The Secrets of Confessions ✔️

Chapter 4: Nerve

Seeing all the photo albums makes me recognize who this person is immediately. Seeing his cocky face, his structured figure, and the stubble that lightly dusts his face is enough to spark rage in anyone who sees him.

His actions are heinous. They always have been. To me, he's nothing more than a solitary donor. He contributed to one thing, and then he decided to boot. He acknowledged no one. He left so many people behind to suffer, with no remorse for what he did. And then he came back years later to do the unspeakable.

"You," I say, in a steely voice that's enough to shred paper. I don't know what else to feel right now other than fury and a little bit of fear. The emotions are far from positive, considering everything he's done, but there's so many of them that it's hard to distinguish which ones are which.

He gives me a sheepish smile, and rubs his knuckles with his hand. "Hi, Ashmita," he says, in a falsely sweet voice. His kind eyes and face are as deceptive as the Evil Queen in Snow White. I gulp a little bit, and step back. If he had the nerve to do the unspeakable 16 years ago, then I don't know what he wants to do to me today.

All the fearful thoughts are flowing inside of me like an exploded dam. I want to slam the door, run away, book a ticket to Lithuania, and change my name to Annaliese Lewis. My mouth is hanging open, with no sound coming out of it. He steps a little bit closer to me, to which I respond instinctively by stepping back.

"Ashmita? Is everything okay? You're really quiet down there," Mason calls. He walks out of the kitchen, and at the top of the steps, he stops dead in his tracks. He stares at the person dead in the eyes, and then runs down. His icy blue eyes are still cold, but this time as sharp as ever, and if not restricted, then they'd be causing lots of stab wounds.

I look back at Mason running down, and then Mason pushes me back a little bit. "Stand back," he tells me. Almost instantly, something fills me inside where I don't want to take Mason's orders. I'm almost 22 years old. I don't need an adult to fight my battles, especially when I'm this old. I want to stand up for myself and make myself heard.

"No," I say, and I step up.

Mason's head whips around, and those icy eyes look at me with pure shock. I mean, I'm willing to face a person as evil as him, without any fear, and with the risk of my life, so I'm not surprised at his reaction. "No?! Ashmita, he's a goddamn criminal! I'm not letting you near him!"

I step closer to the man. "I don't care, Mason. I don't need you fighting every single one of my battles!"

The dude steps up, and says, "She's right! It's her business, Mason. Plus, I came to talk to her, not you. I have no interest in talking to you." I just shoot him a slightly grateful look, since somebody's kind of agreeing with me, but I mask that with a dirty one.

Mason whips back around, stares the dude back in the eyes, and says, "The feeling's mutual, Arjun. I'm not letting you anywhere near my daughter. If you think you can talk to her or lay a finger on her, you're mistaken. Now get the fuck off of my property before I call the cops and have you back in prison."

Arjun scoffs a little bit. "First of all, I was released a while back. She's just as much of your daughter as she is mine! Plus, you're forgetting that I made her! And you're acting like she's a piece of property! She's her own person. Stop trying to dictate her actions!"

Mason steps closer to Arjun, and says, "I raised her, you asshole. I did what best friends are supposed to do. I was there for Jyoti when she gave birth to Ashmita, and I stayed with her and helped her raise her daughter after you left her when she was fucking pregnant. You had the fucking nerve to leave her when pregnant, and the only time you came back was to cause everyone trouble and grief! You have no fucking right to see Ashmita!"