Page 38 of A Father's Insistence

“Evil…that’s all I keep hearing from you, but the only evil I see is him.”

She shakes her head and slumps back against a table. “That’s because you are too afraid to look closer to home.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I query, fearing the answer.

“Our father.” Victoria replies.

It’s my turn to shake my head in a furious denial.

“He saved Joanna from Nicholas.”

“No, Theo. Nicholas never had Joanna. Remember I told you two girls weren’t chosen and were sold instead. Joanna was one of them. The night after I was given to the Oakfield Society, Joanna Nethercutt was sold to our father for five hundred thousand pounds. The day you introduced her as your wife was the first we’d seen or heard of her in over a year.”

“No. He took me to her in the middle of the night and said the only way to save her was for me to marry her.”

“It’s all part of whatever plan he has to take over the society.” Victoria holds her hands out to me, willing me to believe what she’s saying.

“No.” I’m done listening to their lies. My father’s a good and honest man. He’d never do anything like this. He’s been trying to save Joanna, not hurt her. “I’m not listening to this anymore. It’s all lies. Nicholas has brainwashed you. You’ve admitted yourself that he paraded you around naked and had you beaten. He’s the bad man, not our father.”

“Theo.”

“No.” I push past Nicholas and into the hallway where William and Tamara are waiting. Tamara holds a pile of papers in her hands.

“Out of my way,” I tell them, but neither move. Instead, Tamara steps forward and hands me a printout from an ancestry website.

“Remember you did a DNA test once, hoping to find a link to royalty? I know you didn’t find that, but you did discover a link to a half-sister.”

“Not this again.” I throw the paper on the floor not wanting to hear her fabricated tales of how we are brother and sister. It’s nothing but lies designed to ruin my father’s reputation.

“Your father raped my mother, Theo. He killed her, and when I get the proof, I’ll see him rot in jail.”

“Lying bitch.”

“It’s the truth.” William bends down and picks up the paper. He holds it directly in front of my line of sight, and I can clearly see the results identifying Tamara and I as half brother and sister.

“This is fabricated.”

“I’ll do a proper DNA test with you, if you want?” Tamara offers.

“No!” I shout with fury.

“Theo, please listen. You promised me you would. I know you love Joanna, and we are just trying to save her. She and I are the only two of the five girls left.” Victoria places her hand on my shoulder. “Please, listen.”

“I can’t.” I’m shaking so violently now. It’s too much to take in. Tamara is my half sister. My father bought my wife for five hundred thousand pounds.

“Show him.” Nicholas steps around to stand next to Tamara. She still holds one piece of paper in her hand, which she offers to me, but I’m too scared to take it.

Nicholas continues, “Your father is no longer Viscount Hamilton. He desires a greater title. My own. One which my death would lead to under the terms of a treaty he and my father signed before my father’s death.” Nicholas takes the paper from Tamara and thrusts it into my hands. I look down at it. The words blur, and I struggle to read them, but gradually the truth finally sinks in. My father is the man behind all of this. He’s lied to me from the start. Nicholas Cavendish never abused my wife. He never had her, but my father did all along. The words become clearer on the page, and I’m able to see my name identified as the current incumbent of the title of Viscount Hamilton.

“I’m the Viscount?”

“Yes.” Tamara nods. “I’ve checked the documentation twice and had a friend check it as well. It’s all legally binding.”

“I don’t understand why? If he’s after your title, why give me this and not tell me?”

Victoria wraps her arms around me, and I allow her sisterly affection to calm the confusion I’m feeling.

“He’s setting you up, brother. He’s given you his name to take the fall for everything.”

I open my mouth to speak, but I can’t.

“Do you know where he is, Theo?” Nicholas asks me, and all I can do is nod. “Then you need to go to the police and tell them.”

“I’ll come with you,” Victoria offers.

“I will as well,” Tamara also confirms.

The shock of everything finally overwhelms me, and I drop to the floor. Victoria comes down with me and cradles me in her arms as I struggle to get breath into my lungs. I’m trying to understand everything I’m hearing. From the foggy haze of my brain, only one thought emerges though. If Nicholas Cavendish didn’t rape and abuse my wife, who was it? I don’t really need to ask myself that question though for I already know. It was my father.

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