Chapter 29: The Filth of the Davenports
"I didn’t give you my number for nothing," Lando said firmly.
I caught the way his throat bobbed when he called me his wife. For a second, he looked shaken, but he quickly pulled himself together, probably thinking I was too vulnerable right now.
Honestly, I felt pretty satisfied seeing so many people insult Madeline after what I did earlier.
Yeah, I know it wouldn’t last long, but hey, while it lasted, I was going to enjoy it to the fullest!
"Do you understand, Helcia?" Lando asked when I still hadn’t responded to his words.
Moments later, I nodded quickly. "Yes, husband, I understand you very well."
Lando swallowed hard again after hearing me say that. Why did he always look so tense and conflicted whenever I called him "husband"?
The first time I called him that, his favorability had shot up by eighteen percent, so I thought he was happy with it. But now ... he looked more angry than pleased. His brows were pulled together so tightly it almost scared me.
So which was it? Did he like it, or not?
Unfortunately, this wasn’t the right time for me to dig deeper into that, because there was something more important to deal with.
"Is ... this recording the reason why you were so angry earlier?" I asked, even though I already knew the real reason behind his fury was the memory card’s contents.
"I don’t like the way your sister treated you in public, but the reason I asked about your family earlier was because of something else." Lando set the laptop from his lap onto the table. His voice dropped. "Helcia, I’m sorry for intruding on your privacy, and I hope you won’t blame Henry for reporting this to me."
"I was the one who told him to report everything to me if you were ever in trouble or needed help." His jaw clenched as his voice grew lower. "But I never expected to get a report like this."
Now, I was even more curious about what he saw on that memory card that made him this furious.
He acted as if he had just watched some forbidden tape, like one where a killer tortured their victim and recorded it.
But I didn’t think Addison or Madeline would go as far as torturing Helcia with whips or anything like that.
Yeah, they were rotten to the core, but they were also nothing more than crybabies. People like them only enjoyed throwing things, slapping, or threatening others, but were too cowardly to actually use real torture methods like a true psycho would.
"What is it?" I asked seriously. "Is it about my memory card? What did you see?"
Lando didn’t answer. Instead, he gestured for me to open a video inside one of the folders. It was at the top, named Red Evidence.
Without hesitation, I clicked on it. But instead of Addison or Madeline appearing in the video, I saw Gideon.
Helcia was sitting at her desk, writing in her journal, when Gideon suddenly barged into her room. He looked drunk, completely wasted.
I frowned, realizing I didn’t recall this scene in Helcia’s memories. Besides, why would Gideon suddenly come to her room? To yell at her? He rarely ever came to her room just to scream at her.
But then, out of nowhere, he grabbed her hand ... and kissed his own daughter on the FUCKING LIPS.
Clack!
I snapped the laptop shut without thinking, maybe a little too hard, because the sound echoed through the room. My pupils trembled, and my hands instantly turned cold and clammy.
For a while, I couldn’t even look at Lando. I was too afraid of what I might see on his face, still trying to wrap my head around what I had just witnessed.
Why would Gideon do something like that to his own daughter? He had never even done anything like that to Madeline.
Was it because Helcia looked too much like her mother? Did he get drunk and mistake her for his late mistress?
I bit down on the inside of my cheek, then forced myself to open the laptop again. The video showed Helcia pushing Gideon away with all her strength, hard enough that he slammed against the wall. Without a second thought, she bolted out of the room as fast as her legs could carry her.
I skipped ahead in the recording. According to the timestamp, Gideon had passed out in her room afterward, while Helcia never came back, not until midday, after her father had already left.
"Oh, fuck ...," I muttered, letting out a long breath.
Thank God she managed to run before something truly terrible—I mean really, really terrible—happened to her.
When I checked the timestamp again, I realized the video wasn’t even that old, maybe only three months ago. But why couldn’t I remember anything about it?
Had this moment traumatized Helcia so badly that her own mind erased it completely?
I didn’t know, and I couldn’t be sure.
The system also didn’t give me any clues, which meant this was something I had to figure out on my own.
"Helcia."
Lando’s voice was soft but firm, cutting through the heavy silence. "Are you ... okay?"
I forced myself to lift my face. My lips curved into a smile, but it was no more than a fake smile. "I’m fine. Really. The video ... it’s just ... an accident, I think."
But no matter how much I tried to convince myself—or him—there was nothing "accidental" about what I’d just seen. The video was sickening. Disgusting enough to make anyone’s stomach turn.
A father, kissing his own daughter in such a lustful way instead of family love.
My skin crawled when I remembered it.
Gideon had even reached for the hem of Helcia’s pajama bottoms. Just remembering it made my chest tighten, bile rising in my throat. Thank God she’d shoved him away, thank God she’d run before it went any further.
"I ...." My voice cracked like glass. I swallowed hard, steadying myself, then tried again. "I don’t want this video to ever reach the public."
Taking a deep breath, I looked straight into Lando’s eyes, making sure he understood. "I mean it."
Helcia was the victim, I knew that better than anyone. But the world? The world didn’t care. If this recording ever leaked before I secured my fame, before I had built a name that couldn’t be shaken, people would never see me as anything else.
They wouldn’t remember my strength. They wouldn’t remember that I fought back. They would only remember the stain left behind.
In their eyes, I’d forever be the girl who was ruined by her own father.
Brands? Sponsors? They wouldn’t want to touch me. To them, I’d be nothing but a scandal waiting to ruin their reputation.
It was a harsh truth, but the world was indeed merciless toward women with scars like this.
That was exactly why I couldn’t let this spread, not yet. Not until I had secured my fame, not until people knew me for my acting, for my persona ... not for this stain that wasn’t even mine to carry.
"I won’t let it reach the public," Lando said firmly. His gaze locked onto mine. "You have my promise."