Page 266
In Chapter 266 of "Tempting Venom": âBut I mentioned Dr. Duret and Lenin. Surely you were planning to lock me up?ââNo.... Discover the next events!
âBut I mentioned Dr. Duret and Lenin. Surely you were planning to lock me up?â
âNo. You had to visit Dr. Fenwick because you hadnât seen him for a while, and when you mentioned Dr. Duret, I realized that we needed to do it urgently.â A deep breath rips out of him as he tightens his grip on my hand. âI know you donât like small, confined places, and Iâd never let them keep you in one again. You know that, right?â
âI donât know, Dad. I really donât.â Thereâs some water in my eyes that makes him all blurry. âI keep thinking one day Iâll screw up and youâll leaveâŚjust like Mom. Youâll hug me and tell me youâre sorry, then leave.â
âIâd never do that. You hear me? Iâd neverâŚeverleave you.â
âMom said that, too, but she didnât keep her promise. And yes, I know she killed herself since I was a teen, Dad. Grandma gave me the suicide note she left me.â
âYour motherâŚâ He swallows, straightening up. âDidnât want to leave you either, not really.â
âThen whyâŚâ
âIt was guilt and self-loathing. She only ever told me this in her suicide note, but it made a lot of sense. Valerie came from an extremely abusive household, which I already knew, but I didnât know just how far the depravity in that place went. In the note, Val said her parents sexually assaulted her and her three siblings, and she never forgave herself for being the one who got away. Two of her siblings died of drug overdoses in the streets, and the third died in an accident while drunk driving. Val was the only one who got out of France alive. She thought sheâd start a new life in America and have everything she never had when she was a kid, including a loving family, but that wasnât her reality, as youâre aware.â
âWhy couldnât you just stay with her, Dad?â
âI tried, but it was impossible. I woke up every day in fight mode, my muscles bunched for whatever disagreement sheâd come up with. Thatâs not how relationships should be. She didnât really want to stay with me either. You probably donât know this, but we had an amicable divorce.â He pauses, his voice dropping, sounding scraped. âBut youâre right, I shouldâve stayed with her. That way, you wouldnât have gone through what you did.â
âI donât⌠Itâs notâŚyour fault. I donât blame you or Mom.â
âYou have every right to. We failed you as parents. Val knew that, and she felt it ten times worse because she invited what happened to her onto her son, and she couldnât live with that.â
âShe didnât know. Iâm the one who kept quiet and didnâtfight.â My voice breaks on the last word.
âNo, Preston.No.â He clutches my shoulders. âYou canât blame yourself for what happened. You were achild. A victim. And victims shouldneverblame themselves for their perpetratorsâ actions.â
âBut if Iâd told you or MomâŚâ
He shakes his head. âDonât think like that, okay? Donât be trapped in a past you canât change, son.â
Trapped in the past.
Is that what Iâve been doing all this time by refusing to let go or face it properly?
Instead of killing my seven-year-old self, have I actually been confined inside him, refusing to let him go?
âIf you need to blame someone, blame me, okay?â Dadâs grip tightens around my shoulders. âBlame me for not protecting you, for not seeing the signs, for not insisting you stay with me when you wanted to. Keep loathing me all you want, but donât ever,everblame yourself for something that was out of your control.â
Two rivulets of tears fall down my cheeks as all my fucked-up emotions rush to the front. âI n-never hated you, Dad. I justâŚwanted you to stay.â
âI am staying, Preston. For however long you need me.â
He pulls me close, and I wrap my arms around him, shaking, trembling, even as striking bolts of pain slice through me.
Even as my chest crumbles and the little seven-year-old boy inside me disintegrates.
âDad?â My lips tremble around the words.
âYes?â
âWhat happened tohim? Did Mom kill him that night?â
âNo. He only lost consciousness.â His hand sweeps over my back in a slow, grounding stroke. âI locked him in a cell and tortured him for years, only keeping him alive just soI could torture him again. I cut his dick off and made him choke on it for days. Unfortunately, he died a couple of years later due to an infection. Otherwise, I wouldâve tortured him for a lifetime.â
âWow.â I chuckle through the tears, pulling away. âI didnât know you could be this ruthless.â
He lifts a brow. âHow do you believe I got this far in this world?â