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chapter twenty-eight the story of grace victoria stark
tw: contains mentions of abuse, sexual abuse, neglect
𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐄 𝐏𝐀𝐂𝐄𝐃 𝐈𝐍 𝐇𝐄𝐑 kitchen, fidgeting with her fingers. Why did she say she would tell him everything? That was possibly the worst thing she could have said. The only person she had told her full history to was... nobody. Not even Steve or Peggy had known the full truth. Howard was too delusional to know the full extent of everything she had gone through.
Grace walked out to the living room where Tony was sitting in an armchair. He looked up when he saw his aunt enter and raised his eyebrows at the large bottle of whiskey in her hand. "Do you want me to get glasses for that?"
She shook her head and sat down on the couch. "This is for me," she said, unscrewing the top. "If you want some, there's more in the cabinet. If you're getting the full story of my life... you might want some alcohol." Tony looked at her and she let out a breath. "Are you ready?" she asked him. "Because there's no going back once we've started."
"Are you ready?" he asked in response and she pursed her lips. "I know you want to tell me, but you don't have to."
Grace nodded. "It's time," she said quietly, pulling a pillow onto her lap. "Just... I don't want you to hate your dad because of me... It's not an easy story to hear."
"Aunt Gracie, you were there for me when he wasn't," Tony told her. "Now I'm going to be here for you."
Grace sucked in a breath and nodded. "Okay. Well... the very beginning is the day after your grandmother died..."
Grace pushed the dresser in front of her bedroom door, feeling the force of her father push against the door. "Daddy, it's me!" she exclaimed desperately, hearing the dresser shake. "It's Grace! Your daughter!"
"You look like Victoria!" he said and she whimpered. "Too much like her." Grace fell back at the dresser fell over and her father stumbled over drunkenly. "I should do something about that..."
"Daddy, please..." Grace whispered, shaking her head. "I—It's not my fault that I look like her. She's my mother. Howard looks just like her, too."
"Well, Howard isn't here, you are," her father contradicted and Grace's bottom lip trembled. Her eyes glossed over seeing him pull out his belt. "Don't worry, my dear, it won't hurt a bit."
⸻ ~~~ ⸻
"𝐇𝐄 𝐃𝐈𝐃 𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐓𝐎 you?" Tony exclaimed, standing up and looking at his aunt in shock. "And he did it how many times?"
"That's not important—" Grace started to say and he scoffed.
"The hell it isn't," he contradicted and she held her head in her hands. "He sexually assaulted you. His own daughter. Why are you not more upset?"
