Evander's POV
I was grateful Claire cared about Eliam. I couldn't leave him with my mother or anyone else. All they did was cast shadows over him, making him feel unloved and unwanted.
When he was little, the maids took care of him. But they didn't hold their tongues. I thought they were kind, but they gossiped about him when they thought no one was listening. They blamed him for things he couldn't control, calling him unlucky, like he brought bad luck just by being born. It was cruel, and it hurt him in ways I hadn't seen at first.
As he got older, it became worse. They weren't just rude— they started hurting him. Pinching his arm when he cried, ignoring him when he was hungry, leaving him outside in the cold as "punishment." I was shocked. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't have believed it.
