Chapter 395
Claim your reward! Do not miss today’s check–in!
Rain tapped against the window like impatient fingers. Irene curled under her blanket, staring at nothing. The muffled voices of her children and Ad deeper tones noated through the door–familiar sounds suddenly feeling miles away.
Six years.
Six years of midnight tears and brave morning smiles. Now she had answers, but they cut deeper than the questions ever did.
A soft knock. “Irene? Got a minute? Joseph’s voice, warm as always.
She didn’t answer, but the door creaked open anyway. The old man’s breath caught when he saw her huddled form.
“The kids filled me in,” he said, sinking onto the edge of the mattress. ‘Ilell of a day, huh?”
“They knew.” Her voice came out sandpaper–rough. “Every single one of them except me. She rolled over, eyes red–rimmed and raw. “My own kids, Adam, his parents–all whispering behind my back.”
Joseph’s weathered hand found hers. “We do stupid things thinking we’re protecting people. Truth hurts sometimes, but secrets hurt longer.
“For six years I hated some faceless guy who knocked me up and vanished.” Her laugh was hollow. “And now her voice cracked, -turns out I’ve been falling for him. What kind of sick joke is the universe playing?”
Joseph’s eyes crinkled with a sad smile. “Love and hate? Two sides of the same coin, kiddo. You hated a ghost. You fell for the real man–the one who looks at those kids like they hung the moon, the one who makes you smile when you think nobody’s watching.”
“How do I even look at him now?” She picked at a loose thread on the blanket. “Every time I see his face, I’ll remember those nights I cried myself to sleep. or when the kids made Father’s Day cards with nowhere to send them.”
The rain drummed harder, backing track to her personal storm.
Suddenly, boots thundered up the stairs. Brandon’s voice boomed through the house: “Where’s Irene? What the hell happened?”
Joseph squeezed her hand. “Your brothers are on the warpath. Want me to run interference?”
Irene swung her legs over the side of the bed. “No. This mess is mine to clean up.”
Downstairs, Wesley and Brandon paced the living room like caged animals. When Irene appeared, Brandon wrapped her in a bear hug that squeezed the air from her lungs.
‘Jesus, you look like hammered shit,” he said, pulling back to scan her face. “What’s going on? Thomas called sounding like someone died.”
Irene sank onto the couch. “Sit down. This is gonna take a minute.”
Three little faces peeked around the corner, Alex’s sharp eyes taking everything in.
“Hey munchkins,” Irene called, forcing a smile. “Grown–up talk time. Can you play upstairs for a bit?”
The kids exchanged glances loaded with worry but retreated without argument. Irene turned to her brothers and let the whole ugly story spill out, each word like pulling glass from a wound.
When she finished, the silence felt thick enough to choke on. Wesley sat frozen, mouth slightly open. Brandon launched to his feet, fa ushed crimson,
“That motherfucker!” His fist slammed the wall “Playing Mr. Perfect while knowing- He kicked a chair. “And Anna drugging you both? She deserves to rot! Six fucking years you struggled alone because of them!”
“Brandon, he just found out today too-”
“Bullshit! Brandon’s eyes flashed. “The neighbors next door? The treatment for his legs? Falling for you? That’s not coincidence, that’s stalking!
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Chapter 395
Before she could grab him, Brandon bolted out the door into the rain. Wesley and Joseph scrambled after him with frene trambling behind the hammering.
Brandon pounded Adam’s door like he meant to break it down. When Thomas opened it, Brandon shoved past him.
Adam stood from his chair, face calm despite the hurricane blowing through his door. “Brandon-
Save it. Brandon’s voice was deadly quiet. “You don’t get to speak to me like we’re friends.*
His fist cracked against Adam’s jaw, knocking him back a step. “That’s for my sister!”
Thomas lunged forward but Adam held up one hand, stopping him cold.
Brandon! Wesley caught his brother’s arm. “That’s enough!”
“You destroyed her!” Brandon struggled against Wesley’s grip, water streaming from his clothes. “Six years she raised your kids alone!*
Adam straightened, a red mark blooming on his jaw. “You’re right. I should have been there from the beginning, memory or no memory. I should have helped her through every sleepless night, every doctor’s visit, every first step.”
His voice remained steady. “I deserved that punch. I deserve a thousand more. What I owe her can’t be measured.”
“Brandon,” Irene said quietly, “stop. Neither of us knew what happened that night. We were both drugged. Both victims.”
Brandon shook free of Wesley but held his next punch. His chest heaved as he jabbed a finger at Adam. “You hurt her again, I swear-*
“I’ll spend my life making it up to her,” Adam cut in, eyes never leaving Brandon’s. She deserves everything I have to give and more.”
The only sound was rain drumming on windows and five people breathing. Irene hugged herself, suddenly bone–tired.
‘I need space,” she whispered, backing toward the door. “Just… give me some time.”
She slipped into the rain, leaving them all watching her go, faces tight with worry.
Dawn light snuck through the curtains as three small heads huddled together, Alex’s whisper barely audible: “We gotta fix this.”
Lucas rubbed swollen eyes. “Mom cried all night. I heard her.”
Lily clutched her unicorn plushie. “What if they never make up? What happens to us?”
That single word–‘us‘–hung heavy between them. Alex grabbed his siblings‘ hands.
“No way,” he said firmly. “We’re getting our family back together.”
Morning sun caught dust motes dancing around the triplets‘ emergency meeting. Their serious faces looked almost comical on such tiny bodies.
‘Operation Family Rescue starts now,” Alex said, smoothing a crumpled paper on the floor. “We split up. Each of us takes one grown–up.
Lucas and Lily nodded solemnly, faces set with determination that belonged on people four times their age.
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