Broken Vows and Buried Twins novel Chapter 255

Pain flared through his little body, his elbow scraping raw against the harsh tile.

Caden began to cry—a gut-wrenching, terrified wail. "It hurts! Mommy, please don't hit me... Godmother, help me... It hurts so much... Daddy, where are you..."

"You're calling for your godmother?!" Seraphina's eyes bulged with manic rage. "You ungrateful little brat! I should never have kept you around!"

Completely devoid of reason, she grabbed the handheld showerhead and aimed the freezing, high-pressure spray directly at his open, crying mouth.

"Cry! Go ahead and cry! Keep crying until you choke on it!"

Caden gagged as the water forced its way down his throat, throwing him into a violent coughing fit.

But Seraphina wasn't done. The days of being ignored by Julian and the sheer humiliation she had suffered at Hester's hands earlier had driven her to the breaking point. Unable to lash out at the adults who had wronged her, she poured every ounce of her venom onto the helpless child at her feet.

When Caden had fallen, the back of his head had slammed against the hard tile. Now, with water forcefully flooding his mouth, he couldn't breathe. His desperate coughs weakened, turning into broken, choking gasps.

His vision blurred. The bathroom lights spun dizzily above him. Through his fading consciousness, a terrifying, distorted face swam into view.

*"Listen to me, you little brat. If you ever tell anyone I hit you, I'll make it ten times worse!"*

The cruel, sneering face of his old nanny, Melody Monroe, flashed in his mind. Then, it warped and twisted, morphing seamlessly into Seraphina's furious glare.

Caden stared up, paralyzed by shock.

Memories he had locked away deep in his subconscious suddenly flooded back.

He hadn't always lived with his godmother. Before Hester, he had lived with the woman named Melody. And whenever his dad wasn't home, the nanny would beat him.

Melody used to tell him that he was getting hit because he was a bad boy. She warned him that if he told his dad he was bad, his dad would abandon him forever.

*Is Mommy hitting me now because I'm bad too?*

*Is that why people always hit me? Because I'm bad?*

Caden's eyes rolled back, and he slipped entirely into darkness.

"Caden? Caden!"

"I—I don't know!" Seraphina burst into hysterical, frantic tears. "He came back from the boat trip looking exhausted. I thought he was just tired, so I let him sleep on the sofa. But when I woke him up for dinner, he said he felt sick and then just... he threw up everywhere!"

She gestured wildly to her wet clothes. "I brought him in here to wash him off before taking him to the hospital, but he slipped and fell! I think he hit his head!"

Julian didn't waste a second questioning her. He grabbed a large dry towel, wrapped it tightly around Caden's small, freezing body, and sprinted out of the room.

"Julian, wait for me!" Seraphina scrambled off the wet floor and chased after him.

Julian tore down the stairs and burst into the courtyard just as Jovie was walking over to deliver some pastries to the neighboring inn owner, Mr. Wallace.

Seeing the sheer panic on Julian's face, Jovie gasped. "Oh my god, what's wrong with Caden?"

Julian ignored her, his face a mask of cold terror. He sprinted toward the front gates and roared into the darkness, "Leon!"

Leon Hunt stepped out of the shadows instantly. "Sir."

"Get the car. We're going to the hospital. Now!"