Tormenting how, exactly? [Not that any style of torment is good or even necessarily one better than the other. But knowing whether he was taunting and teasing, or if he got particularly physical provides a certain sort of context to the bigger picture.

Still. He hedges the question carefully, because he knows this is not an easy topic. She barely knows him and she has no reason to tell him any of this, despite any potential familial relationship that may technically exist between them.]

It’s a really simplistic statement for something much more complicated, and it doesn’t excuse anyone’s action but… hurt people hurt people. It says a lot about you that you understand that perspective, even though you were also one of his targets.