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“Efa Prothero?”
“Yes, of course.”
“Okay…what did you want to ask?”
I hated how uncomfortable they were. It was making a hollow form in my stomach, but now that I’d opened the door to this conversation, I would see it through.
“Do you know why she left Edwin?”
“Did…Edwin ever tell you why?”
I shrugged. “He said their marriage wasn’t going well and she just walked out.”
There was that worried glance again.
“What is going on?” I asked, frustrated.
Ophelia rubbed her hands together, working her wedding band. There was another long silence that seemed to stretch into eternity.
The owl in the forest hooted softly again.
“Efa came to us the night she left,” Daphne said finally. “She left because she was afraid of him.”
My stomach twisted and there was a soft roaring in my ears.
“Afraid of what?”
Ophelia stood up, pacing to the stove. When she turned around, she had a determined look on her face.
“Edwin hurt her,” she said.
Sickness seeped into my veins. “Sexual violence?”
“Some,” Ophelia whispered. “But usually just mental and emotional abuse. Gaslighting, isolation, some physical abuse.”
“Jesus Christ,” I breathed. “Why did you never tell me this?”
“Efa didn’t want anyone to know,” Daphne said. “She asked us not to tell.”
I stood up so fast the chair fell back and I had to catch it, pushing it back in.
“Jesus fucking Christ,” I said. “Don’t you think I deserved the truth? I was friends with him for fifteen years.”
Ophelia’s eyes glistened. “Please don’t say such ugly things.”
“Ugly things?” I said, staring at her. “Are you really correcting my language right now?”
“Edwin Merrick Llwyd,” Daphne snapped. “Sit down and don’t speak to Ophelia like that.”
I sat.
“But…she left Clara?” I said. “How could she leave her daughter with an abuser?”
They both shifted and looked at each other for a brief moment. Ophelia cocked her head and Daphne nodded. They both faced me.
“When Efa left, she gave us a tape where Edwin confessed to everything,” Daphne said. “I sent a copy of it with a letter telling Edwin that if he laid a hand on Clara, I would release it. He would lose you and his life. You know what the organization does to abusers.”
“I do,” I breathed. “I would have hunted and killed him. According to our laws.”
