Page 174 of Reverse

“I won’t, but this is news to me, just as much as it is to you.”

Joel, who’s already standing behind Dad, speaks up. “Reid, do you want me to call security?”

“We all need to take a breath,” I say as calmly as I can muster, pushing at Dad’s chest again, this time with more force. Dad steps back, eyeing Nate with a disdain that borders on hate.

Joel speaks up again. “Reid?”

“No,” Dad barks in reply. “We’re good.”

Natalie involuntarily shudders from where she stands, her tears coming faster as I try and fail to catch her eyes.

“What the fuck did you do?” Dad barks, and I look over to see his venom is meant for me.

“I fell in love,” I admit unapologetically as Nate speaks up, eyes still on Dad, his order for Natalie.

“Natalie. We’re leaving. Right fucking now.”

“What?” She croaks, her eyes meeting mine as I whip my attention to Nate.

“That’s not happening,” I say, slicing my hand across my throat.

“They’re getting it annulled,” Nate fires at Dad.

“Couldn’t fucking agree more,” Dad concedes with just as much aggression as they attempt to take the fight away from Natalie and me.

“The hell we are,” I bark between them. “We aren’t a bunch of lovesick teenagers, and this isn’t some rebellion against you. You both need to check yourselves and your personal issues. Your story ishistory. She and I, our marriage, are in the here and fuckingnow.”

“Is that so?” Dad turns to me. “Well, in thehere and now, son, your mom almost had a fucking episode.”

All the wind gets knocked out of me, and Nate’s hostile posture collapses in the same breath, his attention instantly on Dad as he speaks up. “Jesus Christ, Reid, did she?”

“Easton,” Natalie rasps out, briefly stealing my attention as the weight of Dad’s words settle in my stomach. “What does that mean? An episode?”

Dad speaks up, his reply for me, and surprisingly, for Nate as well. “She’s okay, but they’ve had to sedate her for nearly two days as a precaution.” He fixes his glare back on me, “Because she’sinconsolable.”

Two days.We never had a chance.

“As isyourmother,” Nate relays to Natalie, who looks helplessly between the three of us.

“What episode,Easton?” she presses frantically, “What does that—”

“She’s got a rare condition,” I speak up before Dad can, “when she gets too upset, is under a tremendous amount of stress, or goes from one extreme temperature to another—or a combination of both—it can cause her to stroke.”

“Stroke?” Her eyes widen as they continually spill over.

“She’s only had three episodes in her life,” I admonish quickly, “twice before I was born, once when I was young. It was the mildest. She’s on medications now—”

Dad speaks up, condemning us. “That number got pushed too fucking close to four with headlines her only son married the daughter of her ex-fucking fiancé!”

Nate steps back and cups his neck, staring up at the ceiling as Dad’s words reverberate throughout the room. Feeling my resolve start to slip thanks to the outrage of our fathers and the intense emotions flowing from all sides, I run a hand through my hair at an utter loss for what words to say. Right now, no matter how we plead our case, our actions feel indefensible, and there’s no way to curb that. Not at present.

“How the fuck did this happen?” Dad demands between Natalie and me.

Nate crosses his arms and drops his gaze as if bracing himself to hear Natalie’s confession a second time.

“It was me . . . I-I s-started this,” she sniffles.

“Natalie, don’t,” I object, but she ignores me by walking herself directly in front of the firing squad.

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