Chapter 25: Unveiling the Truth

KIANA

“I was raped,” I blurted out, the words hanging heavy in the air.

Why those words slipped out now, I couldn’t say. But they did, and there was no taking them back or denying the truth any longer…

The tension was palpable as Chase silently grappled with my unexpected confession.

“Who?” he asked. His voice had changed, deepened, carrying an edge that was almost threatening.

“It doesn’t matter. It happened a long time ago,” I said, turning my gaze back to the cityscape. “I just want to forget it and move on.”

“Bastards like him should be locked up,” he growled.

I stayed silent, and he looked at me, puzzled.

“Please tell me he’s not out there, walking free,” he pleaded.

“No one would believe me. It’s pointless—”

“That’s not true—” he started, but I cut him off.

“I’m not naive. Do you know the conviction rate for rape? It’s ~extremely~ low. I have no proof against him. And I didn’t report him when it happened. He was my boyfriend. Who would believe me?”

After the assault, Cooper had made it clear that no one would believe me—not even my father.

I didn’t want to believe him, but I couldn’t deny the fact that my father was persuaded by old-fashioned values rather than what was right.

He thought of me as property, and he had made it clear that he wanted to pawn me off to Cooper from the moment I came of age. It wasn’t uncommon for families in high society to match their children for influence and affluence.

Cooper was also someone I had known since forever. Someone my father would undoubtedly trust to protect his interests and investments. That was far more important to him than my well-being.

Besides, my father hadn’t been the best husband, so why should he expect mine to be any better?

Sadly, that’s just how ~my~ world worked.

CHASE

~She was raped.~

I hadn’t seen that coming. But all the pieces fell into place.

I understood why she didn’t go to the police, but that didn’t mean she should have kept this to herself.

Maybe he’d threatened her?

I didn’t want to push her for more details. I could tell she was close to breaking down, so I let it be.

I would find the sick fuck who had hurt her and make sure he never saw daylight again.

The man from the charity event last night came to mind.

“The man from last night, was he—” I began.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” she pleaded, her voice breaking. She poured herself another drink and walked back toward the sofa.

I sighed and followed suit, pouring myself a drink before taking a seat beside her.

I didn’t want to push her, but last night had stirred up a lot of different questions. I needed her to open up a little more, so I tried changing the subject. “Do you know who Jackson is?”

Her hands trembled as she lowered her glass. She nodded, and a tear slid down her cheek.

I knew it.

But ~how~ did they know one another? Would she tell me?

KIANA

There was no point in lying now. I wasn’t ready to talk about Cooper yet, but at least I could be honest about this.

Something told me it was the right thing to do, while the coward in me was yelling at me to shut up and run away as fast as I could.

I buried that toxic voice as deep as I could and took another small sip from my glass to steady my nerves.

“My birth name was Rose Monroe. I changed it after I ran away.”

I took a breath before continuing…

~There’s no going back now.~

“I took my maternal grandmother’s maiden name so my father couldn’t track me down.

“He never did like my mother’s Hawaiian culture. It didn’t ‘conform to the strictures of high society,’ he used to say.” I scoffed at the way my father used to scold me about proper behavior among women in high society.

I could picture it as though he was standing right in front of me.

“So, your father has connections?” Chase asked, treading lightly.

“My father is a very wealthy man who has the means to track me down if he wanted to. I needed a significant change, one that money wouldn’t solve on its own. I needed someone who could—and would—help me escape, obtain a new identity, and go into hiding.

“That’s where Jackson came in…”

^FOUR YEARS AGO^

~“Uncle Jack, please. I need your help,” I pleaded.~

~Jackson was more of a father figure to me than my own flesh and blood. He was the only person I could turn to.~

~“Keep your voice down.” Jackson held a finger to his lips as he closed his office door.~

~“What happened to you?” he asked, his voice full of concern as he knelt before me.~

~“I…I’ve seen it,” I told him, unable to stop the flood of tears. “He’s a monster, Uncle Jack.”~

~He moved my hair to the side to see the bandage on my collarbone.~

~“Did he do this?” His eyes darkened.~

~“No! This was from an accident,” I said hurriedly. “My father would never lay a finger on me.” My wound was still new, sensitive to touch, but I was determined to keep the ruse of a silly little accident alive. I was too scared to admit the truth.~

~I couldn’t contain my sobs any longer.~

~My mother took a part of my heart when she passed away. Then Cooper took another piece after what he did to me. And now my father had trampled on the remnants with his lies, deceit, and cruelty.~

