“I think I would have preferred you raising and disciplining me than the life I had,” she said quietly.
“No, Essence. It wouldn’t have been right. It would have been a fate far worse than grooming. This way you got to live a life of your own, somewhat for a time.”
“I was so lonely, Vadim.” She turned her body to stare at the ceiling. “I don’t have a lot of memories of when my dad was alive. Eliska has more. She was eleven when he passed but I was only six. What I do remember of our old house and living there was having a nanny and having to be really quiet. I remember once talking too loudly and it woke Eulalie, and I was locked in my room. Mom would leave me there a long time. The nanny would sneak me food. I remember often being hungry as a small child so I overate when we moved to Gra
