CHAPTER 34: ROSE

Ryan's ignoring me.

Why? I don't know.

He was fine when we came back from Paris. We even talked about to start trying for a kid and to make one of the rooms into a nursery after Ryan said he wants to make a family with me.

But since last week, when he came back from work, he has been quiet.

He doesn't say anything. He spends most of his time in the study room. Whenever I tried to wait for him so we could cuddle at night, he wouldn't come till I had fallen asleep.

Whenever I try to hug him or be affectionate, he doesn't return the affection, he barely looks at me. He excuses himself then leaves.

We're right where we started off.

It's worse than that.

At the start of our marriage; yes, we didn't talk but we still exchanged hi's or hello's, even said 'good morning' or 'good night'.

But now, Ryan has changed into a completely different person.

Something is bothering him.

I don't know what is.

But I'm scared.

It's Saturday night so I'm thinking of asking Ryan what's wrong and trying to spend time with him.

I even cooked lasagna- which is his favorite since his mom cooked it everytime for him.

Ryan came home 2 hours ago and went straight to our room. He hasn't come out from our room since then. When I tried to go in, it was locked and when I asked him if everything was okay, he didn't response.

That brought the ache in my chest again.

𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨.

Did I? I don't remember anything that would upset him. But still, I will ask him.

I came out of my thoughts as I heard Ryan coming downstairs. I quickly rushed out of the kitchen to find him wearing his tuxedo.

Why is he dressed up?

"Ryan?" I said, Ryan's hand stopped on the doorknob "where are you going?"

After which felt like a decade, Ryan finally said "Out. I have to meet someone."

Meet someone?

"Oh, you didn't tell me you were going out… I made dinner." I tried to put a smile on my face but Ryan didn't once look at me "I made lasagna."

"You can eat. I'll eat out." He turned the doorknob to leave and my heart started racing as it knew if Ryan walked out of the door, he might not come back.

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘱𝘪𝘥.

But it could be true.

"Ryan, wait!" I said and his hand froze "please, just… Wait." I swallowed down my tears as I spoke "you haven't spoken to me for a week. You've changed into a completely different person. I.." my voice broke "I'm scared.."

"There's nothing to be scared of, Rose."

But there is. There's so much to be scared of. I'm scared you'll loose feelings for me. I'm scared you'll leave me. I'm scared this marriage will end. I'm scared I might never see you again.

As much as the next sentence hurt me, I couldn't hold back myself from knowing the truth "are you seeing someone else?"

Ryan's head snapped towards me. Our eyes finally locked as his eye brows drew down together.

"What?" He said

"Is there someone else?" I asked, the ache in my chest increasing

"You think I'm cheating on you?" He said "why the hell do you think I'm cheating on you-"

"What the hell do you expect me to think?!" I said, my voice increasing more than I expected which gave Ryan a shock.

I swallowed back my tears again.

𝘋𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘤𝘳𝘺.

"You've been ignoring me since last week. You've become worst than at the start of our marriage. You don't talk to me, you don't kiss me, you don't even look at me." My voice cracked "I can't even ask you if you stopped loving me because you never admitted that you loved me."

Something changed on Ryan's face. His face softened but his eyes told something else.

Was he hurt?

"What did I do?" I whispered, scared to raise my voice Incase I breakdown. "What did I do which made it so hard for you to look at me?"

Ryan's hand formed a fist beside him, he opened his mouth to say something but shut it back.

He broke our eye contact and turned towards the door "I'll be home late." He turned the doorknob as a tear escaped my eye "don't wait up for me." He left shutting the door behind him. Leaving me in an empty house with nothing but an ache in my chest.

Before I knew it, tears started rolling down my cheeks. I closed my eyes and tried to take deep breaths but instead a sob released my mouth.

I shouldn't be crying. Ryan didn't give a proper answer. Something must be bothering him.

I'll ask him again. I'll keep asking him till I get the real answer from him.

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2 hours passed and Ryan didn't come home, I tried calling him but he didn't pick up. I left him texts saying I want to talk to him properly.

I couldn't eat so I placed the lasagna in the fridge.

After that I spent rest of the time in our bedroom, laying on our bed staring at the ceiling.

Every notification I got, I expected it to be Ryan's but none of it was.

I closed my eyes to let them rest to experience a flashback.

𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘢 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘩 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘨𝘯𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘳. 𝘏𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘮 𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯.

𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘺 𝘥𝘢𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘮 𝘴𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘪𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳.

𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘧𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥. 𝘔𝘰𝘮'𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘦. 𝘋𝘢𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘰.

𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘺 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘐'𝘮 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘢𝘥 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘢 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘤𝘬 𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘰𝘳.

𝘐 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘢𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘢𝘫𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘴- 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘰𝘮 𝘴𝘰 𝘸𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩- 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘺 𝘮𝘺 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘦.

