Page 54 of No Way Forward

She looked sick. “So you do know about her. And yet, you chose not to tell me, the one you claim to love.”

“I love you more—”

“Don’t.” She held up a hand. “That’s what he said, and he had a funny way of showing it. All the mess he put me through, that’s what love looks like to him. And you’re the same.”

“I’m not.”

Her big brown eyes sparkled with anger. “Then prove it, Zaid. Make me understand why you would try to ‘protect me’ by not telling me about my real mom.”

“I wasn’t trying to protect you. I was helping him to protect himself—because I believe he loved you. If you knew the truth, you would leave him, and he couldn’t handle that.”

Chapter 24

Novette dreaded to hear the truth, but she was determined to hear it. All these years, her dad had lied to her. No, her entire life he had, and she needed to know why.

It shocked her to know that Zaid knew the truth and kept it from her. He knew what drove her dad to treat her like a prisoner, and he did nothing to help. Now he was telling her he did it to protect Richard and not her? The confession hurt. She wanted to understand, but she didn’t.

Zaid chose her dad over her? It made no sense. She considered whether what he said should make her break up with him, but right then she didn’t have the strength to go it all alone. She had no family, no friends, no one to stand with her. When she ran away, that’s exactly what she’d done, and she couldn’t face that hardship again. It was beyond lonely.

“Novette,” Zaid whispered gently.

She looked up at him, and he stroked her cheek. Such love shone in his eyes, she wondered if he would give her up if she told him where to go. Her heart skipped a few beats. This man loved her even if it wasn’t a perfect love.

“Tell me everything.”

He moved beside her on the bed. “When a case got too heavy, your dad would drink to unwind. I don’t know if something in one of them got to him more than others. All I know is, he drank heavily that night.

“When I came to check on him and get him to bed, he was feeling chatty. He started talking about a woman named Diane Leggett, a previous lover, and about—her husband.”

Novette’s mouth fell open. “Her husband?”

“Yes, she was married.”

“So you’re telling me he had an affair with a married woman. That’s so common it’s not even funny. I don’t condone it, but I can’t imagine he would be so ashamed of having done it he didn’t want me to find out.”

“Be patient.”

She tapped a finger against her lips. “Wait, you’re not saying he got her pregnant, and I’m the baby, are you?”

“You don’t look like you’re of mixed heritage.”

She rolled her eyes at him, somewhat amused. “That’s true.”

“Richard apparently fell in love with your mom, but she was already pregnant with you with her husband. Because she was pregnant, and perhaps because she loved her husband, she didn’t want to leave him.

“When your dad couldn’t convince her to leave her husband, Richard hired him and sent him to chase down some contract out of town. Richard thought if he could keep your biological dad busy, he might convince Diane to leave him. Unfortunately, during that trip, her husband was killed in a freak accident.”

“Oh my God.” Novette’s heart sank. She’d heard on the news report that her mom died, but she had been hoping her biological dad was still around. Maybe she could meet him someday. Now, she found that wasn’t possible. Then again, if either of them were alive, she wouldn’t have been adopted in the first place.

“This next part is what Richard worked to keep from you.”

Novette’s stomach fluttered. “It’s worse than cheating with a married woman?”

“Yes.”

She nodded. “Go ahead.”

He took her hand and held it. “Your mom knew Richard sent her husband away to try to charm her into running away with him. So when she heard about her husband’s death, she blamed herself as much as Richard. If she hadn’t been unfaithful and allowed Richard to do what he did, her husband wouldn’t have been killed. Then she…”

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