Chapter 64
1322words
With difficulty, she managed to drag herself to her room, and without bothering to undress, she collapsed on the bed, gasping for air, desperately trying and failing to keep the tears in.
Everything made sense but nothing made sense at the same time, and she willed herself to fall asleep and forget everything she just heard her mother, and the man that claimed to be her father said. But as she laid on the bed, gazing blankly on the wall while tears trickled down her face, all she could do was replay the conversation in her head.
*****
Lily turned around so fast she almost got a whiplash, her eyes wide. "What...? What did you just say?"
Mrs Morgan's hands latched tighter on her purse, and she gulped. "Please, let's go in..."
"I asked you a question, Mum. What did you just say?"
A strange man suddenly appeared from behind Mrs Morgan. Lily stumbled backwards the second their eyes met, and a laboured breath left her lips. All her life, people have told her, and she has believed that she looked just like her mum, but the man that stood before her looked just like a male version of her. The resemblance was uncanny, almost scary, and nauseating.
"This must be a joke. This must be some sort of sick joke, and please.. please I am not in the mood for it."
"Lily... "
"Don't!" She snapped and the man immediately shut up, " don't say my name."
He took a deep breath and nodded. " As you wish, but please, I think it's best if we go somewhere more private and discuss this. People are looking, and your mother doesn't look so good. "
She glanced at her mother, and her hands have turned white from how tight she held onto her purse, she also looked like she was a second away from passing out, but quite frankly, she didn't care. Right now, she could pass out, and Lily wouldn't care, but she wanted to understand the bullshit they were spewing to her.
"Alright." Relief immediately washed over the strange man, and Mrs Morgan. "Let's go."
They all instantly walked away from the parking lot, Mrs Morgan and the man walked right ahead, while Lily followed behind, and soon enough, they were seated in a reserved ViP section of the restaurant.
"Do you want to order some...?"
"What I want is for you both to explain yourselves. What do you mean by what you said, Mum? Should I even be calling you that? Are you even my real mum? "
" Lily, please... " Mrs Morgan looked up, trying to keep the tears from falling. When she regained her composure, she released a breath and faced Lily. " I am sorry for not telling you all these while, Lily. I was trying to protect you. "
" Does dad know? " Mrs Morgan's eyes immediately widened, and the hand she stretched across the table to grab Lily's palmed the table. " Does dad know that I am not his biological child? " Mrs Morgan bit her bottom lip, and slowly nodded.
All the dots instantly connected in Lily's head. His hatred for her, the punishments, the unnecessary anger and lash outs, his favoritism towards Charlotte. It all made sense now. To him, she was just a reminder of his wife's unfaithfulness.
Different emotions swirled in her head, and even though she wanted to cry, she breathed out a laugh instead. That was why her mother could never protect her.
"What's the story?" She found herself asking instead of lashing out, and she was proud of herself for the restraint. "What's the story? Why did you give birth for him, but married the other man? "
"Your father..."
" Which of them?"
Mrs Morgan snapped her eyes shut and inhaled sharply, the question stung. " Your biological one," she said in a barely audible voice, but Lily nodded, and she continued her story. " He and I were lovers in college, and we both assumed, we believed we were going to get married to each other. To be exact, he even proposed on our graduation, but before I could break the news to my father, he suddenly announced I was to marry the eldest and only son of the Morgan family. "
"Why?"
"His company, Afgon, was experiencing a crisis and he needed the support of the Morgans, and the best way around is to create family ties. I was practically helpless, Lily, I couldn't fight back, and your father, the biological one, had too much to lose to fight back either. I had no choice, but to agree. "
"He had too much to lose and you had no choice..." Lily repeated, " that's why none of you could have fought for your child? "
"I only found out I was pregnant after I'd tied the knot with Nicolas. There was nothing I could do then, Nicolas' reputation and that of his family, as well as mine and that of my family would have taken a strong hit, so I hid the truth from your father. It was selfish, I know, but I genuinely thought you'd have a good life because Nicolas was well to do. "
"How did he find out if you didn't tell him?"
" Before your 5th birthday, while I was pregnant with Char, he found my diary and went through it. Everything took a turn since then. He believed I and my family purposely deceived him, and he became what he is today, a monster. "
"You should have left."
"I had nowhere to go, Lily. Life would have been extremely hard with 2 kids."
" I'm guessing you couldn't contact your lover. "
" We lost contact. "
Lily took a long and shaky breath, and turned to the man who has been quiet ever since their conversation began. "Did you ever try to find her all these years?" He shook his head and Lily rubbed her lips together. " Then why are you here, 27 years later?"
" Because I just found out that I have a child, I never knew about. "
Lily's hands made their way to her hair, and she tugged on them for a while. " This doesn't make sense, not even one bit. You suddenly found out you have a child 27 years later? Why? How?"
" My father, he was poking in my business as always and found that out."
" Okay.. " Lily said, nodding, " let's say I believe that. Why would your father be digging into your business?"
" He was trying to see if I had an heir that could replace me because to him, I am useless, and he wouldn't let a useless person head the family business. Larkin corporation is important to him. "
A bell went off in Lily's head, and she did a double take. "La- Larkin? "
"Yes, Larkin. I never formally introduced myself, I am Lincoln Larkin."
Time seemed to pause, and Lily's head almost split open as she tried to process what she just heard. " Larkin... Larkin?"
" Yes. "
" No! No... That doesn't make sense, not even one bit! If you are a Larkin, she could have easily married you and... "
" At the time, the company was going through a... Crisis. "
Lily shook her head, wagging a finger. It was all too much for her to take, all too much. " I think I need to go, " she stood up and snatched her bag to walk away.
" Before you go," Mrs Morgan said, stopping her in her tracks, " I want you to be the first to know, I'm divorcing Nicolas. "
