A muscle in her cheek twitched but that was the only physical sign that Jack had even heard him. She had and she listened to the way of the words, not Sparkle talking right there but how this fucker had said those words. Could hear the self-righteousness in them, the martyrism, the narcissism. The tone of a sociopath. She'd heard it before. So many times, so many people she'd put in the ground for it, just for that fucking tone of 'it's not my fault' voice. She slowly took a drink.

"Monstrous. Apt. He should feel monstrous, because if he was your guardian and he fucked with your brain to make you think you were in love with him or that you should love him in any way other than a goddamn parental figure, that makes him a fucking monster. That's not on you either, Sparkle. He was your guardian. And he shouldn't have fucking done that."

Another drink. "The worst part about monsters like that is that they don't believe they're monsters. They never believe it. Even when you show them."

She replayed the words in her head again. "Groomed you for four years. Then publicly stated he felt terrible about it and it was monstrous. After leading you goddamn into it. Said that in public, at a hearing, with you there and using your name." Slow nod. "So it wasn't fucking you he was after. Not with a game like that. He wanted to make you hate yourself. Make you want something, make you think it was everything you wanted, and then make you feel like garbage for it. That's.. pretty fucking sick, Sparkle. That's a sick fucking mind that'd do that to a kid. Twist them up like that."