Chapter 275

• "My father made our lives hell. He was always angry, always drunk, breaking everything in the house that could be broken, yelling and screaming at us until he was red in the face. Everyday there was something that we had done wrong, nothing was ever good enough and he would always make sure we knew how much he hated us and how worthless we all were. And I was terrified of him, absolutely terrified. I never want you to ever feel like that, ever." I run through the words quickly, keeping my hands fixed on Amelia's hips. She sits there quietly as she digests my words, no doubt surprised by my sudden admission. For what feels like an eternity she just watches me, a small pool of liquid starts to collect on the brim of her eyes. Fuck I hate seeing her cry, and I know she's minutes if not seconds away from it.
• "Y-your mum told me that he used to yell, but she never made it out to be that bad...".Amelia whispers quietly, moving to press one of her hands flat against my chest.
• "My mum doesn't like to talk about it, it's a very well kept family secret" I tell her flatly. And by that I mean everyone knew it was happening when it was happening but nobody spoke up then, and nobody has spoken about it since. Another reason why I hate spending time with most of my extended family, they knew what he was like and swept it under the rug. My mum didn't even need to confide in them what had been happening, he did it openly in front of them. And my sweet mum didn't have it in her to leave him, because of course he said that if we left he'd find us. Amelia's chest starts to rise and fall in quick succession as she tries to keep herself calm as I speak.