AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Beckett, come and sit down. Please.”
I paused in the doorway. It was the “please” that got me. It was so out of character, I started to suspect Soren had been body-snatched.
I sat opposite him, bracing myself for the worst. Strangely, I was calm. Eve’s betrayal had ripped my heart free from my chest. Nothing else could hurt me now. I was untouchable.
“I’m sure you’re wondering why I asked you here.”
I simply nodded.
Soren opened his mouth, and nothing came out. He seemed as surprised by that as I was. An awkward sigh left him.
“I don’t know where to start,” he confessed.
“What’s going on?”
“I’m getting a divorce from Colette. I’ve already called my lawyer,” Soren said suddenly.
What? I just stared at him.
“She’s been having an affair for quite some time, it seems. Once I understood the truth of that, and just how accomplished a liar she is, I had to question what else she’s lied to me about.” Soren’s eyes met mine unflinchingly.
“She’s not the person I thought she was. I was blind. All I can say is that I was lost after your mother died, and I was lonely…I couldn’t stand how lonely I was.”
I swallowed a knot in my throat. “I was lonely, too.”
Soren nodded. “I know, and we should have turned to each other… but every time I looked at you, I saw her. I wasn’t strong enough to be your father, Beckett, and I failed. Your mother would be ashamed of me.”
My hands curled into fists. My whole body was filled with the rush of adrenaline. I had no idea how to cope with this conversation, but it was happening. It was finally happening.
Soren stared me dead in the eye. “I’m sorry, son.”
Those words felt like a sucker punch.
He watched me for a long moment before reaching for his phone. He slid it to me.
“This is Colette caught in a compromising position, one that will see the prenup enacted. She’ll get nothing.”
I took the phone and stared. It was Colette, alright, with a man. I was just relieved they both appeared to be the same age. It was Professor Jefferies. The creep who’d been hitting on Eve just the other night in the library. Disgust coated my skin. Colette had met her match, it looked like.
“As for the rest… I believe you. I should have believed you then, but I couldn’t stand the thought I’d made such a wrong decision. if you want to make a criminal case, I’ll stand by you.”
I set down the phone and gawped at my father. The words were too much to absorb.
“I should have been on your side.”
Soren reached across the table, and for one second, I thought he might take my hand. He paused, considering how much progress he could possibly make in one meeting, and took the phone back instead.
“I wasn’t there for you then, but I am now. Whatever you want to do, we do it. I’ll be by your side.”
“Why do you believe me now?”
Soren fiddled with his phone. A voice recording came on. Colette’s voice was easy to make out. “…and as for Beck, don’t let him fool you. The times we were together were the highlight of his fumbling, inept life, and if he says anything else, he’s a liar. A body’s response doesn’t lie…”
“He was a kid. A body’s response doesn’t matter…he was a kid, and you’re a criminal.”
Eve. The other voice. My sweet, brave Cinderella, cutting down my evil step mother for me.
“So, once you have proof that involves Colette, you can finally believe your son,” I bit out. It was all too much, and now that I realized what a hotheaded idiot I’d been to Eve, I needed to get out of here and talk to her.
