Chapter 25 #2
"I was terrified you'd send me away. That you wouldn't want me anymore." The words tumbled out. "I didn't want to leave you. I love you. I love Koolaroo. This is the only home I've ever known."
"Cass—" Kayden's voice broke. He shook his head, eyes shining. "Jesus, Cass."
"I'm sorry." I choked on a sob. "I was fourteen. I didn't know what to do. Mom and Frank didn't even know I'd overheard them. And they just … went on pretending I was their child, so I pretended, too."
"You've known this for twenty-one years?" Declan's face crumbled.
I nodded. “Now you know why I’ve always hated Frank.” I flicked away my tears, but more kept coming. "I'm sorry."
"Twenty-one years," Mitch repeated slowly, like he was turning the number over in his mind, trying to make sense of it.
"Jesus Christ, Cass." Declan pushed back from the table, running both hands through his hair.
"Hey." Xavier leaned toward me, but I shook my head. If he touched me right now, or showed me even a shred of kindness, I'd shatter completely.
Kayden's chair scraped back so hard it almost tipped. He stood up, hands planted on the table, and I braced for the explosion I'd been dreading my whole life. "For twenty-one years, you let us believe you were our sister."
"Kayden—" I sniffled.
"What the hell, Cass?" His voice cracked with heartache. "You didn't trust us. You didn't trust me . You thought we'd throw you out like rubbish, and you never once gave us the chance to prove you wrong."
The words hit like a punch to my chest.
Xavier's hand left my knee, and his body stiffened, as if he was preparing to defend me if Kayden came any closer.
"You are my sister." Kayden jabbed a finger at the table. "You have always been my sister, Frank’s child or not, and you should’ve bloody known that!"
The crack inside my chest split wide open.
"I'm sorry." My voice broke. "There just never seemed to be the right time."
"Fuck!" Kayden roared, and the sound was raw and guttural, like his heart had been torn out of him.
"Kayden." Mitch's voice was quiet, but it landed like a full stop.
Kayden shoved back from the table and turned away, pressing both fists against the top of the sideboard. His shoulders were rigid, heaving once. Twice. When he spoke again, his voice was thick. "Twenty-one years, Cass. Twenty-one fucking years."
Mitch's jaw was tight. His eyes shimmered in a way I'd never seen before. He was only just holding himself together. "You've been carrying this alone since you were fourteen years old." It wasn't a question.
I nodded, biting down hard on my bottom lip to keep from sobbing.
He exhaled through his nose, slow and controlled. "So Frank was screwing around on our mother."
"Yes. I know that for a fact."
"That bastard." Mitch leaned back and looked at the ceiling, then back at me, his expression somewhere between gutted and furious. "This isn't on you, Cass. You were a kid. This was never your fault."
Something in me came loose. I'd braced for the explosion and the reply I’d rehearsed a hundred versions of to defend myself. I’d spent years preparing for rejection and anger. What I got instead was Mitch looking at me like I was completely innocent. Like nothing had changed between us.
My eyes burned. I blinked hard, trying to force the tears back.
Declan looked up. "Does that mean you don't know who your biological father is?"
"Correct. Not a clue." The words came out flat. Empty. "And all I know about my mother is that her name was Sally, and she was a housemaid here. I don't know where Sally came from, or if she had family … nothing." I paused, my stomach clenching. "And …"
Kayden still had his back to us. His shoulders had dropped from his ears, but he hadn't turned around.
"And what?" Mitch's voice was careful now, clearly dreading whatever came next.
"I … I found a note in my drawer when I was twenty-six."
Kayden turned around slowly. "What kind of note?"
"It was from Mom." I swallowed hard. "Your mom. Edith."
"What the hell?" Mitch sat forward, hands gripping the edge of the table.
Declan leaned in, his eyes wide. "You heard from Mom? After she disappeared?"
"No. I don't know when she put the note in my drawer. It was under everything and could’ve been there for years before she left. I just ... I found it one day."
"What did it say?" Mitch's voice was tight. “Show us.”
“I don’t need to.” I pulled in a shaky breath. “I’ve read it so many times, I’ve memorized it.”
“So, let’s hear it,” Mitch said.
"She wrote: My dearest Cassidy, you may not have been born from my body, but that changes nothing.
You are my daughter, and I am your mother.
