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"God!"My father ran a hand through his hair, his eyes jumping all around. "I—I shouldn't have said that. You're my daughters. You've always been mine."
"Then why would you say such a thing?"
"I was drunk."
"You're not drunk now, but you're lying, aren't you? Are you my biological father or not? It's a yes-or-no question."
He drew in a ragged breath, then said, "No. I'm not your biological father."
I'd been expecting that answer, but it still shook me up. "Why would you pretend you were? And who is my father?" I asked in bewilderment.
"I don't know who he is."
"So Mom cheated on you? Is that it? Did you find out before or after we were born?" The raging anger inside of me drove me to my feet. "Well?" I demanded when he didn't say anything.
"Your mother didn't cheat on me," he replied. "I didn't meet your mom until after you were born. You were three months old when I met you."
I shook my head in disbelief. "Are you serious?"
"Yes. I met your mother at a coffee shop where she was working. I fell for her the first time I saw her. But she wouldn't go out with me. She said she had two babies, and she didn't date. But I couldn't take no for an answer. I kept asking and eventually we went out. It was magic. We fell for each other, hard and fast. I told her I loved her on our third date. And a month later, I asked her to marry me. I wanted to be her husband. I wanted to be your father. I wanted us to be a family."
"Where was my biological father during all this?"
"She said he'd left her before she knew she was pregnant. She told me it was just as well, because he was a mean drunk, and it was better if he didn't know about you at all. She was going to raise you on her own. I didn’t care about her past. I had lost my parents young, and I missed having a family. Kim was alone in the world, too, struggling to make ends meet. It seemed like fate had brought us together. We got married right away, and I officially adopted you and Dani."
"How could I not know this?" I asked in confusion. "I've seen my birth certificate. It doesn't say I was adopted."
"In California, they seal the original birth certificate, and the new one looks like the old one with the last name changed. Kim didn't want you to know you were adopted, and I didn't want you to know, either. I wanted us to be a family. I loved her more than I'd ever loved anyone." He drew a heavy breath. "I thought we were happy. For seven years, I had exactly what I wanted. And then she died."
"You left the day of the funeral. You didn't come back for two weeks. And when you did, you weren't the same. You didn't really love us, did you?" I asked. "You loved her, and we were just part of the package deal."
"Of course I loved you. I just felt helpless and weak after she died. She was my world, and she was gone. And she was always so good with you. She knew what you needed before you could say you needed it. I didn't."
"It actually makes sense," I said. "Finally, something makes sense—why you drifted away from us. Once Mom was gone, the bond was broken."
"I loved you girls; I still do," he argued. "I've been around your whole lives. I'm sorry I said what I said. I never wanted you to find out, especially not like this."
"Does Vicky know?"
He gave a guilty nod. "Yes. I told her after your mom died."
"Probably why she found it easier to suggest boarding school."
"I thought the school was good for you. You both seemed happy there, not as sad as when you were at home. And you had each other. You always had each other. Sometimes, I envied the connection you had. I felt like the outsider."
"You just told yourself that so you could be the outsider," I said harshly. "I—I can't do this anymore." I felt overwhelmed with emotion. "I need to be alone." I ran down the hall and up the stairs, locking myself in my mother's bedroom. But as I looked around her room, I found little peace. Instead, I was reminded of all the lies she'd told. Everyone in my life had lied to me. Except Dani. Even that wasn't true. Dani had lied about seeing Mom at our high school graduation.
That was a small lie, I told myself.And she'd done it to protect me.
But hadn't all the lies been excused by the idea that someone was trying to protect me?
It was wrong—all of it.
And I couldn't do it alone anymore. I took out my phone and called Dani. As soon as she answered, I started to cry.
"What's wrong, Brynn? Talk to me," she said with concern.
"Everything is wrong, Dani. Every damn thing."
