Chapter 38. Saved

CHARLOTTE

I was paying attention more than ever.

“My stepmother, for her own reasons, decided I’d be her doll.”

A cold dread slithered down my spine.

“What do you mean?”

“Dressed me in girls’ clothes. Told my father I picked them out.” His voice was eerily calm, but his knuckles whitened around the glass. “He wasn’t around enough to care. By the time I was six, I wanted to dress like my brothers, but she refused.”

My mouth fell slightly open, the words catching in my throat.

Why would she force him to dress like a girl? Could it be that she wants a female child so badly? I asked in my head.

Leo continued.

“When my father finally noticed something was off, he asked his wife about it. And she said maybe I was born to be a feminine boy,” Leo said. “Instead of protecting me, he called it ridiculous. He was very religious and homophobic. He said I shouldn’t like girly things. That I was supposed to be his heir. His son.”

“Oh my