Page 166 of Adam
“All right,” I say. “Let me tell you a story. You’ll love this one.”
I prowl to the office and lift the cube, holding it tighter than I should.
“Once upon a time, there was this pretty woman. Forced into a life she never asked for. Tricked into marrying something wearing a man’s face, never knowing the devil she was binding herself to at that altar.”
Cain scoffs. I’d already insulted his mommy.
“Born into a shiny, powerful family. Money, status, power dripping from every corner. And the husband wanted it all. Every last piece. So he kept her drugged, fogged out of her own head, stuffed with pills until she looked unstable, useless and easy to control.”
“We already know all this,” Judas snaps.
“Fine,” I mutter, clicking my tongue. “Let’s skip to the good bit.”
A grin twitches at the edge of my mouth. “This house started filling up like a fucking zoo. First, the bastard her husband dragged in from God-knows-where, dropped right into her lap like some twisted gift. Then—surprise, surprise—she ends up pregnant with her own. Shocking, right? Even drugged out of her mind, her body still did what it was told.”
Cain rubs his temples, agitated. “I’m going to kill you.”
“Then she got pregnant again. Sweet, right? Maybe her loving husband just couldn’t get enough of her?” I huff out a laugh. “Yeah, no. That piece of shit raped her.”
I nod, wiggling my fingers in the air with a proud smile. “And guess who popped out of that nightmare? That’s right. The one and only.”
Judas stays still, his brows pulling together like he’s just now realizing the freak show he was born into.
“Not to drag it out,” I go on, “but Father hated Cain—wasn’t his blood, after all. And as for me … Well, he didn’t give a single fuck.”
My eyes darken, the grin fading. “And mommy dearest? Oh, she loved Cain. Worshipped the ground he walked on. Meanwhile, her psycho ass wanted me dead before I even had a heartbeat.”
“What?” Cain barks, like I’d just smashed the holy portrait he keeps of her in his head.
Not so holy now, huh?
“I never saw a saint,” I snap. “I saw a fucked-up wreck, rocking back and forth, whispering shit to herself like a demon was gnawing on her brain. And every time she looked at me, it was like I was the disease eating her alive.”
My jaw tightens, and my eyes are burning.
“That’s the mother I got. Not loving. Not gentle. Just a broken, possessed mess coming at me with a pair of scissors when I was seven fucking years old.”
I pause, my eyes wide like a madman.
“Tell me, Cain … did your precious mommy ever try to carve you open while you were still in your fucking Spider-Man pajamas?”
Why am I doing this? Hell if I know. Maybe I’m sick of carrying this damn curse alone and selfish enough to drag everyone else straight into the pit with me.
Maybe I’m just fucking tired. Tired of them looking at me like I’m still some useless kid who can’t stand on his own. Tired of choking on all the shit I never got—the love, the attention, the basic goddamn fairness.
All of it ripped away before I even had the chance to want it.
We all crawled out of the same rot, the same twisted blood, but somehow, I’m the one who got branded for it. The one they shoved the blame onto so they could pretend they were clean. The unwanted one. The walking mistake.
“I thought, uh …” Cain swallows. “I always thought she loved you.”
“Yeah. That’s because I never showed you what that bitch really did to me.” I step closer, voice rising. “She was a manipulative fucking lunatic. She played normal foryou.Made sure you saw some broken, gentle version so you’d think she gave a shit.”
“You forget too easily, brother,” Cain snaps. “Father and Atticus used to chain me up and test how long I could hold my breath before I drowned in the fucking tub, while you got off clean.”
“At the end of the day, she was there to comfort you!” I shout, my face red with rage. “You had Grayson covering your ass. And while he was busy with you and her, he forgot I even existed. I was standing right there beside Your Imperial Majesty, daring to breathe the same air as you. I was just the bastard our mother never wanted.”
My chest heaves harder by the second.
