The words sliced deeper than the pain in my scalp. My daughter. The only pure thing I had. He spat her existence like she was filth too.
Shame burned me alive. My heart cracked, and yet I clung to the only truth I had left.
“She’s not filth,” I whispered, shaking. My tears blurred everything. “She’s all I have.”
“You shut your mouth!” His grip tightened, and I cried out. “If you want a home so badly, why don’t you run back to your bastard child?” His words were poison, each one breaking me apart. “You are not welcome here, Elizabeth. Get out!”
My legs nearly gave way, but I forced myself to stand, even as my cheek throbbed, even as my hair fell messily around my face where he’d pulled it.
I looked at them all, Jessica’s smirk, Josephine’s sneer, my father’s cold hatred and I knew. The
