Chapter 392
For a moment, everything goes still even my own heart. Shock crashes through me like a tidal wave I never saw coming. I can’t hear anything except the ringing in my ears and the relentless pounding of my heart.
I take a deep breath, trying to steady myself, trying to center my thoughts, but it does nothing. Her words keep echoing in my head, over and over again, refusing to settle.
“Related?” Mom asks, her voice breathy, like she’s struggling to pull air into her lungs. “What the hell do you mean p>
“Yeah, Mom… how can you be related to Sierra?” Lilly adds, her voice trembling.
“I mean exactly that,” Aunt Harper says, her voice shaking now. “Sierra and I are blood relatives p>
“No… no, no,” Mom repeats, shaking her head as if she can undo the words just by refusing to accept them. “That’s not true. There has to be a mistake. There has to be p>
Aunt Harper doesn’t look away from her, even as her eyes fill with tears. “There is no mistake, Ivy. The test was done multiple times, and every time the results came back the same p>
I close my eyes, trying to breathe through the shock that keeps rolling through me in waves. I thought I was ready for whatever she was going to say. I thought I had prepared myself. After everything I’ve been through, I believed nothing could truly surprise me anymore. I was wrong because I never saw this coming.
“You said she’s related to you by blood,” Lilly says slowly, her voice unsteady. “Does that mean… does that mean p>
“It means she’s your cousin,” Aunt Harper says gently, finishing the thought for her. “The results indicate that I’m most likely her aunt, and since I only have one sibling p>
“She’s Uncle Andrew’s daughter,” Lilly says, the realization hitting her.
Aunt Harper nods confirming it.
Mom doesn’t say anything. She just sits there, staring at her, eyes wide, disbelief written all over her expression
My heart tightens painfully in my chest, making it hard to breathe as I turn to look at Mom. I’ve always wondered who my father was, but like I said, she always brushed the topic aside and never spoke about him. I used to think he was just another deadbeat, someone who walked away before I was even born, or maybe someone who simply didn’t want a child, but never not even in my wildest thoughts did I imagine that my father was dead.
“How? How is that even possible? How are you related? None of this makes any sense,” Lilly shouts, her voice rising, almost hysterical. “We’ve known Sierra for years. How did we not know she was related to us p>
“That’s exactly what I wanted to understand, and the only person who can make sense of this is Ivy” Aunt Harper says, her voice soft but steady.
I slowly turn back to Mom, really looking at her this time, searching her face for answers.
“Mom… did you know?” I ask quietly. “Did you know that my father was Aunt Harper’s brother p>
She shakes her head immediately, her voice breaking. “I didn’t know. If I had known, I would have told you p>
I let out a shaky breath. “How do you expect me to believe that? You want me to believe it’s just a coincidence that we lived in the same city as Aunt Harper, went to the same school as Lilly, and somehow ended up becoming family friends with them p>
She looks at me then, really looks at me, and I see the hurt flash across her face.
“Yes, it was all a fucking coincidence,” she says, her voice firm despite the tears.
“Then why? Why have you never talked about him? Why did you always brush it off? Why did you keep all of this a secret?” It takes everything in me to keep my voice from rising, to keep the anger from spilling over.
“Because it was painful!” she snaps, her voice breaking. “Because I didn’t want to relive it p>
“What are you talking about, Ivy?” Aunt Harper asks gently. “What pain p>
Mom takes a deep breath, like she’s bracing herself for something she’s avoided for years.
“I met Andrew at the hospital where I was working,” she begins slowly. “It was one of those cliché moments where you bump into each other in the corridor, and they guy helps you pick up the papers that went flying everywhere p>
She sighs before continuing, her voice soft but filled with something distant, like she’s stepping back into a memory she never truly left.
“I remember looking up at him and thinking he looked like Adonis,” she says with a faint, bittersweet smile. “He was so handsome, and his eyes, they were the most beautiful I had ever seen. When he smiled at me and said sorry, I knew I was already in trouble p>