99 Times Repeated, Not Once Did They Say I Love You Chapter 11

99 Times Repeated, Not Once Did They Say I Love You Chapter 11

Two days later, Seraphine had to head back to Dreadmoor Pack.

I wrapped the scarf I’d bought her around her neck and straightened it for her.

“I put another 100 thousand on the card I gave you. It’s getting cold, so I ordered a comforter for every kid.

They’re thick, good quality, and warm. Make sure someone signs for the delivery when you get back.”

Seraphine looked stunned. “You still have money? Where on earth is it all coming from?”

I kept my tone light. “I told you last time. Lottery winnings. And I’ve been tutoring lately, and it pays well. Seraphine, trust me.”

She looked at me, half convinced. The longer she stared, the more uneasy I got.

I hurried her along. “Okay, you need to go. You’re going to miss it.”

I walked her to the platform, watched her settle into her seat, and reminded her again to take care of herself

and stop skimping on everything.

I didn’t head back to school until the train had disappeared completely from view.

Finals were coming up, and between coursework and the library, I slowly forgot about running into my

mother at the mall. Then Silas stopped me at the school gate.

He looked furious.

He didn’t waste a second. “What did you say to my mom, Hazel? Why did she come home from seeing you and cry for days? Why is she suddenly insisting Maeve has to go?”

It was one of my roommates’ birthdays that day, and we’d planned to go out for barbecue off campus.

I was already late, and I had no patience for his theatrics.

I brushed the question aside. “Go ask your mom. Don’t ask me.”

I tried to step around him, but he grabbed my wrist and pulled me back.

His jaw clenched. “You think I haven’t asked? She won’t say a word. All she says is that she owes you, and Maeve has to go,”

He paused, as if he’d made up his mind.

There was reluctance in his eyes, as if the words had turned bitter before they left his mouth.

“Fine. You win, Hazel. If you can let Maeve stay, I’ll let you come back to the Lioraen house.”

I thought I’d be angry.

But I was only tired.

I was too tired to even hate him.

I glanced at my watch. There was no time, and I didn’t want to drag it out.

“You want to know what I told your mom?”

“Fine. I’ll tell you.”

“When you were taking Maeve to amusement parks, I was standing in freezing water in the dead of winter

washing clothes, and my hands cracked and split open from the cold. Those were the same old, wrinkled

hands you once made fun of.”

“When you were throwing Maeve huge birthday parties, I was starving in a shed, praying they’d give me a

piece of stale bread instead of a beating.”

“When you held yourself back a grade to protect Maeve from bullies, I was the kid getting surrounded and mocked for having no parents.”

“That’s what I told her.”

The color drained from Silas’s face bit by bit until he was nearly gray.

His lips moved as if he wanted to say something, but the moment he met my eyes, every word died there. He

pressed his mouth shut.

My throat was tight, and when I spoke again, my voice came out low and hoarse.

“A home with Maeve in it will never be my home. I’m not going back.”

Then I looked him in the eye. “And my name isn’t Hazel Lioraen. It’s Hazel Silvanor.”

When the Lioraens brought me back, they changed the records that mattered to them and left the rest alone

because it was too much trouble.

That should have told me everything from the start.

Maybe, in their own way, they had told me the truth long ago.

We would never be a real family.