"Y'all are lying!" I choked out, unable to take another second of their poisonous slander. "Y'all are nothing but a bunch of liars!" Dragging my hands through my hair, I shook my head and released a pained scream. "Stop telling lies about my mother!"

"Molly." Daryl's eyes widened with what I could only describe as genuine, honest to god terror. Wait, you've gotta let me –"

"Don’t you dare come near me, Daryl King!" Trembling from head to toe, I held my hand up, warding him off when he tried to come closer. "I mean it. Stay away from me!"

"Who let you into this house?" Wren demanded, glowering at me like I was a cockroach.

"Your daughter!" I cried out, still clutching my chest. "She told me that I deserved to hear the truth."

"Go home, Molly," Daryl's mother said with a weary sigh. "You have no business in this house."

"I want the truth!" I practically screamed. "Why were y'all talking about my mama like that?"

"Because your mother was a whore!" his mother spat back at me before bursting into a fresh batch of tears.

"No, she wasn’t!" I screamed back at her. "You're wrong."

"I know who was sleeping with my husband, Molly," Mrs. Chambers replied wearily. "And I know who fathered your baby brother and it sure wasn't your daddy."

"Liar!" I screamed, frantic now. "What are you talking about? Of course my father was Bobby's father!"

"No, Molly Sue, he wasn't," she choked out. "That baby was the result of an affair with my husband."

"Molls – Molly, please," Stepping in front of me, Daryl caught ahold of my face and forced me to look at him. "If you love me – if you have ever loved me, even a little – then walk out of this house right now. Don’t listen to them. Please, baby, I'll explain everything to you. Just not like this. You don’t deserve to hear it like this…"

"Do what?" I sobbed, trembling violently. "What's happening here?"

"You want the truth?" Wretched piped up. "Fine, I'll give you it to you, warts and all. Your daddy doesn’t think you can handle it. It's the reason he shipped out of state, but if you're gonna come waltzing into my house, making demands, then you're sure as shit gonna take what you get."

"Molly, please," Daryl begged, sounding like he was about to reach his breaking point. "Mama, stop him. Please, she doesn’t deserve to find out this way. Molly, baby, don’t listen to him –"

"Wren, Daryl is right. Don’t do this –"

"Your mother set the fire."

Numb.

I was numb.

I couldn’t feel anything at all.

All I could do was listen as my world was torn apart with every word that spilled from these people's lips.

A pained, feral noise escaped Daryl and his shoulders slumped in defeat, hands falling limply at his sides.

"Crazy bitch couldn’t take no for an answer, so she killed herself and she tried to take her children with her."