Page 69 of Revealing Mark

Matthew nodded. Sophie placed her hand on mine and squeezed it.

“Did you tell Mark?” Matthew asked. “He has been really worried about you.”

The mention of Mark made me stiffen. I remembered what he said and how it made me feel.

“He didn’t give me a chance.” And I left it at that.

Let him find out via my brother how wrong he had been. As far as I was concerned, I didn’t care whether he knew the truth or not. He was still a part of my life and I would have to figure out a way to deal with him, but that was a problem for another day.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

My footsteps felt heavy as I approached the familiar door of my parents’ house. I was torn between confronting them and wanting to pretend it hadn’t happened. I didn’t want to hurt them but I had to know the truth, even if it hurt. Usually when I came over I was excited and happy to see them, this was the first time I wasn’t.

The past few days had been a rollercoaster and it was time to get off the ride. Yesterday I had told Matthew and Sophie the truth. I had no idea if Matthew had said anything to Mark yet and I reminded myself I didn’t care, not one bit. His opinion didn’t count at all.

When I reached the door, I shifted from one foot to the other with my hand on the door, about to knock, but I stopped myself and lowered my hand. What if this went badly? My nerves got the better of me and I wavered, faltering a step backward. I considered putting it off for another day but that would just be delaying the inevitable.

I gnawed on my bottom lip, trying to work up the courage to confront them. It needed to happen, there was no going back. Then I thought about the father I hadn’t known about and allthe time that had been lost. Images of my half-brothers reminded me of all the new things I had gained.

I let out a heavy, emotional breath and knocked.

My father opened the door. “Hey, stranger. You’ve been pretty scarce lately.”

He kissed me on the cheek and I mirrored his movement before following him into the house.

“Your mom’s busy in the kitchen,” he explained, leading the way. “She’ll be so excited to see you.”

Not after she learned the reason I was here. My stomach was in knots. He was so happy to see me but I was sure once he discovered the reason for my visit he wouldn’t be as happy.

My mom was busy cutting some stuff on the cutting board. “Hi, darling,” she greeted with the widest smile, and I almost felt a pang of guilt for knowing what I was about to do. I greeted her like I usually did but she noticed right away that something was off.

“Everything okay?” she asked, setting the knife down on the cutting board and wiping her hands.

“I need to talk to…both of you.” I looked at the kitchen table.

My parents shared a look and complied by taking a seat at the table. I didn’t sit, I was too worked up.

“What’s wrong? You’re really starting to scare me,” my Mom told me, looking very concerned.

“I got a call from a lawyer.” I began staring at the faces of the two people I had trusted the most, but it only intensified my sadness at their deceitfulness. “He called me in connection with an inheritance.”

They shared another look. Did they know what was coming?

“I was sure he had the wrong person but he insisted I was the right person. The inheritance was from my father.”

It was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. My mother swallowed and my father leaned back in his chair like he had been winded. There weren’t any denials.

My mother was the first to snap back when she stood and approached me, but I kept my distance. “I need an explanation.”

She dropped her hands from reaching for me and her lip trembled.

“I never…wanted you to find out.”

That just annoyed me. “So it would have been better to never know anything?” I was incredulous and angry.

“I know it’s difficult to understand why we did what we did, but we did it for you.”

My mouth fell open. “How? How could not knowing my real father be thebestthing for me?”