Epiphany

Chapter 44 Part 2~Deceived

“He's my father, isn’t he?”

My mother's wide eyes widened and met mine. “What? No, Alyssa! What are you even talking about?”

You're not fooling anyone.

“Alyssa, I promise I’ll keep you safe.” He smiled at me and I took a step towards him.

“You really are, aren't you?”

I had to be sure.

His smile turned warmer when he grinned. “We don’t have the same eye color for no reason.”

I knew it. Someone once told me that they were quite rare, so seeing someone with it was unlikely unless they were family.

He reached his right hand for me, waiting for me to take it. I didn’t even get to lift a finger before I was shoved back in place behind my mother.

“Stay away from her!” she seethed.

I pried her fingers off of my shirt and moved away from her. He wasn't going to hurt us. Why was she acting as though he was going to hurt us?!

She turned all her attention to me and clutched my shoulders in a comforting gesture, ignoring the man standing.

“Alyssa,” she began slowly with something entangling her voice, which sounded genuine but right now I honestly wasn’t sure anymore. “Who told you so? Did he tell you so?”

“Yes.”

“I am your mother. You trust me, more than anyone else, right? Now listen to me.” She gave a light shake to my shoulders. “He's lying to you. You know who your father is. Your father is Elias, not him. I wouldn't lie to you over something like that. I’d—we’d never do that.”

I didn't know anymore. But you might.

When she couldn’t find any signs of being convinced around my face, she inquired, “Why would you ever believe that?”

I wasn’t sure what I expected from this. I didn’t want to go through the agony of realizing that all of the good times in the past weren’t even genuine moments between a daughter and her father. I hated thinking that Elias wasn’t my father. But at the same time, I knew I didn't want to be lied to. If Andre was my real one, I wanted to know. Even though I’d be furious at my parents for deceiving me for so long, at least I’d know the truth.

“You know each other,” I mumbled, waiting for her to actually convince me or tell me that they didn’t and that it was her first time seeing this man. Or not.

“No, we knew each other.”

What? This was worse!

“Alyssa, this guy is—"

“My fiancé,” Andre finished the sentence for her, drawing our attention back to him, and my brain went numb.

He grinned. “Don't you remember when we always spoke about marriag—”

My mother’s eyes widened and her face turned red and glowered at him with pure fury radiating from them. “What in the world are you talking ab—”

He took a sudden step towards my mother, which sent her gasping. “I still love you, Alisha. And I’ll always do.”

My mother's red face deepened in color. At first I thought it was from both shock and embarrassment, but what she did next told me otherwise. It was the opposite. Not embarrassment but pure wrath.

She gritted her teeth and with her free hand curled up in a tight ball, she threw a punch to his face, but it didn’t land on him as he took a quick step backwards, hardly avoiding it.