AllFreeNovel
Share Us
It’s just him.
And his hurt.
And his bleeding heart.
I gasp, my chest expanding with a tortured breath as I feel the weight of the moment land on my shoulders. It’s a privilege to gain access here, to him, to peer into his broken pieces.
It’s a burden as much as it is a gift. If he reveals himself to me, all of him—there’s no way I can keep myself from holding back.
None.
I’ll want to give him all of me too.
I should tell him to stop.
To keep it to himself.
That this is just a business arrangement.
It isn’t real.
He doesn’t need to explain anything.
But I don’t say that.
He slowly rises to his feet. “When I was twelve, I met my birth mother.”
Shock vibrates through my chest. “Did your parents know?”
“They had no idea. They still don’t.”
I can’t imagine how freaked out Zo would be if she knew. The woman adores Hansley.
“What did she want?” I ask.
“Money.” He clears his throat. “I didn’t find this out until later, but she’d already asked my parents for help.”
“Oh no.”
“They’d given her some cash, but when she tried to blackmail them into getting more and threatened to take me away from them, they told her to leave and never show up again.”
His eyes glaze over as if he’s living in that memory now. “I’d snuck out to hang with my friends and she was waiting at the park. Something about her caught my attention. I don't know. Maybe I saw the truth by looking at her.” He lifts a shoulder. “I went up to her first.”
“And what did she say?”
“She was really kind at the beginning. Soft spoken. She was crying and kept apologizing for giving me up.”
I scowl. “She put on an act.”
“A good one. I was really conflicted.”
“Did you give her the money she asked for?”
“No.” He rubs the back of his neck. “No. I didn’t. For one thing, I didn’t have any. And when she started suggesting I steal from my parents or make something up to get the money from them, warning bells clanged in my ears.” He gestures to the side of his head. “I couldn’t stop thinking about my dad and what he would want me to do in that situation. He taught me to be honest and to never steal. What my birth mom was asking was wrong. It got into my head and it wouldn’t let go.”
I imagine a smaller Hansley—dark hair, scrawny shoulders and big brown eyes staring at the woman who gave birth to him. I imagine him confused, overwhelmed, and lost as that woman hurt him for her own selfish gain.
My heart aches, bawling out for him.
