"My father was a bastard. A very big one," Bryce muttered, and Hera swallowed. She wasn't used to such vulgar words, but he was hurt, so she would let him. If this is the way he wanted to express himself and let out all the pain, then she would encourage him as long as he felt better afterwards. "My mother and father were not always in love, as I had imagined. They were forced to get married by their parents and had always pretended to be together for public eyes."
"My dad was an abuser and a manipulator," he said at last. "I didn't know because mom was so good at hiding it. He would portray her to the world as someone who was mentally unstable and couldn't put her shit together. She would cover her scars with dresses, wear heavy make-up, and would smile to the media that she was okay. Everyone thought that her marriage was heaven on earth, but they didn't know half the shit that happened at home behind closed doors."
The more he spoke, the more he gripped her hands tightly. Hera felt his nails digging into her skin; it hurt, but she couldn't complain, she wouldn't.
"When I turned twelve, I started to get a grasp of everything that was happening. Things suddenly became clearer. I started to understand most things that seemed hidden, and that's when I realized that not all was as it seemed." He rasped and let go of her hand, but as if working on instinct, Hera held onto him. She definitely wouldn't let him go through all of this on his own. It was already bad enough that he was saying this to her because she could literally see the pain in his eyes.
Bryce, on the other hand, was grateful that she was there with him. He had thought that, with time, he would be able to move past this, but it only haunts him, and every year, on that exact date, he relives that day over and over again.
"What happened to your mother?" she asked, still squeezing his hands gently.
"She thought that she could change him," he stated and turned to face her, his eyes gauging hers to see her reaction, but she remained unmoved.
"She loved him apparently and would not leave despite everything that he was doing to her. She thought that if she stayed, then things would get better. She thought that since she bore him a son, then he would finally learn to love her too." He paused. And then, "He didn't."