Page 42 of Gilded Locks

Hunter seethed but something in Ash’s voice held him back. They exchanged a look that spoke of years of shared pain and protection, decades of trauma that dated back long before Jordan slithered into their lives.

Hunter wanted to take his vengeance out on her. Marigold knew then that this man had killed. Her life meant nothing to him, and she was his next target.

Gripping Stone’s arm, she pulled herself up off the ground so as not to look weak. “If you kill me, you’d be doing Jordan a favor.”

The room silenced as her body swayed under the remaining dizziness. Clinging to Stone’s shirt, she used his body as a shield. Ash’s hand slipped into hers, offering additional support.

“Hear her out.”

They looked at her expectantly. May the truth set her free. “Jordan convinced my father to have me committed.”

Hunter glared at her with unfiltered distrust and barely contained rage.. “Committed how?”

She looked to Stone and Ash, but neither was her friend. Her protectors were not willing to risk themselves.

Fine. She was more than used to handling things on her own. And she’d learned long ago that men were always in it for themselves before anyone else.

Lifting her trembling chin, she stared into fathomless eyes. “It was a private facility. They called it behavioral modification.” The truth tasted like bitter shame, burning her mouth like acid. “They left me there for months, claiming I was hysterical, unstable, and delusional. But that wasn’t true.”

“Is anything out of your mouth true, little liar?”

“I know what my brother really is. And when I told the truth, they punished me.”

“Why didn’t they believe you?”

“They swore Jordan would never hurt anyone. They thought I was making up lies because of jealousy. They said only a sick person would make such heinous accusations about family.”

“You said he was your half-brother.”

“Yes. But to my father, he’s the first born son. I’m nothing compared to Jordan in his eyes.”

“Charming.” Ash watched her like an equation he needed to solve.

“Yes,” she agreed with a bitter cold. “Misogyny runs deep in the Calder lines.”

“And what about your mother?”

Pain engulfed her heart. She bowed her head. “My mother passed away while I was committed.”

A moment of silence passed as she fumbled with the bottomless regret of missing those last goodbyes. Big breath in… Deep down, she believed her mother fought to keep her out of that place, but she was no match for her father. And in the end, the fight might have been what killed her.

“Yet here you are,” Hunter sneered. “Free, on the same island your brother had no business visiting, lying about your identity, trespassing through our home, and stealing our things.”

“You don’t understand?—”

“Because you’ve been feeding us bullshit lies since you arrived!” Hunter roared as he slammed his fist into the wall.

“I had to lie!” This time, she didn’t cower. “They had no plans of letting me out of that place! They would have let me rot inside those white walls. Do you know what it’s like to have your freedom stripped away so completely that you can’t even choose your meals? I had to swallow whatever pills they fed me, wear soft clothing, stare through barred windows. And when I tried to reason with them, they doubled my dosage and turned me into a walking zombie. If I threw up the meds to keep my senses, they…”

“What?” Stone asked. “What else did they do?”

She rubbed her temples, remembering the way they strapped her down and made her bite into the rubber mouth guard.

“There’s nothing wrong with me.” Her voice turned small as she rubbed away the feeling of having her wrist strapped down. The sensation of five orderlies pinning her to a gurney as she fought with all her might. The indignity of having her clothing tugged and her privates exposed, all so they could get her to submit. And then came the shocks.

The first was always the worst, when the body was still engaged in the fight and every muscle went taut. It was an unwinnable battle, yet she instinctually fought them every time—until she couldn’t.

Sometimes she felt them removing the head gear and pulling away the mouth guard. Other times she saw them as if through a dream as they lifted the padded cot onto another surface and wheeled her back to her room.