Chapter 18 - The Bloodline Secret
As Mark was shoved into the back of a state trooper vehicle, kicking and cursing, my mother sat shivering on the grass, surrounded by paramedics.
I walked over to her, standing tall as the ambulance lights cast alternating red and blue shadows over her pale, broken face.
“Why, Mom?” I asked softly. “Why destroy everything? Why ruin Dad? Why try to ruin me?”
Eleanor looked up at me, tears streaming down her soot-stained cheeks. She looked so small, so pathetic, stripped of her expensive clothes and social standing.
“Because you were always his,” Mom whispered, her voice broken. “Your father loved you from the moment you were born. But Lauren... Lauren wasn't his.”
Dad froze behind me, clutching Daniel’s shoulder for support.
“What did you say?” Dad asked, his voice shaking violently.
Mom bowed her head, weeping bitterly. “I had an affair thirty years ago... with Mark’s father. Lauren was his daughter. When Mark found out four years ago, he threatened to ruin our family if I didn't help him drain Arthur’s accounts! He forced me, Arthur! He threatened to tell you the truth!”
The depth of the sickness was unbelievable.
Lauren wasn't just my spoiled sister—she was Mark’s half-sister. Mark had used his own half-sister, manipulated her narcissism, and turned her into a weapon to destroy the man who had unknowingly raised her.
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Dad stared at Mom for a long, silent moment. Then, he simply closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and turned his back on her forever.
“Take her away,” Dad said quietly to the paramedics.
