Chapter 192

“I can’t help you. Just call the police,” Damien Hart said flatly, then paused. “Or, I can make the call for you if you’d rather.”

“No!” Rose Lane froze, her tears stopping mid-stream. “If I report it, Mom will never let me go.”

Damien closed the file on his desk. “You’re not a kid anymore, Rose. Why do you still let Aunt Sophia control everything you do? What does she have on you?”

“Nothing.” Rose’s eyes darted in panic. “Cousin, what are you talking about? Why would I have something to hide from my mom? I just... I just appreciate everything she did raising me. I respect her.”

Damien adjusted his thin-rimmed glasses, face calm and composed. “If that respect is exactly what’s letting her hurt you, then aren’t you kind of... signing up for it?”

He didn’t even raise his voice, just stated it like a fact. “If you were still a teenager, with no way out, then sure, I’d call it abuse. But you’re what, a couple years younger than me? You’ve got your own mind,