"You promised me!" Mama Grey spat out with a finger pointed right at me. "You promised me that you would never ever have an abortion! That was the only thing I ever asked for, Charlotte. I told you I would take care of that baby. I told you, your education and career wouldn't suffer, but you betrayed my trust and now looking back, I realise I was stupid for not noticing. Why else would you have dropped out if it wasn't because you knew that you robbed my son of the opportunity to be a father. I should have never believed you ..." She couldn't stop talking.
She threw insult after insult at me.
She told me she would never let Forest go through with marrying me. She told me she was wrong to help me get enrolled in school again five years ago and that she should have demanded an explanation as to why I dropped out in the first place. Then she demanded that I take off my engagement ring because the sight of me wearing it, disgusted her.
I let her get it all off her chest without interrupting her. We were finally home and it became clear the second we set foot inside that she was waiting for us to get inside the house so that she could finally tell me what was bothering her.
Annabelle was seated on the couch and on the verge of tears and Christian was in his default position, glaring at me.
I thought he and I made some progress while we were in Hawaii, but I should have known better.
"Mama Grey", this time I didn't try to hold her hand again because she would just slap it away, "the day you took me to go get on birth control, do you remember what I said to you?"
She looked at me like I'm crazy for asking her such a random question right after she said the meanest things she's ever said to me.
"That doesn't matter right now!" She tried dismissing me. "That doesn't change-"
"It matters." I tried not to raise my voice at her. "Please, Mama Grey. Tell me what I said to you. Say it out loud and then maybe you'll realise that I could never do what you just accused me of doing."
She bit her lip and looked at Annabelle and Christian with tears in her eyes. Maybe she told them about what I said that day or maybe not. Either way, it's important that she remembers.
"You told me you hoped you were already pregnant." She gave a sad smile. "I told you you were sharing too much information with me, but you refused to stop talking about how much you wanted a baby with Forest even though you two were barely eighteen years old and he had only asked you out the previous day."
This time when I reached out for her hand, she let me touch it.
"I'm still that girl." I said softly. "I'm still the girl who wants nothing more than to have a family with your son, Mama Grey. So why would you think that I could ever do what you're accusing me of? Even if I was told that I would die, I would still do everything I can to have a baby with Forest."
All three of them looked a bit uncertain. They looked at one another and then looked at me.
They didn't believe me.
"Then how do you explain what Dr Avilon showed mom?" Christian asked. "She's the head of the hospital and she's a family friend. She wouldn't lie."
"Yes, she would." I hid my anger. "Dr Avilon has already violated the doctor-patient confidentiality by even mentioning that I was in hospital, let alone which procedures she says I underwent while I was there."
I took a deep breath and ignored their judgmental eyes.
If I could, I would just be with Forest and not have anything to do with the Mitchells. If it were at all possible, I would have just come back to be with the man I love and never think about Lauren, her family or my father ever again. However, it's not that simple. Lauren wants Forest and she always gets what she wants. Lisa likes tormenting people and me being with Forest is enough reason for her to put me through hell and their parents ...
Those people will never leave me alone.
Even if I ran away again and tried to forget about Forest, they'd still see me as a threat. And if they find out I'm pregnant, they'll kill me and this time they'll make sure there's no Jona to save me.
"I was never pregnant." I said calmly. "Mama Grey, when I came to you back then and asked for your help it was because I had recovered after an accident." I put it in the kindest way. "I lost my way after that accident, but luckily I got my head on straight again and knew I had to go back to school."
I squeezed her hand as tight as I could.
The truth is I almost got beaten to death by my own father. I was in a coma for two weeks and I was in hospital for two snd so half months ... and not once did Forest come to see me during that time.
Then I tried going back to school. Forest suddenly appeared again, but by then I had changed and a small part of me hated him for not being there for me when I needed him most. And for some reason, each time I saw his face, I saw that text of his right before I met with my father.
"I can't make it this weekend. A friend of mine keeps having panic attacks and I'm afraid she might end up having a mental break down. Raincheck?"
And then he left. And I dropped out. And then I drank for the very first time in my life.
And when I realised that being drunk meant I didn't have to be Charlotte Ericsson anymore, I kept drinking and drinking and drinking. I'd walk into a bar, but wake up in Jona's apartment each time.
I didn't have a job, a home or any money. I had nothing, but none of that mattered to the person who saved me before my father could give his final blow. Me being covered in my own vomit, drinking myself into a coma and even stealing his money and possessions didn't matter to Jona.
He cleaned me up and each new day he acted like that day would be the day I got my act together.
Till this day, I have no idea why someone as impatient as Jona stuck by me, but gosh I'm grateful that he did.
I almost smiled while thinking about Jona. I never have to hide any part of myself with him. He's a foster kid just like me. Nothing I've ever told him about my life has shocked him or made him look at me with so much pity in his eyes that it suffocated me.
I wanted to tell Mama Grey that that accident was just a classic case of an abandoned kid getting beaten up by their parent. I tried telling them that I'm not like them and that even my own dad knew I wasn't worth his time. But goodness, each time I try to say it, the words choke me.
I just can't say it because if I say it, then I'll have to relive it all over again.
"The file that Dr Avilon showed you isn't mine." I started explaining while they stared at me. "It's a fake file that was planted by the State Medical Board. They're looking into her because she's been breaking A LOT of laws for her hospital's donors and giving out confidential information to people she owes favours to or people she's trying to get something from."
