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“How?” she asked.
“I think it’s pretty obvious I never fit in, not in looks or personality, with the others…it took me a bit to really understand why but when I turned fifteen I kept wondering. I contemplated the possibility that I was adopted but there were pictures of you pregnant with me, so my next thought was I’d been switched, insane right? The summer after I turned sixteen I offered to help clean out the attic remember?”
“The expansion project,” her father said nodding.
“Right, I figured if you’d kept anything it’d be in there, and I found it…a picture of you and Rick from the company picnic. It made sense when I saw the resemblance and for the first time I broke into a computer file. It was easier than I’d expected and I eventually tracked Rick down.”
“Why didn’t you just come to me?” her mom asked.
“I figured you either didn’t want me to know or you didn’t want Dad to know, either way, I couldn’t stop myself from figuring out who I was. So once I worked up the nerve I went and knocked on their door, only Rick wasn’t home, Haley was.”
“Haley is your sister?” Wyatt asked shaking his head. “Why didn’t you just tell me?” he yelled. “Do you know what I’ve been thinking lately? Do you? Wait, if Haley’s your sister, who’s Jess?”
“Would you just let me explain one thing at a time?” she asked him harshly.
“Gabby!” her father rebuked her.
“He’s not innocent in all of this, believe me…” she huffed. “But back to finding out the truth, the moment Haley and I met it was like I’d finally found someone who got me.”
“Then why didn’t you tell us about her?” Viola asked crossing her arms.
“Because our relationship was already rocky, I knew if I suddenly showed up with a sister I could relate to whatever there was between us would be gone, and despite what you think I love you Vi...and Haley’s mom was battling breast cancer. It didn’t seem like the right time to introduce myself to Rick, so I waited thinking that things would change but then she died and Haley needed me. I turned down the Ivy Leagues and went to the same school as Hales…she was a junior my freshman year. It was amazing and I realized I didn’t want to share her with anyone else. When she graduated she moved to Boston and we drifted apart, she stopped calling and writing daily and I hadn’t heard from her in almost six months when she showed up at my dorm the night before graduation crying, sobbing, because she was pregnant and the father didn’t want either of them.”
“So Jess is Haley’s…” Wyatt led.
“Daughter, Jessica Gabrielle Mason,” Gabby admitted. “I moved to Boston and took a job at Graves, Haley was suspiciously quiet about it but I put it down to her being scared. We moved in together after Jess was born…and then I found out the whole truth. Donald Graves was Jess’ father, something I didn’t find out until the night he nearly killed them both…Jess was in ICU for two months before she finally pulled through.”
“Oh my god,” Caroline gasped.
“I tried to convince Haley to go to the police but she wouldn’t, she was too scared of what he’d do, so I finally got her to agreeto come back here with me. We were going to tell everyone but before we left Donald threatened her again and we decided for Jess’ sake that we’d keep our connection a secret. Donald didn’t know we were sisters, the place we rented was only under her name at the time, so there was no paper trail to follow. When we got here Haley was hired on at Miten, didn’t see that one did you?” she asked Wyatt with a grin as his eyes widened in disbelief. “I rented an apartment and they stayed with Rick for a while, until Jess stated having seizures, a result of the damage Donald had inflicted. The times I’d refuse to let anyone in was because they were there…I couldn’t risk it coming out and Donald finding them. I helped her get an apartment closer to the hospital, under the fake name she was using for work. She told me about the opening at Miten and was thrilled when I was hired on. I honestly couldn’t believe that no one saw the resemblance between us but I guess they weren’t looking for it…”
“Okay, so that explains Haley, but what about my money?” Wyatt asked gritting his teeth.
“Jess continued to have seizures, they were advancing rapidly, and I couldn’t stand watching her suffer. We found out there was a possible procedure to help her, but it was expensive, and only one doctor would even attempt it on her.”
“So you stole money to cover it?” Nate asked shaking his head. “No, there’s no way you’d do something like that.”
“I did,” she sighed. “Because Donald Graves showed up outside the office and threatened Haley, I didn’t know if he’d seen me but I guess he had, and Haley was petrified that this time he’d get to them. So I transferred enough funds to cover the surgeries and sent them away…before I could cover things completely Morris found the trail and it led to me.”
“Then how did you two end up married?” Sam asked incredulously.
“Wyatt blackmailed me into it,” she said. “It worked to his advantage. He finally had a reason to force me to go out with him, he knew I didn’t appreciate his—interest—in me so he told me there were two options, give him back the money or marry him.”
“Why in god’s name would you want to marry her?” Joan asked.
“For his precious Miten Industries…I couldn’t give the money back, Haley had already begun using it and I wasn’t going to let anyone stop her from getting the surgery Jess needed, especially not someone who had shown how alike to Donald he was.”
“I amnothinglike Graves,” he said standing up and glaring down at her.
“No? Are you forgetting our wedding night?” she returned.
“What about it?” he groused.
“I think it’s more than clear,” she said then turned to face the others again. “Wyatt knew that in order to replace the money I’d taken he would have to move quickly, the company was about to go public and a hint of an embezzlement investigation would make the stock tank before it was even up for option. He replaced the funds with what he received from his grandfather’s will.”
“But, you two…you seemed so happy…” Caroline said glancing between them.
“Gabby’s a good actress,” Wyatt stated, “almost as good as hiding her activity on a computer.”
