Brendan was not going to shy away from a hard conversation. He stepped closer to Madame Brighthall and said, “Do you know what happened to her?”

It took all his willpower to suppress his rage. “By the time I found her, she was drugged and set up to be raped under the influence! The aphrodisiac they used on her damaged her body enough that her life is hanging by a thread. She just came out of the ER, but she’s still unconscious!”

“What?!” Madame Brighthall cried in disbelief. She then leaped to her feet. “How did that even—? No, who would commit such an atrocity in this age and society? It’s barbaric!”

He took a deep breath. “Just because you’re blissfully unaware of it, it doesn’t mean cruelty has ceased to exist.”

Madame Brighthall furrowed her eyebrows. “Oh, so this is you looking for someone to crucify, isn’t it? And to you, I happen to be the one who caused all of this, right?” she retorted. “As if that woman wasn’t the one who drove a wrench into your relationship with Charlen