Page 48 of Maddening Fixation

A thousand unspoken memories passed between us.

Then the moment vanished.

The dining hall that had echoed with laughter only minutes earlier had become a mausoleum.

Turning back to them, I continued, “The only person in this house who ever loved me without conditions was my grandmother.”

For the first time that night, a trace of warmth crept into my voice.

“She never cared about the lies people whispered about my mother. She never called me a bastard or treated me as though I were less than the rest of you.”

A faint, bittersweet smile touched my lips.

“She only ever saw her grandson.”

She had been my refuge in a house that had never felt like a home.

The only person who had stood between me and their cruelty.

The only soul within Flynn Manor who had loved both Sarah and me without reservation.

When they dragged me away in handcuffs ten years ago, she wasn’t there.

Illness had confined her to her room.

But she refused to believe I had murdered Sarah.

She swore she would uncover the truth.

She promised she would prove my innocence and expose the person truly responsible for my sister’s death.

Three nights later...

She was dead.

Another silence settled over the room.

“My mother.”

“My little sister.”

“My grandmother.”

I let the words hang in the air.

“The only three people who ever loved me are all gone.”

My eyes swept across the table, growing colder with each passing heartbeat.

“And their deaths were no accident.”

The silence became suffocating.

“The men and women who murdered them are sitting right here.”

I let my gaze linger on each face.

“Not one of ye deserves another sunrise.”