"𝘐𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘬𝘢𝘺?" 𝘐 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘥.

𝘏𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘯𝘰𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘥, 𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘱 𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘢 𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 "𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨'𝘴 𝘰𝘬𝘢𝘺, 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘺."

"𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵?"

𝘏𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯 "𝘐𝘵'𝘴.. 𝘶𝘮.. 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨.." 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘮𝘦 "𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬?"

"𝘖𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦. 𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘦." 𝘐 𝘴𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘥 𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘥𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦. 𝘏𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘥, 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘨𝘭𝘶𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘦 "𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘸𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨, 𝘥𝘢𝘥?"

𝘋𝘢𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘦 "𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘺… 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦'𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘣𝘶𝘵… 𝘐'𝘮 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶."

𝘈 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘐𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘢𝘥'𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴 "𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘵, 𝘥𝘢𝘥?"

"𝘏𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘺, 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 𝘑𝘶𝘴𝘵.. 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴." 𝘋𝘢𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘦, 𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘥𝘢𝘥 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 "𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐'𝘮 𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘺," 𝘥𝘢𝘥 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘦, 𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 "𝘐'𝘮 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺.. 𝘐 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘶𝘴."

"𝘠𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦.." 𝘐 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥.

𝘋𝘢𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘴𝘰𝘧𝘵 𝘬𝘪𝘴𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥.

"𝘐'𝘮 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘢𝘧𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴." 𝘏𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 "𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘐 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘦𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥𝘭𝘺."

"𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵?"

𝘋𝘢𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘦 "𝘐'𝘮 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘙𝘺𝘢𝘯. 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥."

My eyes flew open.

That was the night dad scared me to death and the night I found out Ryan will be the one I'll be spending the rest of my life with.

I turned my head to grab my phone. I opened it to check time.

1:25. No texts or calls from Ryan.

I sighed, turned off my phone and sat up.

The same flashback came to my head.

It's been years since I thought about it. I have never opened that envelope because whenever dad mentioned it, he always asked for my forgiveness. As if that envelope contained a sin he had done which I would never forgive him for.

I was scared that it might be true and I didn't want to hate him so I never opened that envelope, neither did I told anyone about it.

I opened my drawer and took out a brown envelope.

My name was written on it with dad's cursive handwriting. Mom always loved his writing.

I clutched the envelope tighter as I debated whether I should open it or not.

I don't want my thoughts to be true. I don't want to hate my dad.

I took a deep breath then opened the envelope.

If dad has done something like that, I'll forgive him. I love him too much not to.

I took out a folded piece of paper from the envelope with shivering hands.

I placed the envelope aside and opened the paper.

I started reading with fear of what it might contain.

𝘋𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘙𝘰𝘴𝘦,

𝘔𝘺 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦, 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐'𝘮 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘰𝘯 𝘢 𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥. 𝘐𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘥, 𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥'𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘐'𝘮 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺, 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘺. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐'𝘮 𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘢𝘵 𝘢 𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘮𝘦. 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵. 𝘚𝘰, 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥. 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳'𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩. 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘸 𝘶𝘱. 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘐 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘨𝘯𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳.

𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘐'𝘮 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘺, 𝘸𝘦'𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 𝘖𝘶𝘳 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐'𝘮 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘪𝘯 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴.

𝘐 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘙𝘺𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘴. 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘪𝘮. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘧.

𝘙𝘰𝘴𝘦, 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘴, 𝘮𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘭𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘢 𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳'𝘴. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰 𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘯. 𝘞𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘐'𝘮 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦.

𝘏𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘺, 𝘐 𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘥𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘸𝘯, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘮𝘺 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘥.

𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘢 𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘺, 𝘐'𝘮 𝘴𝘰 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺. 𝘐 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘮. 𝘞𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘸 𝘶𝘱 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘦𝘧𝘵 𝘴𝘰 𝘴𝘰𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳.

𝘐'𝘮 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺, 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘺-

The letter fell out of my hands. Tears formed in my eyes, the ache from earlier came back.

I covered my mouth as a sob released my mouth. I squeezed my eyes shut just to find those words printed in the darkness.

𝘠𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘮𝘺 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘥.

The man who raised me. The man who loved me. The man who motivated me. The man whom I wanted my future husband to be like. The man who I thought was my father. That man lied.

He lied about his Identity. My mother lied about my own father.

My parents decided to hide this from me and how I find out the truth? From a fucking piece of paper.

I opened my eyes, my vision blurry from my eyes. I noticed I hadn't finished the letter. As much as I hate my parents right now, I picked up the letter and started reading again.

𝘐'𝘮 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺, 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘺. 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥'𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘶𝘱𝘴𝘦𝘵. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘦. 𝘐 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯'𝘵 𝘮𝘺 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘥. 𝘐 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭.

𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦'𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰. 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘥𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘦. 𝘔𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴, 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘙𝘺𝘢𝘯 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴. 𝘕𝘰 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥.

𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘙𝘺𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵…

I covered my mouth in shock.

Shit.