Ivan’s POV

" I protected her, our fragile mother. And I protected you. My naive little brother who still believed in heroes and fairytales. I told you it was Bertha’s family so you would stay away from her and never expose the truth. So you would stay strong. So you would never make the same mistakes I saw our mother make.” He smiled at me. "Love destroyed mum."

My legs felt weak. I took a step back, the weight of his words crashing over me. All these years. All the hatred I ...