Page 85 of Finding Olivia (Trace + Olivia 1)

I sat there and watched my world crumble around me.

???

I hadn’t said anything as we finished eating. Or attempted to finish eating, I should say. Neither of us really had much of an appetite after the shit-storm of lies, that’s my life, was revealed.

We were almost home when I spoke up, “Is that why dad—er—Aaron, has treated you so badly? Is it because of me? Because I’m not his?”

“No, sweetie,” she reached over and patted my cheek. “He was like that before…that’s why I-”

“Cheated?” I supplied angrily.

“Yes,” she sighed, gripping the steering wheel, bowing her head. “You have to understand, I didn’t do it maliciously. It just…happened. I love Derek. Or loved, rather,” her eyes pooled with tears as she gazed at the road. “I miss him every day of my life. I miss what we had and what we could’ve been. I miss him so much, Liv, but he gave me you,” her voice was fierce. “He gave me the greatest gift a man can ever give a woman. You’re so much like him and you don’t even know it. When you smile, it’s his smile. When you laugh, it’s his laugh,” she looked at me fiercely. “When I get sad, and miss him, I know it’s okay, because there’s still a part of him here on this Earth.”

“Why did you decide to tell me? Why now?” I questioned.

The air left her lungs in a gust. “When you were little, I thought I’d never tell you, and especially with the way Aaron treated you—us—I thought it was better to keep you in the dark. But a few years ago, I decided to tell you. I didn’t know when, I just knew I had to,” she swallowed thickly, gazing out at the road. “You deserved to know the truth and Derek isn’t some dirty secret I’m trying to hide from the world. He was the love of my life, Liv, and it wasn’t fair to spit on his memory by keeping the truth from you. He was a good man.” She quieted and then added, “The way you were smiling at your phone when you were talking to that boy, that’s how I smiled when I was with Derek.”

“What was his last name?” I asked. I don’t know why I needed to know, but I did.

“Wynn. Derek Wynn,” she answered immediately.

“Olivia Wynn,” I whispered quietly. “Do his parents know about me?”

“No,” she shook her head. “After he died…I didn’t believe there was any point in telling them. They knew about me and they didn’t approve. Not that I blame them. I was married.”

“Are they still alive?”

“They are,” she glanced over at me.

I was still in a state of shock, but the questions kept pouring from me. “Do you have a picture of him? Of Derek?”

“Yes,” she swallowed thickly.

“Can I…” I paused, “see it?” I asked as she pulled into the garage.

“Of course,” she looked at me like I was crazy for thinking she would say no.

I unbuckled my seatbelt mechanically.

“Liv,” my mom reached for my arm, grabbing it before I could get out.

“Yes?” I looked over my shoulder at her.

“Do you hate me for what I did?”

I studied the broken woman before me and thought of all the years of torment she had endured from my father—Aaron. How could I hate her for trying to find happiness with someone else?

“No, mom, I could never hate you. I…I feel very confused right now,” I answered honestly, shaking my head as I gazed at my lap.

“That’s understandable,” she released my arm.

I followed her inside and upstairs to the master bedroom.

She opened the bottom drawer to her dresser and dumped out the contents.

Once everything was cleared, she lifted out a false bottom. Beneath it was pictures, a whole stack of them.

She smiled sadly and began handing them to me.

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