Lovely Secret And Lies

The Scars She Hid From The World

REGINA MCBRIDE

The heavy iron gates of the Wilderness Correction Camp groaned as they released me after three years of state-sponsored hell. I stood on the dirt road, clutching a plastic bag that held my entire life, waiting for the family that claimed they sent me there for "rehab." My brother, Brady, picked me up in a luxury SUV only to throw me out onto a deserted highway in the middle of a brewing storm. He told me I was a "public relations nightmare" and that the rain might finally wash the "stink" of the camp off me. He drove away, leaving me to limp miles through the mud on a snapped ankle. When I finally dragged myself to our family estate, my mother didn't offer a hug; she gasped in horror because my muddy clothes were ruining her Italian marble. They didn't give me my old room back. Instead, they banished me to a moldy gardener’s shack and hired a "babysitter" to make sure I didn't embarrass them further. My sister, Kaleigh, stood there in white cashmere, pretending to cry while clinging to her fiancé, Ambrose—the man who had once been mine. They all treated me like a volatile junkie, refusing to acknowledge that Kaleigh was the one who planted the drugs in my bag three years ago. They wanted to believe I was broken so they wouldn't have to feel guilty about the "wellness retreat" that was actually a torture chamber. I sat in the dark of that shed, feeling the cooling gel on the cigarette burns that covered my arms, and realized they had made a fatal mistake. They thought they had erased me, but I had returned with a roadmap of scars and a hidden satellite phone. At dinner, I didn't beg for their love. I simply rolled up my sleeves and showed them the price of their silence. As the wine spilled and the lies crumbled, I sent a single text to the only person I trusted: "I'm in. Let them simmer." The hunt was finally on.

Modern Revenge Scheming

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"I love you,' he says. Before I could say a word, he gently held my face and kissed me on my lips.

"I love you as well.' When he pulled away from the kiss, I responded. His eyes were filled with sadness and love. What went wrong, and why do I feel like this is the last time I was going to see him? He sighed as he rested his brow on my head.

"What is it, Haru?' Something is wrong, I inquired. It's there in my bones and I can feel it.

He was weird today.

"There isn't anything, Johan.' He smiled sadly at me. Why do I feel like there's something I'm supposed to know?"

"Are you sure, because your face shows you're worried?' I cupped my hands around his face and looked him in the eyes. "Tell me, what's wrong, is there anything I can do to help?'

"Whenever you look at me like that, Johan, it turns me on.' He said this while still smiling at me.

"Don't try to change the subject, Haru, what's the matter?' I know him well, and when he's like this, he always tries to change the topic and say something else. I'm having a bad feeling about this.

"Can we...discuss this later?' he asked, staring at me. 'Please.' He begged me to listen to him.

I'm pretty sure he will tell me when the time is right, but I still want him to depend on me. After all, I love him from the bottom of my heart.

I love him and I will do anything to be the person he wants me to be and make us work.

I nodded in agreement. 'Okay." We began walking silently down the road. Then he asked, 'How is your mother doing now?'

We kept walking, and then I said. "She's fine, it's just...,' I hesitated. Then I shook my head to clear my mind of any negative thoughts. 'I can only hope for the best, she's getting married?' I informed him casually, like it was no big deal.

'What?' he asked, surprised. 'I'm not sure, but why are you telling me this now?' He stated.

"I could have told you, but you were too busy. I didn't want to bother you and cause a diversion.' I elaborated.

"It's not a diversion. It's good news, Johan,' he laughed as he tapped me on the shoulder, then frowned at me.

"Yeah." I muttered.

"I've been meaning to ask, what about your father?"

I stared at his lovely eyes and turned to my feet as I strolled. "He left before my younger sister, Elsa, was born." I answered.

"I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have asked." He apologized.

"You don't need to, he was a complete jerk and to this day, I don't know why he left and Mom wouldn't tell me, she keeps saying he did some sort of faggot stuff and warned me never to talk about him again." I elaborated, my gaze darted towards the sky.

"You don't seem happy, do you?' He inquired. "About your mother's marriage."

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