“How?” I whispered.
“Car accident,” Dad said.
But Julian’s face told me he did not fully believe that story.
Suddenly, every memory from childhood felt poisoned.
My mother had not abandoned me.
My father had lied for decades.
And the man I loved had entered my life because of those lies.
I looked at Julian through tears.
“When were you planning to tell me?”
“I wanted to,” he whispered. “I kept waiting for the right moment.”
“We were five minutes away from getting married.”
“I know.”
I searched his face for proof that everything had been fake.
But that was the worst part.
I could still see love there.
Real love.
And somehow, that hurt even more.