“I will not allow the likes of you to ruin my marriage. Understand me?”

I nodded weakly, unable to lift my head.

“Get out of my sight and prepare for school tomorrow. If you can’t stand up for yourself, you might as well be dead. Then you wouldn’t be such a nuisance to me, or to anyone else. Or better yet, you can run back to your useless father and his whore.”

“Is that the manner you choose to speak to your only child?”

My head snapped up. Aiden was standing there, stepping into the tension between us.

“Excuse me?” my mother frowned.

“You heard me the first time,” he...