Page 158 of Set me Free

“Good… Gio, help Sissy with her seatbelt, okay?”

“Okay.”

The entire drive I thought about Gio and his situation with his mom. If I were in Gianna’s situation, I would want Creed to help me too and I get why he did it; for his son’s sake. I loved Giovanni enough to want the best for him, so I got it.

By the time I pulled up to my parents' estate, I was still reeling from Ari’s news, but I had no clue that I was about to get hit with something that would shake my entire world.

As I parked, Sevyn pulled up at the same time. When the kids and I got out, they immediately went to their uncle.

“Uncle Sevy.” The kids screamed hugging him and he hugged them back before turning to me.

"You know what this is about?"

I shook my head. "No clue."

When we walked inside, I immediately felt something was off. My mother’s eyes were red, glossy from fresh tears, and my father looked tense as hell. Before I could ask what was going on, my father turned to Marlena, our house manager.

"Can you take the kids into the kitchen? Let them get a snack?" That was my first red flag. We sat down in the family room, and after an agonizing silence, my father spoke. "Your mother and I… have decided to get a divorce."

The room got quiet, confused on what the hell was happening. I thought it was a joke, but why else would my mama be crying. I felt my heart drop.

"What?" I whispered.

Sevyn leaned forward, jaw clenched. "What you mean a divorce? What the fuck is going on?"

My mother just shook her head, fresh tears slipping down her face. Her tears weren’t guilty tears, they were hurt tears.

I turned to my father, my stomach twisting. "Daddy… why is she crying?"

“Listen… I fucked up.”

“Fucked up how?” Sevyn asked too calmly. As if based on my daddy’s answer was going to determine his next move.

He was silent, struggling to answer as his mouth opened and closed.

“Did you have an affair?” I asked, barely above a whisper. There was more silence and that told me exactly what I needed to know. “Wow.”

Sevyn stood up so fast that his chair tipped over. "Bro, what the fuck?—"

"Sevyn!" My mother grabbed his arm, stopping him before he could swing.

My father exhaled deeply, running a hand down his face. "That’s not all…" I stared at him, dreading whatever came next.

"I have another son. He’s eight years old. I didn’t know about him until recently. That’s how all of this came out."

I swear, I blacked out for a second. Sevyn on the other hand, did not. My brother lunged at him, and if it weren’t for me and my mother throwing ourselves in between them, he would’ve tried to beat our daddy’s ass. My daddy didn’t even try to fight back, proving his guilt.

I continued to hold Sevyn back as best as I could while he pointed his finger in our dad’s direction. “You ain’t shit for doing something like this to her. She ain’t have to be there for me, she didn’t have to love me like she did. I ain’t even her fuckin kid, but she loved you enough to love me. You don’t do shit like that to the woman you love, to the one who loves you enough to make those sacrifices.”

“I fucked up and I ruined my marriage Sev, you think I’m proud of this? You don’t get to lecture me on that woman because you don’t know everything about what happened.”

“That ain’t no fuckin excuse.” Sevyn replied before he pulled away from me roughly, shaking his head in disgust and then storming out.

“Tootie…” My father tried to touch my arm, but I jerked away from him. “I’m sorry baby.”

I shook my head before I turned to my mother, hugging her tightly. "I’m so sorry, Mommy."

She shook her head, her voice thick with emotion. "I’ll be okay, baby."

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