The Secrets of Confessions ✔️

Chapter 14: Slap in the Face

My jaw hangs open at the reading of the diary. I slam it shut and set it down on my bed, while processing everything that I just read. My mom cheated on my dad with my adoptive dad, and I'm probably the product of the affair.

I take deep breaths to cope with the news that I just received. It all feels like a slap to the face. I can't process anything right now. Mason lied to me. Sarah lied to me. Everyone lied to me. My whole life is built on a foundation of lies.

All these lies that have been fed to me like a mother would feed her child milk from a bottle. It all stems from the desire that my mother couldn't control. And, out of all the people, it had to be Mason. It had to be my biological dad, whom I thought had just taken care of here, merely.

I thought he was just an emotional support mechanism, which is also necessary in a friendship. I thought their relationship had just stopped at this. I've been proven so wrong. They took care of each other in a whole other way.

The one thing that overcomes me at that moment is a longing for an answer. I need to know the truth. Am I the product of an extramarital affair? Is that another lie that was ingrained into my daily thinking? Was it the reason that Arjun decided to strip me of the rights of my biological mother? These are all questions that are longing for an answer. And one that is not filled with lies.

I don't think I'll be able to face Mason without bursting into tears, screaming at him, or both. I can't look at him at this moment knowing that he's the reason behind all of this. He was one of the people that caused my parents' marriage to fizzle into the bare bones that it is today.

Not only did my mom refuse to control her lust, but she dragged Mason into this. The worst part? He didn't resist. He gave in, knowing the consequences that it would ultimately result in. Arjun's anger, lost of trust, and their possible friendship never being the same. Knowing that much and looking at him is like trying to make a dog and a cat get along without attacking each other.

I place the diary back in my dresser so that Mason doesn't have to find me reading it when he comes upstairs. I take deep breaths so that I can prepare myself for the confrontation. It's going to take a lot before I start screaming at him and accusing him of ruining everything.

Although the second part isn't completely false. I look over at the clock, which displays the time of "3:21." Mason's not going to be home for another two hours. Two hours of dreading the confrontation.

*******

Eventually, I hear the opening of the garage, and Mason's car pulling in, most likely with Nathan in the front seat because of the fact that he has soccer practice. I get out of bed, fixing my hair up a little bit, and go downstairs so that I can grab a snack before going back upstairs to wallow in my room.

When I get downstairs, Mason is setting his keys down on the table. "Hey, baby!" he cheerfully says, with his big fat smile on his face. I give him a simple smile, and then look back at Nathan, who's got his soccer jersey on, and with sweat glistening on his forehead. Nathan comes over to me, and then holds out his hand in a bro hug offering.

"Yo, Ashmita," he says, to which I can't help but smile and take it. I'm never against a bro hug, and growing up with a brother for 14 years has helped me master it.

Mason notices my hostility towards him, and raises an eyebrow at it. "Ashmita, everything okay? You seem off."

I resist the urge to start screaming at him and accusing him of ruining my parents' marriage. I need to control that for tonight, but in a civilized manner, because I don't want to break the windows and cause the neighbors to call the police thinking that there was a murder that occurred. I just give a slight nod, and say, "Yeah, I'm fine."