I always will be. Your birth mother loved you more than anything in this world, and she chose me to raise you, knowing I would love you with all my heart.
She gave me the greatest gift I could ever receive.
I hope you know how proud she would be of the woman you've grown into.
You are strong, Cassidy. Stay strong. Always. Love, Mom."
My voice broke on the last words.
The room went silent.
I looked at each of them, my vision blurred with tears. "That was the very last thing Mom said to me before she vanished. Stay strong. "
Kayden's face crumpled. He turned away again, but not before I saw his jaw working, fighting against emotion.
Declan dropped his head into his hands.
Mitch just stared at me, his eyes red-rimmed. "That note implies she knew you knew the truth."
I nodded. "I think so, too. But I don't know how she found out. I never told anyone." I let my hands fall flat on the table, exhaustion and grief draining every ounce of energy from my body.
Xavier edged his hand toward mine, and when I turned my palm over, his fingers laced through mine and squeezed.
"I'm sorry you had to go through all that, Cass," he said quietly.
Our eyes met, and a lifetime of emotions passed between us.
My throat was so tight I could barely breathe. "You, too."
Declan reached across the table and wrapped his hand around my other wrist. "I'm sorry, too. You should’ve told us years ago.
" His voice was rough. "But I get it. I get why you didn't." He squeezed once, firm and grounding.
"You're not going anywhere, Cass. This is your home.
Always has been, always will be. That's not even up for discussion. "
I pressed my lips together hard and nodded, not trusting myself to speak.
Mitch pushed to his feet, walked around the table, and pulled me up out of my chair and into his arms. I wrapped my arms around him and held on tightly.
God, it felt good. And real.
"You're a Branson," he said against my hair. "Whatever that bastard Frank did doesn't change that. You're my sister. Our sister. You're a Branson. You hear me?"
I nodded against his chest.
He pulled back and held me by the shoulders, forcing me to meet his eyes. "Say it."
I sucked in a shaky breath. "I'm your sister. A Branson."
"Damn right, you are." His grip tightened for just a moment before he pulled me back into the hug.
Something inside me shattered.
I cried like I hadn't cried since I was fourteen—deep, wrenching sobs that shook my whole body.
I cried for the girl who'd lain in that hospital bed with her world crumbling around her while her parents had argued in that hospital corridor about her very existence.
I cried for all the times I'd made myself small and quiet and was just so grateful that I could stay here.
I cried for every time I'd second-guessed my place at this table, in this family, on this land.
For the woman I'd become, who’d always braced for rejection, who'd spent two decades never quite believing she had the right to call Koolaroo home.
Mitch held me through all of it. His hands steady on my back, his chin resting on top of my head, anchoring me while I finally let myself release every emotion I'd been too scared to feel.
When I finally pulled away, I wiped my tears with the heels of my hands and tried to pull myself together.
Kayden looked at me from across the table. All his anger had fallen away, and for just a moment, he looked like the boy who had followed me around the stables, always laughing and joking.
"Next time you've got a secret that big," he said, his voice rough, "you bloody well tell me. Understood?"
"Understood."
He reached for his beer, took a long pull, and set it down with a deliberate thunk .
"Right." Mitch leaned back in his chair. "I guess that leads us back to you." His gaze shifted to Xavier, though his anger had lost some of its edge.
Xavier gave him a controlled nod. "I guess it does."
"Now that we've established that Frank did screw around on our mother—" Mitch stopped mid-sentence. His eyes narrowed on Xavier, and something shifted in his expression. His gaze grew so intense it sent ice down my spine.
"What?" I blurted.
"How old are you?" Mitch asked Xavier, his voice sharp.
"Thirty-six."
"Shit." Mitch went very still. "Same as me." A pause. "When's your birthday?"
"March fifteenth."
"I'm April seventh." The blood seemed to drain from Mitch's face. "Fuck. You're three weeks older than me."
The words hung in the air like a poisonous cloud.
Xavier leaned forward. "We've already established that Frank was with my mom while he was married to Edith. We know he cheated."
"You've got to be fucking kidding me!" Kayden roared, slamming his hand on the table.
"What?" Xavier and I said at the same time, our voices rising in confusion.
“Frank’s will.” Declan’s voice was lethally calm. "Dad left everything to his oldest son. That could be Xavier.”
Oh shit!