Marrying my high school bully

Dexter

“She is actually…” He let out a sigh. “Lilly is my daughter.” He revealed.

My breaths burst in and out as my lips parted. My heart raced, nearly exploding while my brain did an extra job in processing the heart-wrenching secret Liam just exposed.

“You’ve gotta be kidding me, right?” I asked casually, trying to deflate the impact of the news.

“I’m… I’m so sorry, Dexter. I didn’t mean for any of this to happen. I was broke at that point and her suggestion sounded so good that I couldn’t reject it.” He tried to defend himself, while I was milliseconds away from snapping his neck. “You had it all, and my life had gone down the drain because of my stupid decisions.”

His words sounded coherent as I sank onto the floor. My eyes became dizzy as I gulped down breaths to keep quiet. I was caught between crying and screaming at the top of my lungs, but when I opened my mouth, nothing came out.

The image of Lilly’s beautiful smile flashed in my mind and my heart twisted with hurt. I couldn’t explain how I felt.

My head reeled with several thoughts and my palms became clammy with sweat.

A light pat on my shoulder which proceeded to a massage reminded me that I wasn’t alone, but right now, I didn’t even want anyone around me.

I just wanted to understand how my little adorable daughter wasn’t mine anymore. I watched her grow from a beautiful tiny baby to the gorgeous toddler that she was, with the satisfaction that I had a child, not knowing that I’d been fooled all along.

“Get up, Dexter, please,” Lorraine whispered to me, but what was the point of getting up?

I did as she said because I wanted to look Liam in the eyes and ask him why he was so cruel to me.

“If I hadn’t caught you in Emilia’s house and got you arrested, would you have come clean to me?” My voice was cold and distant, and beneath the layers of the nonchalance I tried to display was a volcano threatening to erupt.

He rubbed his neck and looked away, a sign of concurrence.

“I’m so sorry, Dexter.”

“Stop apologizing and answer the damn question!” I thundered, causing him to shrink backward.

“The truth can never be hidden, so you were bound to find out soon…”

“When I’m old and gray, and unable to do anything for myself?” I snapped. “Or when Lilly is all grown and maybe married, then she brings my grandkids over and we all realize that she was never from my loins in the first place?”

“It’s not like that, Dexter. Yea, you’re right I never had plans of telling you because we wanted to take out the both of you, but life had other plans.”

I roughly raked through my hair, grabbing the strands tightly so that I could feel a different pain from the one spreading throughout my chest.

“What did I ever do to deserve this from you, Liam? Right from high school I’ve always loved you and took you as a brother. I believed every word you said which almost cost me my relationship with the only woman my heart beat for. If anyone had told me that it wasn’t worth it, I might have accused the person of being a liar, but here you are, proving to me that no one can be trusted.” By the time I was done pouring out my pain, my shirt was already drenched with my tears.

Liam’s eyes were puffy as well and when I glanced at Lorraine, she quickly inclined her head while a tear dropped from her eyes to the floor.

“You’re probably thinking that I don’t have a heart, but that isn’t the truth. You might not believe me but I never expected my life to turn out this way…” He trailed off and wiped his eyes. “I grew up with a mentally deranged mother, and she decided to transfer her frustration to me by sexually assaulting me. The woman was crazy and when it started at first, I was irritated because she was my mother and I was just ten, but she was the only one I had, so I gradually adapted to the situation and began to enjoy it.”

Goosebumps appeared on my skin as he narrated his story. How could I have missed this?

“Why didn’t you speak up, Liam?”

“Because no one was going to believe me.” He snapped, drawing in a gush of air. “Do you remember when I asked you and Blake what you thought about incest, especially between mother and son? And you both said it didn’t exist. If you guys were ignorant of its existence, then how would you believe that it happened to a friend of yours?”

Guilt gnawed in my chest as I remembered the scenario, but it disappeared as soon as I remembered everything he did to Lorraine and me.

“That’s not enough excuse, Liam. You were wicked because you wanted to be. You hurt people who were innocent and made them question the reason for their existence because you allowed your deranged mother to get to you.” I lashed out at him.

Nothing he said would lessen the gravity of his sins. He was going to pay for everything he did, including the bitch Emilia, who thought it was right to break me like this.

“I’m not defending myself. I just wanted to let you know that I was under a lot of pressure, and at that point, I only felt better when other people were hurt because of me.” He bowed his head in shame.

I guess I wasn’t the only one mad at him because Lorraine traipsed towards him, giving him a piece of her mind.NôvelDrama.Org exclusive content.

“You are evil, Liam!” She hollered at him. “And I curse the day I decided to save you. You are going to pay for everything you did to her.” She fumed, her breaths coming in quick pants. “Every. Freaking. Thing.” She stormed out of the room, the door slamming hard behind us.

I was barely keeping it in, but seeing Lorraine worked up because of the revelation further tugged at my self-control.

“I’m going to have a DNA test to prove that what you said is true because I don’t trust you.” I informed him.

He raised his head with a sad smile. “She’s my daughter, Dex. Emilia was already pregnant before she came to you that night.”

My heart shattered into pieces as my mouth hung open. With his previous explanation, I knew that he was telling the truth about Lilly’s paternity, but confirming that I had no chance of being her biological father caused my heart to plummet.

More tears streamed down my eyes as I wondered how my relationship with Lilly would be from then onward. She would be a reminder of the people who only brought pain to my life.

How could I live with that?