"No." Mama Grey almost stumbled backwards. "She's not like that. Fiona would never let money get to her. She was there for me after David's accident. She -"
"She's fallen on some hard times." Christian interrupted her. "A few of the hospitals falling under her management have lost investors because of supposed irregularities in clinical trials."
I nodded and went to go grab my phone out of my bag.
I opened one of the few documents I was given permission to show to others and showed her the dummy file created for the investigation - a fake file with my name on it, but with random information that has nothing to do with me. Information like me being pregnant with twins and having an abortion five years ago. Something that never happened. Dr Avilon wasn't even in the country at the time of this supposed abortion.
"See?" I showed her the very same file I know Dr Avilon showed her. "For example, look at the blood type of the person in this file."
Christian brought the hard copy that Dr Avilon gave her and paged to the patient's blood work.
"O-positive." I pointed towards both the hard copy and the electronic file on my phone. You know my bloodtype is AB-negative. You've been to the hospital with me as a kid. You know this."
She compared both documents and sure enough they both claim my blood type is O-positive, but she still looked unconvinced.
"And the dummy file says I weighed 99 pounds at the age of twenty two." I showed her another error. "The last time I weighed that much I was probably fourteen years old, Mama Grey. Little discrepancies like that were put there to trick someone who would just grab the file and abuse their power by selling that information or using it to destroy someone's life."
More tears started forming in her eyes and she shook her head in disbelief. "Fiona wouldn't lie to me." She tried to convince herself. "She's one of the only few people I can trust. She knows that family, love and loyalty are much more important than all the money in the world. She-"
"She's a woman who owes favours to some dangerous people, Mama Grey." I corrected her. "She's doing everything she can to survive, but by this time next week, Dr Avilon and so many other doctors who have done some messed up things just to keep their money or social standing will be exposed to the world. She's going to lose her license."
She held her mouth in disbelief and although she tried not to, she started sobbing right infront of us.
"I trusted her." She shook her head again. "I don't understand why she would do this to me. She knows you're like a daughter to me. Why is she trying to start a fight between the two of us?"
"I don't know." I decided to lie. It's safer for her if she doesn't get involved in this. "She's involved with some very dangerous people, Mama Grey. All that matters is that you believe me when I tell you she lied to you. Nothing in this world is as important to me as having a family with your son. My job, my career and all the money in the world can never compare to that. You know that, right?"
"I know." She whispered. "I'm just disappointed that after all these years, I still don't know all the tricks these people have up their sleeves. To them, I'll always be the gullible kindergarten teacher who can be easily misled."
"You are much more discerning than you give yourself credit for." I pulled her in for a hug. "You're the reason I know how to read people so well, Mama Grey."
She hugged me back for what seemed like a really long time. When she let go, she was still crying.
"I'm sorry." She apologised again. "I'm so sorry, Charlie."
"It's okay." I gave her the best smile I could muster. "All that matters is that you know the truth now."
She rubbed my back a bit and then decided to head upstairs, leaving me, Christian and Belle.
"It's not just mom who they went after." Belle said after we heard the door to Mama Grey's suite close. "The wicked sisters of the west tried to get me to believe that you're cheating on Forest."
I sat down on the couch and sighed.
Tonight marked the conclusion of the biggest merger this country has ever seen. I was announced as the youngest partner to join my firm and Forest proved that there is absolutely nothing he can't do, but Lauren and her sister were doing all they can to suck the joy out of the night.
"Do you believe them?" I asked her.
She came to sit next to me and showed me a video on her phone.
It was Connor and .... me ... making out in one of the meeting rooms in the banquet hall. The woman in the video was wearing a dress that was nearly identical to mine. She had the same hair and it was styled exactly like mine. She even had the same skin tone as me and when she turned to the side, for a second I also thought that was actually me.
"Are you sure this isn't me?" I asked no one in particular.
"I thought it was you." She tried laughing. "I couldn't even look at you while we were in the car, but then Jona sent me a video as soon as we got home. He said he noticed I was upset and said he suspects I saw something that was just "a whole lot of nonsense" because he saw Lisa and Lauren dragging me to the upstairs bathrooms.
She went to open up a video that Jona sent her and we saw the same two people in that video. Connor and a woman who is apperantly me. The two people made out while Belle stood there frozen in shock until Lisa and Lauren helped her get away from me and Connor.
After Belle was gone, they stopped making out and the woman turned to walk away from Connor. When I saw her face, I recognised her almost instantly.
It's Angelique - A friend of Lauren's and a stylist for most celebrities. She's probably the one who helped Lauren with her new look. She could get away with looking like me from the back. Even back in school, once or twice Forest thought he saw me when he actually saw her.
On two occasions he found the girl making out with her boyfriend and just started punching the poor guy before he realised he was making out with Angelique; and not me.
"Well that's not me." I chuckled. "But at this rate, since everyone we went to school with seem to be popping out of nowhere, we might as well have a reunion for everyone."
The three of us chuckled, but it wasn't really a happy chuckle.
"If it weren't for Jona, I would have thought you cheated on Forest." She admitted. "But even without him showing me what really happened, I shouldn't have doubted you, Charlie. I've seen you bolt and run away when any man that's not Forest tried to hug you. I should have known that you'd never do that to my brother."
Aksara