Chapter 45 Violet #2
She steals a glimpse of my dad through the crack. “Are you sure?”
“Yeah,” I promise. “I’m just a little…worked up.”
She frowns, her full lips pursing. “I can see that.”
“I don’t got all night,” my dad interrupts as if June didn’t speak at all.
Hell, it’s like she isn’t even here. Instead, he continues staring at me, his expression unreadable but powerful as ever.
He has me. He knows it. I know it. Pretty sure even June knows it.
Yet again, he’s won. And any hope I had of playing this carefully, of hiding my true desire and getting what I want out of this conversation without needing to give up everything I’ve ever had has flown right out the window.
Turning to June, I murmur, “I have some unfinished business I need to handle. But I promise I'll explain everything as soon as I’m finished. Can I just…can you give us some privacy?” I can tell she wants to argue.
Wants to slam the door in my sperm donor’s face and call the police.
Hell, maybe she already has, and they’re on their way.
Would it be the worst thing? I doubt it.
But first, I need a name, and I need it now.
“Okay,” she finally caves. “I’ll be in my room with nine-one-one on speed dial.”
Squeezing her hand, I force a smile. “Thank you.”
As she disappears down the short hallway, my shoulders hunch as resignation washes over me. I can’t believe I’m about to bail him out. Again.
“We gonna do this or what?” my dad demands.
“Listen,” I choke out, scrambling for a solution. “I’ll talk to Ethan, okay? You said he’s the one who took the bet. I know his sister. I’m sure she can—”
“You think I didn’t think of that? That I didn’t ask him for another chance?
Double or nothin’?” His unhinged laughter grates on me.
“This is a business, Violet. And if you honestly think he’d take a rain check on a bad bet, you don’t know him as well as you think you do.
” He gulps, and for the first time, I think I see fear.
Genuine fear. Shining in his hazy eyes. “He’s not messing around, and neither am I, so you’re gonna sign the damn papers or I’m gonna walk.
And your precious brother’s name? It’s gonna go right in the ground with me, so—”
“Fine.” I take a deep breath, grappling for the numbness to spread so I can get through this without bawling my eyes out. “Fine, I’ll sign the papers.”
“Good.” He smooths out his shirt, then hands me the document, along with a chewed-up pen, through the door’s crack like a seasoned lawyer.
Praying he doesn’t notice the way my hands shake, I take the items and close the door, using the slab of wood as a makeshift table.
I have a brother. I have a brother, and sure, it would be nice if I didn’t have to give up my childhood home in order to find out who my brother is, but it’s not like it’s been a home since my dad showed up, right?
So, what? Maybe, by signing over the house, I’ll be able to get rid of the memories along with it.
My eyes well with tears, blurring the words on the paper as I scribble my name across the dotted line.
Maybe I shouldn’t. Maybe he’s lying about having a second child I never knew existed.
But for some reason, some reason I can’t explain, I believe him.
Maybe it was the way he said I had a brother.
Like it was a slip of the tongue. Maybe it was the way he talked about him.
In the same venomous tone I’ve heard him use with me.
I’m not sure what it is, but all I know is this: If I have a brother somewhere in this world.
If I have someone who shares my blood and my experiences and my messed-up childhood, even if it’s distant and different overall.
It’s enough. Enough to convince me my childhood home is worth sacrificing.
Besides, it’s not like it wasn’t inevitable, anyway.
My dad always gets what he wants. Worst case scenario, I ask Ethan to give it back.
Sure, he’s a businessman like my dad said, but it’s worth a try.
Right? Not all hope is lost. Not yet. It can’t be.
After dotting the i in Violet, I wipe at my cheek with the back of my hand, take a deep breath, and open the door again.
It’s going to be okay, it’s going to be okay, it’s going to be okay.
I hand over the signed paper through the crack and lick my lips. My voice trembles. “Give me a name.”
He looks over the folded document. Satisfaction spreads across his worn features.
“A name,” I remind him.
Glancing up at me, he tucks the paper back in his jacket. “Name’s Oliver. Oliver Reeves.”
Oliver Reeves.
The name niggles in the back of my brain. Why does it sound so familiar? Then it hits me. He’s a hockey player. I never really thought much of his last name. Never thought I needed to pay attention to something so…menial.
“We done here?” he grumbles.
