Chapter 69
My old man looked like crap, and he was puffing away on his cigarettes like a chimney, which was so not his style. He didn’t say a word, just stared at my
mom.
My mom was wiping away tears, her voice full of venom. “He’s messing around with that floozy of a secretary”
Floozy secretary? I picked up a photo and gave it a good look. Yeah, I knew her alright. I remembered bumping into her once when I was out dining with Stella, and my dad was there too.
I remember thinking back then, wasn’t my dad’s secretary a dude? When did he switch to a chick?
But I trusted my dad. I knew he wasn’t a player, so I didn’t tell my mom.
“Mom, chill. You know how dad is. He’s been a good guy for almost 30 years now. Sure, there might have been women who tried to seduce him, but he never let loose. This could all just be a big misunderstanding.” I sat beside my mom, patting her back to comfort her.
“Right, I’ve been framed. My dad finally broke his silence, sounding pretty worked up. “I was wasted, there’s no way anything could’ve happened between us!”
My dad was in a tight spot. He’s always been careful, never messing up. He wouldn’t screw things up when he was about to retire and threw everything he’d worked for down the drain.
Mom started sobbing on my shoulder. My heart was heavy and I was frowning, didn’t lighten up at all.
“Dad, have someone look into this woman. Find out about her background.” I spoke again to my dad.
“I already did. I’ve got her HR file. Her name’s Geneva, she’s from Springvale, married with a kid who doesn’t live with her. My dad took another drag, looking years older. “Didn’t find anything useful.”
Geneva… I kept that name in mind.
Even though my dad was in trouble, this thing with Geneva wasn’t out in the open yet, so he had to go to work like normal, leaving me and my mom alone at home.
I figured I should meet Geneva, see what she wants. If she was just after money, we could pay her off to keep this under wraps for now, then figure out a permanent solution later.
Suddenly, some old memories started popping up in my head, and I just froze.
I was so busy revolving around Neil during that time in my past life, I didn’t pay much attention to what was going on at home. All I remember was my parents went through a silent treatment period. And when Neil destroyed my family, one of his main weapons was some dirty laundry about my dad, like dodgy affairs and stuff, and some photos were sent to the media.
I was out of control back then, all I cared about was messing up Neil and Bonnie’s relationship, so I didn’t really pay attention to the news. But the photos in the news seemed similar to the ones I was looking at now?
So fate was making everything happen all over again.
I quickly stashed the photos in my bag. I knew Geneva must have the original copies, so I had to find a way to get all of them to end this once and for all If these photos fell into the wrong hands, it would be a threat to my family.
Even without Neil, there would be others targeting my dad.
“Mom, do you have Geneva’s contact info? Give it to me, I’ll go find her.” I told my mom calmly.
1 do, I’ll go with you.” Mom dried her tears, her face full of sorrow and anger.
“You stay home and rest, I’ll go alone.” I didn’t want my mom to go, I knew this woman would just make her even more upset. But mom insisted on going. This was about her 30 years of marriage, and she had to deal with it herself.
I guess I inherited my mom’s character. In my past life, I tried everything to find Bonnie, but Neil had too many tricks up his sleeve, I couldn’t fight him.
I nodded, “Alright, we’ll go together.”
Mom gave me a phone number. If she called, Geneva might not pick up, so I decided to use my phone to call.
The phone rang a few times before someone picked up. A woman’s voice answered, “Hello, who is this?”
Tm Hutchins‘ daughter. Come out, let’s meet and talk,” I said bluntly.
Okay I didn’t expect Geneva to agree.
After setting up a time and place, I hung up and told my mom, “Mom, rest up today. We’ll go meet her tomorrow. She’s probably just out to extort some money, using dad as her target
Mom looked worried, she just nodded her head.
I didn’t go out that day, just stayed home and chatted with mom, trying to cheer her up. When dad came home at night, we ate dinner in silence, then went to bed.
Mom didn’t want to share a bed with dad, so she came to my room to sleep with me. We talked for a long time, and it was late into the night by the time ! fell asleep. In my dreams, I could hear mom sighing over and over. I knew she didn’t sleep a wink.
The next morning, mom and I went to the agreed place, a French restaurant
Geneva definitely had some charm, a good figure and younger than my mom. She looked pretty appealing. When she saw us, she just smiled smugly “No more beating around the bush. I know those photos are fake. What do you want?” I didn’t like this woman one bit, so I just spoke my mind “Ms. Finch, if you believe the photos are fake, you can have them checked to see if they’ve been tampered with. Geneva replied calmly.
12:23
Chapter 69
My mom had been holding back. She was a woman of class, always maintaining her image. But her husband, the man she’d loved for 30 years, was involved in some shady stuff with this woman right here. Even with her good temper, she couldn’t hold back anymore. She stood up suddenly and slapped Geneva hard across the face.
Geneva’s head jerked to the side from the slap. She immediately covered her face and glared at my mom with a vicious and cold look.
“Why did you get my husband drunk and take those photos?” Mom stared at Geneva sternly, her presence was intimidating.
She knew deep down, father hadn’t done anything too outrageous, or else she wouldn’t blame Geneva for intentionally getting her father drunk and snapping pictures. But she just couldn’t stomach it. The man she trusted for thirty years could give another woman a chance to wreck their relationship.
Geneva let go, the imprints of five fingers on her face becoming visible, her eyes full of ambition, clear as day to me.
She stood up, grabbed her bag, not caring about her swollen cheek, her expression smug as hell, “What do I want? I want you guys to divorce, ’cause I’m pregnant with your husband’s baby.”
With that, she took a medical report out of her bag, tossed it on the table, and left. I could feel my mom freezing up, her eyes glued to the report on the table, unable to process what just happened.
