CHAPTER 10
The sound of her words hit me harder than any slap could. Pregnant. Bastard. She spat it out like venom, and I felt the ground tilt beneath me. For a moment, the room was silent, the kind of silence that is heavier than noise. Then the whispers started.
“She said what?”
“Pregnant?”
“Jesu!”
“Na true?”
Eyes burned into me from every corner. My chest tightened, and I could barely breathe. I wanted to run, but my legs refused to move.
My stepmother folded her arms, a smug smile crawling onto her face. “Oh, you thought your secrets would stay hidden? You thought you could stand here and paint me black when your own hands are dirty? Look at her, everyone. Look at the saint!”
The shame burned, but anger swallowed it whole. My voice shook as I snapped back, “You don’t know what
