“You didn’t survive,” I say, my voice low and steady. “You let it break you. You became exactly what they wanted you to be.”
“I became what I needed to be to make it through,” she says, her voice hard. “But I wasn’t alone. Your father found escape in me and I found escape in him. We protected each other. He even betrayed his own kind for me.” Her voice breaks slightly on the last word, a hint of raw pride slipping through her carefully constructed facade.
The implication of her words hangs heavy in the air between us. The Legacies, he’d betrayed them, but I already knew that. Bishop had told me this, ironically enough, right outside this very building. But knowing my parents felt something for one another back then? The thought makes my stomach twist into a ball of confused knots. I don’t recall ever seeing love between them. They were like two separate lost souls in the same house.
“So what happened?” I ask, taking another cautious step toward her. “If you two were so close, why did it all fall apart?”
“You really don’t know anything about Magnus, do you? About the choices he made, the sacrifices.”
She takes a step closer, and I instinctively back away, my heel touching the edge of the pool. I’m trapped between Vera and the empty space below, with nowhere left to run.
“He was different back then,” Vera continues, her voice softening with memory. “Passionate, idealistic. He believed he could change things from the inside.”
This version of my father—passionate, idealistic—is so at odds with the withdrawn, broken man I’ve known my whole life. But there’s a ring of truth to her words that I can’t deny.
Vera’s eyes cloud over, lost in memory. “We could’ve been happy. We had it all…”
“What happened?” I ask, my tone suddenly harsh. “What did you do?” I demand.
Her eyes bulge with a fiery rage that I’ve only witnessed once before, three years ago.
Vera’s face contorts with fury, her eyes burning with an intensity that makes me flinch. “What didIdo?” she snarls, taking another step toward me. “I didn’t do anything. It was his stupid last name and his family that ruined us.”
I stumble back, my heel slipping on the edge of the pool. I windmill my arms, catching myself and regaining my balance. Vera doesn’t even seem to notice my precarious position, lost in her own rage.
“He promised he’d make it up to me,” Vera continues, her words coming faster now, tinged with a manic energy. “We had plans, dreams of a life beyond these walls.”
I can see it all so clearly—my father and Vera, young and in love, dreaming of a future together. But something went terribly wrong.
I can feel my heart thumping, torn between fear of Vera’s rage and a desperate curiosity to know more about my father’s past. “What plans?” I ask, forcing calm into my voice. “What dreams?”
Vera’s eyes snap back to me, as if suddenly remembering I’m there. For a moment, I see a flicker of something else in her gaze—regret, perhaps, or longing. But it’s quickly buried beneath her anger.
“It doesn’t matter now,” she spits. “Your father chose you and Clara over me. And now I’m choosing myself.”
Her words hang in the air, heavy with finality. A shiver crawls up my back, realizing just how dangerous this situation has become. Vera’s not just angry—she’s unhinged, driven by years of bitterness and resentment.
“Vera,” I say, my voice tight with suppressed emotion, standing at the edge of the empty pool that drops into darknessbelow. “Whatever happened between you and my father, it’s in the past. You don’t have to—”
“It’s Mom!” she screams, her voice piercing through the air like a dagger, sharp end relentless. I try to evade her, but there’s no escape. Her hands come down on my shoulders with brutal force, shoving me backward.
Time slows to a crawl as I feel myself falling, gravity pulling me toward the hard concrete below. The world spins and tilts until all I can see is the ceiling of the natatorium looming above me. In that split second before impact, I catch a glimpse of Vera’s face twisted in a mixture of fury and something else… Remorse? Panic? And then everything goes dark as my body slams against the unforgiving concrete floor.
The Story Continues...