“How?” I whisper. “How did…how did it happen? When? Where—”
“Nah, I think I’ll save that information for the next time I need something—”
I close the door, cutting off my father’s asshole remark before he has the satisfaction of delivering it.
Besides, he’s already taken enough from me tonight.
He has the house, and I have…a name. With my back pressed to the door, I slide to the ground, pull out my phone, and search up Oliver Reeves. My brother.
Within seconds, a handsome man’s face shines back at me from the screen.
Dark brown eyes, just like mine. Same nose, too, but his hair is a little more on the brown side, while mine stayed a sandy blonde.
It’s the smile I can’t stop staring at, though.
I feel like we have the same teeth. Is it normal?
To share the same smile? Or maybe I’m imagining the similarities.
Maybe my dad’s an even a bigger ass than I gave him credit for and is making this up just to screw with me.
I wouldn’t put it past him. I wouldn’t put anything past him.
Except…I zoom in on the photo, searching the stranger’s gaze for any familiarity.
I wonder if…is it possible? My dad didn’t live in Harden Heights for decades.
He didn’t live in The Drift, either. He would pop in and out of my mom’s life here and there until he was kicked off the force and made it his life’s mission to ruin my existence.
What if…what if he had a family somewhere? I search for Oliver Reeves’ hometown, my lips parting when I read about the small college town a few states away. Lockwood Heights. I’ve never been. To be fair, I’ve never been anywhere, so it doesn’t mean much, but still.
I have a brother.
“Violet?” June murmurs. She peeks into the hallway. “You okay?”
Her words yank me back to the present. Pulling my knees to my chest, I rest my back against the door even more and tear my vision from my phone’s screen.
Am I okay? It’s a pretty simple question, but after everything that unfolded in the last ten minutes, I have no idea.
I have a brother. I don’t have a house. Apparently, I don’t know Ethan Morgan as well as I thought I did.
I do know my dad, though, and he’s still an ass.
I’m also really tired, and super overwhelmed, and…
“Vi?” June prods.
My attention snaps back to her. “I, uh, I don’t even know at this point,” I admit. “If I’m okay, or…”
“What can I do?” She walks toward me and plants her ass right beside mine on the ground. “Want me to call Lexie?”
I shake my head. “It’s okay.”
“You sure?”
“I have a brother.” The words come out hushed and quiet, like I’m talking about some big secret, and in a way, I guess I am. I don’t know how to feel. I don’t know what to think. I don’t know anything but a name. I have a brother.
“Oh?” June asks.
“One I didn’t know about,” I clarify. “One I didn’t know about until my dad blackmailed me into signing over my house for the information.”
“So you really went through with it?” she asks.
I rest my head against the door. “Don’t make me say it again,” I beg.
“Sorry, it’s just…” She whistles. “Wow.”
“Yeah,” I breathe out with a pathetic laugh. Wow is right. Talk about a crazy turn of events. I don’t even know how to wrap my brain around it all. Leaning my head against her shoulder, I sigh. “I mean, I know I always wanted a sibling, but…what a way to find out, you know?”
“I can imagine.” She hesitates. “I always wanted a sibling, too.”
“You did?”
“Mm-hmm. Being an only child kind of sucks.”
“Preaching to the choir,” I joke. “I just…I can’t believe I had to give up my house for it.”
“Yeah.” She sighs, and I know how awkward she must feel right now. I mean, we’re friends, but even if we’d known each other our entire lives, I’m pretty sure she’d be speechless considering everything I’m telling her. “I can only imagine,” she murmurs.
A swell of regret coats my insides. “Did I make a mistake, June?” I whisper.
“Honestly?”
“Yeah.” I sniff, fighting off my buyer’s remorse. I feel like I'm drinking from a firehose, and I can’t even think straight, let alone really comprehend what everything means. Not in the big picture. It all happened so fast. And I know it’s only a stupid house, but it was also my stupid house.
“I don’t want to downplay what you’re feeling or anything,” June finally says, “But if I had to give up my house to get a sibling, I’d do it in a heartbeat.”
My breath catches in my lungs as I soak up her words while a gentle warmth spreads through my aching limbs.
She’s right. As a kid, I would’ve done anything to have a sibling.
And if my mom could’ve provided the stability for it, I’m pretty sure she would’ve done anything to give me one.
Now, in a strange, unexpected turn of events, she kind of has.
With a watery smile, I turn to June. “Thanks, June.”
“Anytime.”