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Page 119 of The Damaged Billionaire's Obsession

“Silas told me. Showed me proof and everythin’.”

I remember the last conversation with my dad—well, the only one in the past ten years.

… But no, you roll in with a Ghost, flauntin’ how far you've come from the Limerick days.…

I had wondered how he knew the model of the luxury car. The first seeds of dread start to take over, too. My mother might be telling the truth. The Harmonial Sect might be one giant scam.

“How is Twiggy, um, Silas, how is he even mixed up in all of this?” I ask.

“I think the funeral did a number on him. Quite shocked by all that went on. He gave me his number and told me to call if I was ever in a bind or I felt like gettin’ out.”

Twiggy had seemed even more traumatized than I was over the things I must have endured as a child.

His reaction is the reason one of the highest transgressions was befriending someone outside the Sect. Because they’re more likely to see that the rest of the members have been brainwashed.

As much as my skin crawled to be in that Sect assembly at Nan’s funeral, I didn’t see anything they did as insanely strange. Because I’m used to their beliefs.

Twiggy must have been flabbergasted.

“I called him last week, Siobhán. Since that day in Clonmel, seein’ ya again, I’ve been crippled and riddled with guilt. It all came to a head when yer da left for the retreat and…”

“What happened?”

“The stand-in master needed some information from Paul’s desk, so he had no choice but to give me the code.” She takes a deep breath to ground herself. “Siobhán, I found that the purification the devout Harmonials do when they turn twenty-five and fifty is a sexual one. They sleep with the masters. Your da has been gettin’ cozy with different fellas and lasses once a month for the last twenty years, and I had no clue.”

Oh, God. I think I’m going to be sick.

“When I called him to confront him, he seemed gobsmacked that I didn't know. Seems the whole parish knew except me, and it’s all consensual. They sign consent forms and everythin’… but it was too much bullshit for me. Especially with how he treated ya. I called Silas and told him I’d had enough, and that’s when he told me about the money.”

“Where the hell is Da now, is he still at his ‘retreat?’”

She gives a sad laugh. “Aye, for the next six weeks.”

“You mean he’s probably somewhere like Monaco?”

“Aye, or somewhere like that,” she says, though it’s clear she doesn’t care where he is, as long as it’s away from her. My mom starts crying again. “I’m so sorry. I should never have let anythin’ come between my love for ye. Nothin’ should ever come between a mam’s love. Not faith or prejudice or personal choices. Nothin’. I understand now why ye ran. We pushed ye far away.”

I look around, suddenly remembering I’m in Lisa’s room in Brookes's penthouse.

For the past ten minutes, I was back in Limerick. The place I used to call home. I know exactly how it feels the moment you realize that you’re homeless. That the place you called home is now a raging hellhole, and there’s no way you can ever go back there.

My mother is at that point now. She wants to leave.

Somehow, I know that’s why she’s calling. Maybe Ethan’s sixth sense is finally rubbing off on me.

She can easily leave if she wants to. She has no job, except to be the wife of a Sect master. No friends except those in the Sect.

“Ma, do you want out?” I hear a deep sigh.

“Where would I go?”

“Anywhere.” I hesitate. “You could even come to New York. To me.”

“Oh, Siobhán! I don’t know.”

“I think you do, Ma. Even if you’re not leaving for good, you should clear your head. Surely, there can’t be any rule in the book against visiting your daughter?” I ask.

“I’m done with the Sect, Siobhán. This past week was like scales fallin’ from me eyes. But I’ve never been out of Ireland.”




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