Chapter 80

Botan POV

The sharpness makes her flinch, her fingers tightening around mine like she could soothe the raw edges. I feel the weight of her reaction, and a bitter laugh threatens to escape, but I swallow it back. I exhale slowly, retreating from the edge of my anger.

"I tried to protect her," I say, my voice quieter now, almost to myself. "But there's only so much a kid can do against a grown man." The images rise, searing, but I push through. "One night, it was too much. I left that house crawling, nothing but a scared little shit."

Her eyes brim with a pain that isn't hers but feels just as real. "And you never saw them again?"

I look at her, the words stuck somewhere between honesty and evasion. Finally, I answer. "Haru scraped me off the streets. Gave me a life, a purpose. And when I'd grown enough—taller, stronger—I went back. Got my mom out of there and put her in a penthouse near mine in Tokyo."