Splintered [Complete | GB+SB]

Epilogue

"This seems like a good place to stop for the day, Sang. It's late, and we're about to get to the events that lead up to Owen Blackbourne's arrest. I have to say, it's been quite a story thus far..." my voice trailed off. She was staring at the wall behind me with a look of deep sadness.

I felt for her, having to relive these events. She'd shown a remarkable amount of self-awareness and empathy in her story, but I was struggling to believe, well, any of it. A secret organization in Charleston that works outside the law to better society? Fourteen different men meeting and falling in love with her, some in a matter of days? Victor Morgan being one of them? I couldn't help but wonder if she wasn't suffering from more than PTSD — perhaps a personality disorder or schizophrenia? — these delusions were so detailed. Some of the tangents she went off on were, frankly, bizarre.

Her story had inconsistencies that I find difficult to reconcile, yet... yet there were records sent over from the hospital that confirmed her injuries and handwritten notes by staff commenting on her "guard dogs" that rarely left her side. Dr. Green's notes were erratic during the period she was in critical condition, his handwriting almost frantic, then it becomes oddly legible and his tone bordering on affectionate.

The defense had included records from a security company confirming surveillance on the store that she claims employed her, a contract for services that ran for approximately six months and was paid for by a Mr. Axel Toma.

And I remembered the scandal — and my tweenage daughter's heartbreak — when Victor Morgan severed ties with his management — his own parents! — and dropped completely out of sight. The timing was right, it would have been that fall.

"You'll believe what you want to," her voice broke through my reverie. "How do they say it? It's stranger than fiction? The truth shall out? Truth is the daughter of time? Whether you can believe it or not, the fact remains that I am in a loving, healthy relationship with these fourteen men I just described to you — in detail."

"What happened at the hospital, when you were unconscious? That seemed to be a turning point for them."

"How would I know? I was unconscious. I told you everything I lived and experienced, everything I felt. The times when they were alone, I have no idea what discussions were had." Her voice had a bitter edge, and she was flushed, still staring at the wall like it angered her. "Do you think this has been easy? Telling you these things?"

"No, of course not," I said, embarrassed. For a moment, I was almost hounding her for information like this was a reality show instead of a girl's life. "But one last question before we break for the night, Sang... are you sure you're still in a loving, healthy relationship with fourteen men? Do you think Owen Blackbourne can look past prison? Don't you wonder if all of the others might become a little wary, given what happened?"

She looked me in the eye for the first time in hours, and there was a flicker of something there, but then it was gone and I was looking at a sick, miserable girl. "Is that what you think?" she asked, her voice breaking. "That he won't be able to forgive me?"

And I was furious with myself for making this poor, damaged girl cry.

"Get a good night's rest, Sang. We'll continue in the morning. And... try not to think too much about what I said just now. I shouldn't have said that. I don't know these men, and you didn't seem to harbor any doubts about their loyalty and love until just now. And really, what do I know?"

—————

AN:

I KNOW, I'm the WORST!

Enjoy LCR, and the next part ("Severed") should start posting in a few weeks.

I need to retcon three things that I'll be changing in the text: in the Prologue, she's referred to as a 19 year old woman, and I'm not sure how that slipped through. She's 18. Owen doesn't need to sit in prison for a whole year, despite how much I'd look forward to the tattoos he'd walk away with. In Nate & Kota's first chapter, Nate should be the same height as Kota. And when she talks to Axel outside the diner, she describes his scent as brine and warm amber, and that should read "ambergris." Damn auto-correct.