Page 182 of The Billionaire's Redemption

And I do.

We sit together in silence for a few minutes as I grapple with this plethora of information.

“That day in the office,” I finally broach, “you recognized me? When we first met?”

He pauses. “I could recognize that face anywhere. It didn’t matter how many years had passed. And Thorne; I knew it was her lover’s surname. She went to great lengths to hide you from me. Even after she had collected the child support payment in a bulk, she wanted to punish me for taking away her luxurious lifestyle. My parents had a trust fund for you and Lucas. She took that, too. Fortunately, I was relieved you were the only one allowed to use it.”

I swallow looking down at his weathered hand. “She took it from me.”

As I fill him in on what happened between me and Ethan all those years ago, followed by Lucas’s rage and my mother’s reaction, Roland—no, my father just closes his eyes in grief.

“I did look for you, Natalie,” he breathes. “And when I found you, I tried to get close, tried to figure out the best way to tell you, but Ethan kept getting in the way. And now he’s got you pregnant.”

I smile through my tears. “I love him, Ro—Dad. I love him, and we’re getting engaged properly.”

When he hears the word ‘Dad’ from me, the man before me crumples, weeping. “I’ve waited so long for you to call me that.”

He still feels like a stranger to me, but… “I don’t have many memories of you, if any. My entire life you’ve been a villain in mystory, someone whose leaving became a source of torment for me.”

“I’m sorry, Nat?—”

“But it wasn’t your fault,” I smile, reaching out to wipe his tears. “I’m glad I have a father, my father, back in my life. I want a new beginning for us. You’re going to be a grandfather soon.”

He smiles at me, tears in his eyes. “I won’t let you down this time.”

“You never did.” I squeeze his hand.

The air between us feels lighter somehow, the crushing weight of old lies peeling away. I don’t know what the future will look like. I don’t know how long it will take to heal all the wounds, but I know I want him in my life.

I want to rebuild what was stolen from us.

My brother might not have turnedout to be such a monster had my mother not influenced him. The delusional mindset, his jealousy towards Ethan, led to him revealing crimes that had my blood curdling.

My mother said something in that clinic, something that I had thought—or at least hoped—she was lying about. She said Lucas had planned to pass me around his colleagues, investors. That turned out to be true.

He wasn’t just angry I had slept with Ethan because of how he hated him, but because I lost my virginity to him, leaving me worthless. Those investors he lost weren’t because he went to jail, but because he had promised them his virgin sister. The thought still keeps me up at night, leaving me tossing and turning. I was not human to them. I was not worth basic human decency to them.

I was an object.

All these years I spent trying to earn their affection, but I was nothing in their eyes.

This new information no longer puts tears in my eyes, but it numbs me, that I came from this woman, was related to this man.

“Do people really do these sorts of things?” I ask Ethan, staring down at the black and white, patchy kitten in my hands. I found her on the street half-starved, and he let me take her to the vet and bring her home. This small tiny furball that sleeps all the time has offered me more comfort than I realized.

Ethan runs his fingers through my hair as I lean against him, the gentle touch sending warmth through my scalp. “I wish I could say your mother and half-brother are an anomaly, but people can be vicious. Your mother was so lost in her hatred of your father that she didn’t care you were part of her. Of course, it didn’t help that her lover also died during the divorce process. It made her more vindictive.”

This little tidbit came out during the police interrogations. Lucas’s father, my mother’s childhood love, died in a car accident. My mother tried to stop the divorce after that happened, but my father refused, which pissed her off even more. That’s when she concocted the whole abuse story.

“So, what’s going to happen to them now?” I ask, stroking the purring kitten in my lap.

“Prison. They’ve both pled guilty to reduce their sentences. Apparently, Lucas didn’t know Rose was helping your mother in capturing you, so he’s pissed off. He tried to attack her in court. That’s not helping his case any. Rose’s family has hired some of the best lawyers, but her case is airtight. She kidnapped you, has been sending you death threats, at home and at work. Most likely, they’ll plead insanity.”

I curl up tighter in his arms, savoring the security of his embrace. “As long as she stays the hell away from us.”

It's been three months now - from early December to earlyMarch, and everything has changed. At seven months pregnant, my body tells the story of time passed in ways I'm still getting used to. My belly rounds prominently now, no longer the subtle curve it was in December, and our baby's movements have grown from gentle flutters to distinct kicks that sometimes take my breath away.

My bruises have long since faded, but the scars inside are still healing. My father's presence and Ethan's constant love are going a long way in covering the bleeding wounds on my soul.