Helanie:
"I’m fine. It was nothing," I told Norman when he saw me come into the bedroom, panting and scared.
I wasn’t scared of Emmet--I was scared of what was happening to him. Even with so much going on, I noticed a few things.
His words, "You are not real," made me confused.
He was having a hard time not only recognizing me but also thinking I was someone else? Why would he say that?
That’s why I rushed back to my room, avoiding Emma and my mother who was following me, asking what had happened.
"Helanie, please tell me what happened," Norman insisted, holding my hands.
"It wasn’t a big deal, trust me," I gave him a reassuring look, but deep down, I was so sad for Emmet.
I planned to go back with Norman to check on him again after he calmed down. But then, I heard screams from downstairs that made Norman and me share a look of horror before rushing down.
"What could it be about?" I asked Norman as we ran.
"Hopefully Maximus is back," Norman suggested, and I hoped that too. But it wasn’t.
We were way off in guessing. When we got downstairs, we saw guards holding Emmet while my mother had lost her mind.
"You scumbag!" she was screaming, held back by Lord McQuoid.
"What the fuck is going on here?" Norman lost it. He stepped between them and told the guards to step away from Emmet. Emmet wasn’t even trying to fight back, but they were treating him like a criminal.
"Ask your pervert brother. I arrived in time but I did not know he had done something prior to my arrival. Ask him, why the fuck did he drag my daughter to his bed?" my mother yelled. My heart sank. What the heck was my mother talking about?
"I did not. I would never. I thought she was a creature–," Emmet said it in such an undertone that nobody else heard it. But I did. He looked so embarrassed when being called a pervert and I was angry at my mother.
"What?" Before Norman could react, I did. Everyone’s eyes turned to me, and Emmet looked so hurt that he didn’t even look at me.
"Enough! I won’t hear you say anything about my brother," Norman shouted at my mother, and rightly so. It was messed up that they were accusing Emmet of such nonsense without any proof.
"Who told you that?" I asked my mother. Her angry face confused me. Was she using this as an excuse to show her hatred for the brothers too?
If she could hate her own daughter, she could hate her mate’s sons as well.
"Emma did. She saw it," my mother said, looking at Emma. Suddenly, it all made sense. Since I hadn’t told her exactly what happened, she made up her own story.
"That’s a lie. That never happened," I yelled as Norman stared at me, waiting to hear my side.
"I didn’t lie--it was something Helanie told me before she ran upstairs," Emma said, pointing at me.
Charlotte sighed and lowered her head, embarrassed by her mother’s behavior.
"What a bitch! When did I tell you that? Nothing like that happened in there!" I was so ready to hit that woman for lying.
"But something did happen. You screamed and came out, and you were the one who told me he tried to rape you once your mother was left far behind," Emma kept yapping, confusing everyone.
I watched Norman stare at my face before turning to Emmet, who was now looking at me. He looked so hurt.
"Emmet--I swear I didn’t say that. She’s lying," I pointed at Emma again, but Emmet closed his eyes and covered his ears with his hands.
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