Jane slapped her daughter’s face so hard that the girl’s head jerked violently on her neck.
‘Don’t you dare taunt me with my mother,’ she screamed at the girl. ‘She’s dead, or have you forgotten?’
Aurora's eyes filled with tears. But they were tears that Rafferty guessed Aurora was determined not to shed. As if she would force them back, with an unnecessary harshness she rubbed the cheek where her mother had struck her and where the finger marks were visible. As she blinked back her tears, she stared at her mother with a wordless fury.
But Aurora’s silence didn’t last long. Rallying, she quickly found words designed to wound and screamed back, ‘Don’t pretend you cared a toss for your mother. We all know you hated her, God knows you made it plain often enough. The only thing you loved ab
