It was the first time we ever learned that our mother was an
Alpha.
And there was the truth about my father as well…everything
he had done, all the sacrifices he had made, had been to protect
- us. He meant good, but he became a puppet to another woman
during that process.
The realization hit harder than I expected.
1:
Even Kylie was shaking. She was starting to see the truth: how
my mother had used my father for her own gain, how my
father had only ever wanted to protect us. I couldn’t believe it
at first, but when I looked at Kylie, I saw it–guilt, regret, and
maybe a little shame.
She also regretted helping her mother turn father into a puppet.
But just as I thought the room couldn’t get any heavier, the
door slammed open.
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My stepmother came rushing in, stumbling as she tried to hold
herself together. She looked so vulnerable, her eyes from
crying.
She threw herself at us, crying out in between sobs, “I…I never
wanted to hurt him! I swear, I never did! I’m innocent…God he’s
the only man I’ve ever loved!”
“LIAR!” I snapped, glaring at her pathetic face. “You are the
reason he killed himself. So don’t talk about love because you
have no idea what’s that like!”
More tears poured out of her eyes.
“No… Violet, you’re wrong… It’s you who have no idea what it
feels like to love somebody and not being loved back!”
She collapsed onto the floor in front of us, her hands clutching
her chest, her voice broken.
“He only ever loved you, Violet. You and your brothers. He
never truly loved me, not like he loved your mother. She is his
true love, and I’m just a place holder. Do you know how that
makes me feel?! And you’re… you’re a replica of her. Every time
I look you, I think of her! The woman who stole my husband’s
heart forever!”
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Her voice was shaking, the bitterness to it that made me freeze.
What stung the most was how she was twisting the facts.
“You blame my mother for your own misery?” I gritted. “My
father may have some feeling for another woman, but he was a
loyal husband too! He was kind and gentle and never betrayed
you for a single day! What did you give him in return then?
You treated his own children like shit! We all grew up under
the shadow of you!”
“You think I like acting like that?!” she shrieked with tears, “But
I had to…I had to make the hard choices for Kylie! If I hadn’t
fought for my own daughter… he would’ve loved you all more.
He would’ve favored you. He was never going to love Kylie as
much as he loved her children!”
I was beyond furious now.
What the fuck was she talking about? My father didn’t have a
favorite child. He treated Kylie and the rest of us all the same. It
was HER! She was the biased one. And now she blamed father
for being biased?! Was she fucking kidding me?
“Bullshit!” Michael snarled, looking just as angry as me. “Name
one example that father loves us more than Kylie. You can’t
think of any!”
She sneered, “Oh really? Why did he take Violet fishing and not
Kylie? Why did he always take you guys out for a walk and not
Kylie? Those are all proofs for his biased heart! You reminded
him of her. Your real mother. God…Poor Kylie and me…we
were not loved in this family…”
She started crying again.
I raised my voice, talking over her wails, “Father took me to fish
because I liked those kinds of things! I always wanted to be with
the boys. But Kylie didn’t! She preferred doing thing indoor
with the girls! And he liked taking walks with us because Kylie
hated them!”
My stepmother stopped crying briefly, looking at me in horror.
I had to bite down on my lip to stop myself from screaming at
her. This was crazy. She was still living in the past, still obsessed
with the fact that my father had once been in love with my
mother. She couldn’t move on. She twisted the fact and use it as
excuse to hurt my father.
She disgusts me.
“I can’t believe you are still holding onto those things from our
childhood! And those are the reason you hate him? Why you
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stole his masculinity? But the truth is father treat all of his
children the same and he is a good husband to you! You are
getting back at him for something that he didn’t even do! Can’t
you see that now?!” I snapped.
“No…no…NO!”
She shook her head, a desperate gleam in her eyes. “No, you
don’t get it. He is biased. He really is! He loves you more.
Because you are her kids! You have no idea how much I have
suffered in this goddamn marriage!”
I was exhausted, done talking in circles with her. Maybe she
knew the truth as well, but she refused to face the reality. She
could go fuck herself from now on. I was so done with her.
There was just one question that I still care about.
“…Who is my real mother?” I asked, holding my breath. She
must knew.
She looked up at us, with tears stains still on her cheeks.
Gradually, her face a twisted mix of resentment and something
else. A dark, cruel smile spread across her lips.
“You’ve met her. You already know her.”
I froze.
…WHAT?
Her eyes gleamed with malicious satisfaction, “It hurts, doesn’t
it? Your mother was right under your nose and yet you didn’t
know about it. And she didn’t even come forward to say hi.”
I felt like the world was spinning around me.
My knees nearly buckled, but Asher caught me before I could
fall. My mind was reeling. Who was she talking about? What
was she saying? I couldn’t… I couldn’t process it.
“No…No.” I whispered, shaking my head. “My real mother
would never do that to me. She wouldn’t be so cruel…I–I need a
minute.”
I stumbled to leave, but Asher grabbed my wrist, “Violet, don’t
run away from this. You want the full disclosure.”
“You ran away when you lost your parents! Why can’t I get a
moment alone? It’s not fair?!” I cried at him. Oh god, it was his
most painful memory. I didn’t want to mention it. But I guessed
I was too heartbroken and sad.
But Asher didn’t seem to be mad at me. “Come on, baby, you are
stronger than this,” he said softly, tightening his grip.
“If you want to cry, cry. We are all hear for you,” Michael said.
His eyes told me that he was worried.
“Yeah you’ve been holding it since the funeral. Let it all out.
Don’t go crying on yourself.” Jayden said with a frown.
But they didn’t get it. I wasn’t sad. I was furious.
“I don’t want to cry, OK?” I cried out, my voice shaking and
broken. “I’m…angry. Angry that I can’t change anything now
that father is dead. Angry that all those memories from
childhood are all gone in my mind but this woman still
remember them! Angry that our real mother abandoned us and
we have to live our whole fucking lives in lies–““I NEVER
ABONDONED YOU!”
A voice rang out from the doorway behind us.
I spun around, my heart racing. There, standing in the
doorway, I saw her.
My real mother. And I do know her.
