Page 6 of Brutal Sinner
I step back as if they slapped me and my walls crumble under the biggest betrayal.
“You planned this. How long?”
I step toward them, and my father pushes me back so hard I stumble.
“Yes!” He roars. “We planned it. This is the best of a bad situation. Who else would take you on with a bastard child?”
This time I run at him and am rewarded with a punch to my stomach. I drop to my knees as my mom cries and my father yells, “You are a whore! The devil took your soul and corrupted you. No man wants to marry a whore and you are lucky the Reverend is a holy man and has vowed to punish the devil inside you.”
It hurts so much, but I won’t cry. Not in front of them because any tears I had dried up years ago.
Mom says gently, “Please, Faith. This is the best situation for all of us.”
I stare up at her and whisper, “All of us?”
“Yes.”
She drops to her knees before me and sobs, “You let this family down. You had sex with a man and bore a child out of wedlock. We are pariahs in this town because of you, and this will help us get our reputation back.”
She grasps my hands. “You will be the wife of the most influential man in Heaven. Hiswife, Faith. You will be powerful by association, and so shall we. Reverend Peters has done this family a great honor and only a fool would refuse. You have no choice—there isnoother choice, so do as your father says and pack your bags. Do it for Hope if you won’t do it for you. Please, I’m begging you.”
The person staring at me with obvious distress is a stranger to me. I suppose she always has been because she gave up being a mother years ago. When I think of my own daughter currently in the hands of a monster, I realize there is only one choice. She is the most important thing in my life, and I will fight for her.
They may believe this war is over, but I’m a fighter and this is not sitting well with me. I have a child and responsibilities and if they think I’m going to play by their rules, then they don’t know me at all. I never have and when I found a man of the same mind, we destroyed one another.
We clashed like two bolts of lightning and the explosion rocked this small town. He was always bad news, always a renegade, and that was the main attraction. Every girl loves a bad boy and Jonny Santos was the devil to whom I readily gifted my soul.
I have no choice and as I pack, I gulp back the tears, determined to keep a cool head rather than react.
As I fill the cases, I swallow back the tears as I fold the cute little garments that Hope looks so sweet in. A gentle tap on the door almost passes me by because my own thoughts are so loud I can hear nothing else and then as the door opens, our house maid Goody heads in and says with great sadness, “I’m so sorry Miss.”
“I hate you.”
I stand and stare at the poor maid as she cowers under my icy glare.
“I had no choice.” She offers by way of an explanation, and I hiss, “You gave them my child. How could you?”
The tears run down her face as she whispers, “I had to. You understand that Miss. It’s how things work around here.”
I know I’m being a bitch. Blaming the hired help for something she has no control over and with a sigh, I drop down on the bed and say sorrowfully, “What am I going to do, Goody?”
“Beats me.” She sighs heavily and sits beside me and takes my hand in a show of compassion.
“It may not be so bad, ma’am.”
“Do you really believe that?”
I half laugh and she shakes her head mournfully. “No, ma’am. I guess you’re right.”
“He’s so old, Goody.” I shiver as I contemplate the man who will call himself my husband.
“He is.”
Her voice trembles and I sigh heavily. “So ugly too.”
“He is, Miss.”
“You don’t suppose I’ll have to…”