m even mad at Helena for not stopping the abuse.
But at the same time, I want to hug her.
I feel like she’s also a victim in a different sense. While she didn’t leave, she also didn’t help.
“I apologize for oversharing.” Helena takes the bowl of food and places it on a shelf under the gazebo. “I don’t know why I feel comfortable talking to you. Maybe it’s because I lost my son, so I’m trying to get close to his girlfriend. If you don’t mind keeping an old woman some company, that is.”
I’m not his girlfriend. At least, not in that sense.
“You’re not old,” I say instead. “And I would love to. You have a lovely place.”
“It’s not mine. It’s Grant’s. Everything is Grant’s. I’m merely an accessory in his shiny empire.”
She guides me to a table under a heated, covered gazebo where some staff are pouring tea. There’s a towering assortment of hors d’oeuvres and pastries.
“I didn’t know what you like, so I had the chef prepare a little bit of everything.”
A little bit is an understatement. She basically brought the whole kitchen to the table; it’s pure European-style afternoon tea.
