Chapter 62: Truths Beneath the Surface

The tension in the air was suffocating as Aveline walked very fast in the small lit room. Gabriel stood silently by the window, his eyes fixed on the forest ahead of them, his jaw remained firm together. Her father, Thorne, sat on a wooden chair at the center, his shoulders dropped as if the weight of the world had finally dropped on him.

"You'd better start talking, Father," Aveline said, her voice sharp enough to penetrate the ear of a bull. "I've had enough of your secret answers and half-truths."

Thorne raised his eyes to meet hers, and for a moment, she saw something she hadn't expected which was guilt.

"Everything I've done," he began, his voice low, "was to protect you."

Aveline's laugh was bitter. "Protect me? You lied to me, manipulated me, and nearly cost me my child. How exactly is that protection?"