Her Silent Revenge novel Chapter 124

Not when she doesn't trust me enough to let me. Not when she doesn't believe in herself like I do.

Not when I dropped those haunting words—I love you—and she couldn't goddamn say it back.

Whatever happens with Arlo, she's signaling it's over. The worst part is, I want to hate her and I can't.

Hate would be so much easier than whatever this stewing emotional chaos is.

Anger, yes. But also a hurt I didn't think I'd ever feel—the kind that tears out organs.

All because she's a prisoner to this bullshit idea that she's Miss Unlucky.

I chew on my thoughts so hard I accidentally bite my inner cheek. The blood is just the icing on this rancid cake tonight.

The city is deserted with the chilly wind and it's approaching midnight.

A couple lonely, determined joggers sprint down dark streets.

Once, I might've joined them on a night like this that's made for soul- eating thoughts.

Not now.

Not while my son is in the hospital.

You'll always be in his life.

Her cruel promise drifts back to me and there's so much to unpack there. I don't have the brains or the balls to go back and hash it out with her.

How will co-parenting work when she's on a fucking boat somewhere? It's clear she doesn't expect me to be there by her side.

Does she want me to just hang around and wait until it's convenient for her to come back for the odd weekend when I can see my son? Will I need a lawyer, hounding her for visitation rights?

Will Arlo be a tennis ball, slapped around like every couple who splits and can't agree to anything?

Fuck, I hope not.

It can't come to that.

But I can't rip them apart, either. Whatever else she might be, Salem's a great mom, and she has a good relationship with the boy.

I swing into a gas station lot and let my head thunk back against the seat. All this shit feels like a conversation for another time, when Arlo isn't stuck in the hospital and I'm not rattled from her breaking things off the way she did.

Or did I break them off, too?

But what was I supposed to do when she told me she was leaving to chase a new dream that doesn't include me?

Yet we'd pulled together as a family because of it. We came together for Mom and three lost boys figured out how to grow up faster.

Years later, Archer came up with the concept for what became Higher Ends. We each did our time in the military and experienced the world before coming home to the only place that ever mattered.

Why is this so hard?

Why can't I make Salem see?

A tragedy is only a fucking end if you run. I grit my teeth and toss my phone aside.

There's no chance I'm speaking to her again until this situation gets sorted. Once I have evidence to nail Evelyn with maximum criminal penalties and Arlo has recovered, then we can talk.

The winds keep howling as I drive back to Mom's house. Even though it's late—morning now, technically—all the lights are blazing in the house, and two other cars are parked in the driveway.

Archer and Dexter. Of course they'd be here. They've probably gotten a head start on tearing through walls, looking for a single scrap of that poison plant.

Juniper greets me in the hall, an apron around her waist and her red hair scraped back in a bun. Her eyes are shadowed as she pulls me into a hug.

"Oh my God, Patton. I'm so sorry," she murmurs. "For what?"

"Arlo. I can't imagine how I'd feel if my—" She stops and bites her lip like she knows she just said too much.