- 6.
Grandma grabbed my arm right away. “Ashley,
honey, don’t get carried away. This isn’t the
time or place. Let’s not make things worse.”
She almost lost her balance, and she leaned
close to me, whispering, “Ashley, apologize. We
can’t let the family fall apart.”
Grandpa chimed in. “Your Dad’s just angry right
now. You’re the younger one, don’t be so
stubborn.”
They thought that even if Dad and I weren’t
blood–related, we’d still have some kind of
bond after all these years.
Dad just glared at me, his voice ice–cold.
“I’m not her Dad! I’m done with her. She’s not
my kid, and I’m not paying for her anymore!”
く
I looked him in the eye and said slowly, “You’re
right, you’ve been a sucker for over twenty
years. You’ve been raising someone else’s kid.
But it’s not me!”
Aunt Carol stepped forward, trying to cover my
mouth.
“Sweetie, stop it! Aren’t you embarrassed
enough? This is not the time. We need to get
Uncle Frank buried first.”
Even Aunt Carol believed Dad and Brittany. The
way she said things made me sick to my
stomach.
She tried to pull me away, but I yanked my arm
free. “Someone’s going to be embarrassed
today, but it’s not me or Mom!”
Aunt Carol lowered her voice.
“Don’t be stubborn I know you can’t handle
<
9:07
“Don’t be stubborn. I know you can’t handle
this, but think about your Mom. She’s got a
serious illness, she needs money. She can’t
divorce your father!”
904
The relatives split into two groups: one trying to
talk Dad down, the other trying to reason with
- me.
But we’re both stubborn as mules. We had to
settle this.
Mom was tired, she had a lost look, and she
tried to talk me down too, “Ashley, that’s
enough, it doesn’t matter, your Dad won’t
believe us, let’s just go.”
Mom’s a good person. Even after Brittany
stabbed her in the back, she wouldn’t let me
reveal Brittany’s secret in public.