~I couldn’t stay here anymore. Not after what happened and what I had learned.~

~I blamed my father for my mother’s death, or at least her misery.~

~Everything fell into place after she died. The parts of my father that she tried to protect me from suddenly surged into view.~

~I don’t think my mother had ever been happy with my father. Far from it. Her smile was merely a facade for me, and her laughter served as a cover for the turmoil that unfolded behind closed doors.~

~Jackson was her only source of solace. He had known my parents for years and was someone my mother viewed as her best friend—someone she could always rely on and who provided an occasional buffer from reality.~

~But then my father took that too.~

~He’d forced her to cut ties with her only real friend.~

~My father’s constant rejection of her heritage was the least of his crimes.~

~He worsened my mother’s condition with his infidelity and his refusal to believe she had a chronic illness. He dismissed her struggles as mere “minor episodes of depression.” Meanwhile, she grappled with the painful truth of his true character.~

~Although he seemed to idealize the notion of family, beneath the surface, he was an overbearing control freak—a perfectionist who mastered the skills of abuse in everything but the physical form.~

~He struggled with the complexities of family life and the nuances of relationships. Perhaps he lacked the emotional capacity for it, or maybe he simply never cared enough to at least ~pretend~ to give a damn.~

~“It’s okay.” Jackson embraced me in a protective fatherly hug. They were the only arms I didn’t seem to shudder in after my attack.~

~I wanted to tell Jackson what ~he~ had done.~

~I wanted Uncle Jack to help me confront the monster who had disguised himself as my childhood friend for the past fifteen years.~

~It had been the ultimate betrayal of trust. Someone I always regarded as an equal—admired, even—robbed me of an innocence I could never reclaim. He violated me in a way that would leave me scarred forever—both physically and emotionally.~

~But would Jackson believe me? Would he take my side?~

~That wasn’t a risk I was willing to take. So I said nothing.~

~“Leave everything to me,” Jackson reassured me. “I refuse to let your father take you away like he did your mother.” I heard his voice break for a moment before he leaned backward.~

~“Pack a bag. Keep it light and inconspicuous,” he added.~

~“Already done.” I nodded toward my bag beside the wall.~

~“We need to get this done tonight. Delaying any longer will only increase the risk of being caught.” Jackson stood, went to his desk, and picked up the phone. He paused just before he could punch in the number he needed to dial to help me with my escape.~

~“Are you sure about this, Rose? If I do this, there’s no going back.”~

~We stared at one another in silence for a few moments.~

~“I’m sure, Uncle Jack,” was the only confirmation he needed to hear.~

^PRESENT DAY^

“Uncle Jack was the one who helped me escape.”

I felt the tension of keeping such a secret these last few years release the more I spoke. And now that I had revealed that truth, I couldn’t seem to stop, nor did I want to.

“And you didn’t keep in contact all this time?” Chase asked.

“We couldn’t.

“He asked one of his connections to help me. He knew someone who ran a program that helped women and children escape their abusers when they couldn’t turn to the law.

“It wasn’t entirely legal, but they changed my identity and got me to a place no one from my past could find me. But unfortunately, that included Jackson. That was their only rule.

“He had to cut off all contact so my father couldn’t use him to find me. But that also meant I had no way of getting into contact with him either.

“He insisted they put me in a boarding school, and he gave his contact the funds for my tuition disguised as a charity donation.

“He did everything he could to guarantee my safety and education until I reached adulthood. But I had to figure things out on my own from there. He couldn’t set me up financially since it would raise suspicion.

“So, I worked my ass off in boarding school to block out the pain from my past and to secure a scholarship to fund my university studies since I was completely cut off from everyone who could possibly help me.”

“That must have been—” Chase began, but I didn’t fancy the pity party.

“The way you’re looking at me now… ~The pity~… I can’t stand it.”

“I’ve managed well enough on my own. I found safety with animals. My first being an injured squirrel, which I nursed back to health in a shoebox.” I couldn’t help but smile at the memory.

“Animals are honest,” I continued. “They don’t have hidden agendas, and they reciprocate the kindness and generosity they are bestowed. Whereas I’ve discovered that people are too often cruel and dishonest, much like my father and my attacker.”

Chase was quiet for a moment, at a loss for words as he digested all of this.

“I know it’s a lot.” I set the glass on the table, turning to face him.

He was staring at me, lost in thought. “One thing I can’t understand is how that man from last night comes into all of this. Who is he?” he asked—the one question I secretly hoped he wouldn’t ask.

I took a deep breath, already feeling the tremors of a panic attack slowly begin to rise. “That was Cooper. My attacker…

“A.k.a., Cooper Smith. A.k.a., ~Jackson’s son.~”