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For so long, it felt like the only thing Royalty had been feeling was pain. The happiness she felt as she stared into the flames was a welcomed change. Returning to her room, Royalty stepped into her shoes. She waited until the hoodie left nothing but ashes in the fireplace before heading out of her apartment to meet with her father. At the sight of Jennifer standing behind the door, Royalty rolled her eyes.
“Go away,” she grumbled, locking the door behind her. Royalty had no plans of speaking with her mother, or the woman that had raised her, and nothing Jennifer could say would change that.
Jennifer gasped, gripping the top of Royalty’s arm to keep her from walking away. “You have lost your mind speaking to your mother like that.”
Royalty chuckled, pulling her arm out of Jennifer’s grip.
“You’re not my mother. Daddy told me everything.” Royalty paused, waiting to see how her words would affect Jennifer.
Jennifer’s eyes widened and mouth parted as her head jerked back from the impact of Royalty’s words. “How can you stand there and say that to me?”
“It’s the truth, and honestly, it explains every damn thing. Daddy told me all of it. How he cheated and got another woman pregnant. How he planned to leave, but when my real mother died, you allowed him to come back.” Royalty chuckled, crossing her arms over her chest. “You know what I don’t understand though? Why would you agree to raise another woman’s baby, knowing you couldn’t handle seeing the face of your husband’s betrayal?”
Jennifer inhaled a deep, shaky breath. The bark of laughter she released wasn’t one of amusement. With her hands on her hips, she stared into Royalty’s eyes as she nibbled her bottom lip.
“Now you don’t have anything to say, Jennifer?”
“Your father was right, I’m not your mother… but he’s not your father either. I’m not sure why he decided to finally come clean, but the least he could have done was tell you the whole truth.”
“What do you mean the whole truth?” Royalty asked softly.
“You need to sit down for this.”
“No, just…” Nostrils flaring, Royalty took a step back as her heart raced. “Just say what you have to say.”
“Marcusdidcheat on me, he even planned to leave me for her. The woman he cheated with didn’t tell him she was fresh out of a relationship and not completely over her ex. For some reason, sharing her angered Marcus. I guess she hadn’t planned to tell him, but when she found out she was pregnant, she realized she didn’t have a choice. The baby… you… weren’t his. At that point, she decided to make things work with your father, and that infuriated Marcus. He decided to get back at her for playing with his heart by taking you.”
“And you just… let him get away with it? That’s… He kidnapped me!”
“It wasn’t my intention, and I didn’t even know in the beginning. He’d given me the same lie he told you—that he cheated, and your mother died giving birth. I agreed to raising you, but yes, I did start to feel some kind of way as you aged. That was something that I probably should’ve spoken to a professional about, but I was ashamed. And yes, maybe I did treat Regal differently because she was my birth child, but neither of those are why there’s been a disconnect between us. There’s been a disconnect between us because I felt forced to stay with Marcus because of you.”
“How can you blame that on me?”
“I wanted to tell your mother the truth about you when I found out. You were four years old. I had my suspicions because you looked nothing like your father, and I just felt in my gut that he was hiding something. He never wanted to go back to our old town, not even to see his family. It was like he wanted to build this world in Memphis that included just us. Marcus was always paranoid and looking over his shoulder… going from one job to the next. Something just always felt… off. Eventually, I decided to go look for answers myself. I went to see his mother and he all but ripped my head off when I came back home. That’s when he finally came clean and told me he’d taken you from your real parents, and that your father is such a dangerous man that if he ever found out, he’d kill us both. I thought he was just being dramatic at first, but I looked into your parents, and he’s right. Your father isn’t just dangerous; he’s powerful. His family is one of the founding families of our old town and the secret society that runs it. They’d placed all kinds of rewards up for information on you, and word had spread that the person responsible for taking you was a dead man walking. I… hated having you around because I felt trapped. That wasn’t fair to you, but that’s the whole truth.”
Leaning against the door, Royalty slid down it. Accepting Jennifer not being her mother was a lot, but it made sense. Accepting Marcus not being her father… Royalty was having difficulty processing those words. Neither of them were her parents. All this time, she’d been raised to feel as if she was unworthy of true love, support, and acceptance from people that hadn’t even created her. Marcus had taken her from her family just to put her in a house that stopped feeling like home as soon as Regal was born.
When the tears began to pour, Royalty didn’t even have the strength to wipe them away. Jennifer tried to sit next to Royalty, but she lifted her hand to stop her.
“Please, I need some space.”
“I know this is probably a lot to process, but you deserved to know the whole truth.”
Royalty scoffed and shook her head. “You’re only telling me because Marcus told me about you. If he hadn’t, you would have continued to treat me like an outcast, then gaslight me into believing it was all in my head.”
“Roy…”
“I don’t want to have anything to do with either of you.”
Jennifer pulled her phone out and did something on it, then put it back in her purse. “If you change your mind, I’m here. If you don’t, I understand. I really did love you as if you were my own, even if I didn’t actively express that. I… sent you your mother and father’s names. They are located in Rose Valley Hills. Like I said, your father’s family was one of the founding families of Rose Valley, so with a quick Google search, information on them will be easy to find.”
Jennifer leaned down and placed a kiss on Royalty’s forehead, and it took everything inside of her not to wipe it away. Royalty didn’t realize how long she’d sat there paralyzed until the sun set and tiny flying bugs began to swirl around her, pulling her out of her trance. Standing, she went back into her apartment and crashed on the couch, not even having the strength to make it to her bedroom. Just when she thought things couldn’t get any worse, Jennifer showed up and further demolished her world.
seven
Marcus
Marcus checked the time on his phone yet again. He’d been calling Royalty’s phone and had yet to get an answer. It wasn’t like her to not communicate. If she wasn’t going to meet him at the storage unit, Royalty would have called to let him know. What had caused her to change her mind? Was she involved in an accident? Unable to let so many conflicting thoughts roam around in his mind, Marcus called yet again, and yet again, he got no answer.
