Where Is The Edge

Chapter 5

"You're going to pay for this."

Marcia closed the folder containing Peter Westerholt's now ex-wife's statement and slammed it down on the desk. She let out a long sigh accompanied by a groan, then sat back in her chair.

Unbelievable, as soon as I became a suspect, Phyllis had a lot to say about it. What surprised me most was that she knew her ex-husband was my father, and I couldn't help but wonder how, that was what made me uneasy, as if my lawyer wasn't standing in front of me waiting for an answer.

Maybe Peter told her about me and my mother at some point, or she was aware that he decided to start a romance with someone else during their separation, at worst, maybe she was even the one who urged him to leave us.

"Do you think I would be so stupid to threaten him like that in front of the one who was his wife at the moment, if I wanted to kill him? I said that because I was angry, not because I was actually going to do something," I replied. I was so frustrated as I watched everything get more and more complicated, this seemed far from over for me.

I remember vividly everything I felt the day I decided to confront him. The rage was consuming me inside, as if I had taken some acid that could undo my insides. It was true that I said those words to him because I was angry. When my mother died, it was a matter of time for me to gain the strength to do the unimaginable.

"Well, the fact that he's your father, he abandoned you, he was a jerk when you talked to him and mistreated your mother until he killed her are totally valid reasons, so I ask you again, did you kill him?"

"I didn't kill him, Marcia!" I lied again, and I didn't know what the purpose of continuing to do so was. Something inside me was just hoping that eventually, they would find someone far more suspicious than me, who presented solid alibis and perhaps indications of having planned to kill him for whatever reason. I just had to hope that it was a person as horrible as him, and not an innocent person who never did anything wrong. If that was the case, I guess I would have to confess that I was the guilty one, I had an amazing lawyer anyway. For now, it was better to make everyone believe that I didn't kill him.

"Do you have any idea how much this statement has complicated everything? You threatened him, and Phyllis listened," she was stressed, I could tell she was doing her best to stay calm and sane, I wouldn't blame her if she even wanted to punch me in the face.

"I'm sorry, I don't like to say he's my father because he never was," I whispered, barely audible. Telling the truth felt relieving, it somehow assuaged the guilt of hiding a huge lie. It was true that I would never recognize him as my father, I didn't want to be related to him in any way, but it wouldn't take long for the media to point me out as a Peter Westerholt's relative. Gross, this was what I most wanted to avoid.

Marcia stubbed out her cigarette, letting the smoke escape from her lips, and walked towards me. I felt intimidated to have her standing in front of me, while I was seated. That disappeared when she knelt down, and looked up into my eyes.

"There are certain comforts you have to sacrifice, such as not being related to him, for the purpose that there are no lies between us and I can help you. Keep in mind that you screwed up, but what's done is done," she spoke, a little calmer. "You are the bravest person I have ever met, I will defend you with everything I have to make this right because you have had enough."

"I'm sorry I kept this from you," I swallowed a little and put on my best face before saying the following, "I swear on my life there's nothing I'm keeping from you anymore."

I never imagined that saying that would come out feeling like a stab in the chest, not only to myself, but to literally the only person I counted on. It was getting harder and harder to lie to her, yet, as she said, there are certain comforts I have to sacrifice, like finally telling her I did it.