Chapter 46
FORTY-SIX
Her mother had gone silent after he left, mechanically using a water bottle and the edge of her sleeping bag to clean up her face. Then she started to remove her clothes.
“Mom?” Her voice trembled.
Instead of answering, her mother pulled on the wedding dress he had left. It was two sizes too big and covered in lace that had frayed in places. The zip along the side didn’t pull all the way up.
“Mom,” she tried again. “Don’t do this. You can’t do this. Please.”
Her mother smoothed the dress over her hips before turning to her with a wan smile. “Darling, this is the only way out of this room.”
She crawled over to her mother and clutched at the ugly dress. This close, it smelled like mothballs. “It’s not. It can’t be.”
Leaning down, her mother stroked her hair away from her face. “I have to make sure you’re safe. That’s all that matters. It’s the only thing that matters.”
“But Mom,” she pleaded. “You can’t marry him!”
“I know, darling. I’ll figure something out.”
“If you don’t? What if he… He could kill you.”
“Then you know where to go, who will protect you. He will come for you. I know he will. You’ll have each other.”
The calm conviction in her mother’s voice caused tears to pour down her face faster than she thought possible. “No,” she sobbed. “No. Don’t do this.”
“Shhh,” her mother soothed. “Right now, the only way to keep you safe is for me to get out of this room, and the only way that’s going to happen is to do what he wants.”
“But you can’t,” she hiccupped.
She should tell her mother the truth, except now she didn’t think it would make a bit of difference. Her mother was right. Neither of them was getting out of this room unless he got something he wanted, and for once, she didn’t want to be the one to give it.