My voice came out thin, barely there.
The charges were fabricated. Every last one. But Hubert never bothered to investigate. He took Clarissa's word as gospel, no questions asked. He really did love her that much.
A bitter laugh echoed somewhere inside my chest.
What followed was six hours of beatings. By the end, my vision went black and I lost consciousness entirely.
When I opened my eyes again, I was in a hospital bed.
Hubert sat beside me, his gaze flat and cold. "Stop going after Clarissa. Unless you want more of the same."
I said nothing.
During the two years he'd schemed to strip me of everything in the divorce, I'd swallowed every kind of suffering there was. This time, I was going to carve out a future of my own.
Hubert looked at my bruised, swollen face. Something unreadable flickered in his eyes. Then a phone rang, and his attention snapped away.
I glanced over without turning my head. The caller was Clarissa.
The moment he picked up, his brow softened. His voice turned gentle.
All things that used to be mine.
Back then, he'd been the notorious troublemaker at Crestfall High, and I was just a girl who'd gotten lost and stumbled onto him beating someone up.