Christian
What the hell is wrong with the two of them? I mean seriously, they are acting like two tearaway teenagers instead of the adults that they are. They both know right from wrong and they both know the effects of smoking.
We all do believe me. None of us could ever forget the two-hour lecture we had to sit through from our dad after he caught Tom smoking when he was a teenager and if the very detailed descriptions he gave about what could happen weren't enough to make a full grown man want to cry, then the extremely graphic pictures that he had shown us were more than enough to do the trick.
"Why the hell were they smoking?" My anger is instant. "I'm not sure. They were sitting in the truck after they got here and Callum and Jack saw them smoking. They've gone to have a chat with them." He has a smirk on his face but I'm angry, so angry that I don't know if it's all directed at those two for smoking, but still, I start storming towards the barn door to give those two a piece of my mind when my dad stops me just as I go to leave.
"As fun as it will be to watch you rip those two new assholes your ma, and I need a moment with Molly first." His smirk has gone and he now has a sad look spread across his face, making me instantly nervous. "What's going on Dad?" My mom steps forward and stands next to my dad. He puts his hands behind his back and takes something out of his pocket. "This came for Molly today."
He hands me a brown envelope that's addressed to Molly. I take a moment to study it but soon find the reason for my dad's sadness. Oh hell. "Why have you got this? When did you get it?" I sound pissed and I am, but not at my dad. To be honest, lately, I have spent so much time pissed at so many different things that it's hard to always pinpoint who or what it's aimed at.
But right at this very moment, I'm majorly pissed for Molly. She lost her husband and home. She found out her dead husband may have fathered a child with another woman. She almost died twice in one day and, well, fuck, I've been nothing but a dick head to her since she came here and now this? All of the negative thoughts that I have towards her seem to fade more and more as time goes on and even more so right now, as I look down at the envelope and, without opening it, know exactly what it will say and what it will do to her.
I struggle to form words so I just nod as I hand my dad back the envelope. He looks out the window and then back at my mom while nodding. He takes her hand and they head out of this stable, but instead of following them, I find myself frozen to the spot, staring at my feet while my mind goes completely blank.
A few moments later, I hear her voice and feel my heart beat faster. It's been doing that a lot lately when she's around, when I hear her voice and when I hear her laugh, it seems to pound even harder. In seconds I'm standing in front of the windows watching as my parents speak to her and my brother.
The look of heartbreak on her face the moment she realizes what's in the envelope kills me. And before I know it, I'm already out of the stable and heading their way, but sharply stop when Tom sees me coming and gives me a pleading look. I know what that look is. He's asking me to stay away from them, from her, and even though it feels like it goes against everything inside of me I do it, I stop walking but keep watching.
She pulls papers out of a second envelope, a lot of them in all different sizes, and begins to go through them. The more she looks at them and reads them, the more her body trembles and I swear that if Tom hadn't grabbed hold of her just seconds ago, then her legs would have given out by now.
My mom is next to hug Molly as her body rocks with the sobs that I can hear coming from her. They are raw and painful and it's awful to hear. Next, my dad takes hold of her and hugs her before she's soon pulled into Tom for a hug. I wish I was there for her like they are, but she doesn't want that and it's nothing less than I deserve.
She talks to Tom for a few seconds before putting the papers back in the envelope and holding them tight to her chest as she walks away from them and towards the woods. The moment she disappears through the trees, I'm right by Tom's side. "Where is she going?" My Mom gives me a gentle smile before giving both Tom and me a kiss on the cheek, then she starts walking back to the stable. My dad starts following her but first stops in front of me. "Go, gentle son.". He doesn't need to say anymore. I know he's talking about Molly and as much as it pisses me off that he just assumed that I would be shitty to her, the harsh reality is that he had every right to think it.
I watch as my dad catches up with my mother and wraps her in his arms before they disappear into the barn. I turn to face Tom and the pained look on his face is something I hate, but I already know that I can't do anything to change it or believe me I would. "She's gone for a walk to the lake." I go to speak but he holds up his hand to stop me seemingly already knowing what I'm going to say. "she's going straight to the lake and staying on the pathway. She's not going to go anywhere else, she has promised me and she also has her phone on her with a full battery."
He huffs as he tries to catch his breath from talking so quickly while I just stare at him feeling quite proud of how he's handled her. Once he's once again breathing properly he stares at me for a few seconds and again he somehow seems to read my mind and answers my unasked question. "It's so much worse, Christian, so much worse."
Molly
I arrive at the lake, my heart is pounding in my chest, my legs feel weak and shaky and I'm sweating like I've been running for hours. When I saw the envelope I knew what it was and yet the truth was so much worse than I could ever have imagined. I had a feeling that the accusations were true, there really isn't a reason for the woman to do this otherwise because she would have been told that a DNA test would be required and then when I saw the envelope holding the DNA results I knew without reading them that it was true because I hadn't even spoken to my solicitor yet, hadn't asked for those tests to be done which means she's gone out of her way to do it and that in itself says so much.
Still, I had to see it with my own eyes and when I read the letter stating that there was 99.9% chance of Archie being her biological father it didn't even seem to shock me. I know it sounds strange but I think a part of me had already accepted what the answer would be. Deep down I think that I had already forgiven him for it too. I know it's something that is unforgivable but he's dead, he's gone.
I'm never going to see him again so what would have hating him got me? Holding on to the pain of his betrayal would just ruin me even more than his death already has and I owe it to myself to be better than that. However, the moment I saw a second envelope tucked away with the results and opened it all of my forgiveness was washed away in a heartbeat. What I read... the pictures I saw... there's no forgiving that. There's no reasoning it. Who knew love could turn to hate so quickly? I didn't but what I do know is that.
"I will never forgive Arche for what he's done but I will forever hate him.