Part 3: The Unspoken Sacrifice
“Who… who is his father?” my mother whispered, tears filling her eyes as she looked at Leo. “You never told us his name… you let your father kick you out into the street rather than speak his name!”
“I let him kick me out because the man who tried to assault my sister fifteen years ago was Marcus!” I declared, my voice echoing off the high ceilings like thunder. “The same Marcus Rachel married five years later because you pushed her into his wealthy circle!”
My father’s face drained of every ounce of color. He staggered back against the entryway wall, his hands shaking violently as he looked at Rachel. “What…? What are you saying, Esther?”
“The night you found that positive test,” I explained, stepping closer to my father, “Marcus had cornered Rachel in the summer house. I intervened, I fought him off, and I got pregnant from the assault. I knew if I told you the truth back then, you would have buried the story to protect your business partnership with his family—or worse, you would have blamed Rachel. So I took my bag, I took my child, and I left.”
Rachel covered her face, weeping hysterically. “She saved me, Dad! She took the blame so Marcus’s family wouldn’t destroy our name! And you threw her out like garbage!”
My father looked at me, then at Leo, the crushing weight of his monumental error completely breaking his arrogant facade. He dropped his head into his hands, let out a ragged, strangled sob, and fell to his knees on the floor before his daughter and grandson.
To see how Esther handles the approaching threat, continue reading below for Part 4.
