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I shake my head with sheer disgust and a hefty dollop of outrage. “Excuse me? That’s a bald-faced lie,” I say, my voice trembling with rage. “I was already pregnant with Mikey when Derrick came into my life.”
“When I told Kace that all I wanted to do with this crypto thing was to get you and our son back, he corrected me and said that Mikey was his,” Derrick says, playing his part with seamless self-control. “You can imagine my shock. While I understand that you two had a fling around the same time that we got together, it didn’t feel right to let you lie to him, Amaya. You’re not the woman I thought you were.”
“Are you fucking kidding me right now?” I blurt out, damn near close to exploding. If I were only a few feet closer, I’d probably gouge his eyes out. “Where did you get this supposed evidence from, Derrick?”
“I’ve had it for years,” he says, half-smiling. “All I needed was a strand of Mikey’s hair. I’ll be honest, when I saw him growing that blond hair and those blue eyes, I had my doubts. Sure, my mom was a blue-eyed blonde, so I figured the gene might’ve skipped a generation, but I wanted to be sure.”
“You have some nerve,” I reply, barely able to think straight. “Some fucking nerve.”
“It’s dated from three years ago,” Kace says, nodding at the document again. “It bears the legal signature and the attending physician’s official stamp.”
“I don’t give a rat’s ass what it says!” I yell, my blood boiling over. “It’s a fucking lie. It’s made up. Why would I do this? Why would I confirm that Mikey is your son, Kace, when I’m not even the one who pressed the matter in the first place? You said you figured it out on your own. You insisted until I was compelled to tell you the truth.”
“Oh, please,” Derrick scoffs. “You have a habit of twisting the truth in a manner that best fits your needs and whims. The minute I realized that you were about to use Mikey for your own devices like you did with me, I understood that I was the biggest idiot of them all. I couldn’t let you get away with it again. It’s bad enough I humiliated myself by chasing after you even though you left me. Gosh, I’m so ashamed of the scenes I caused here on the estate.” He pauses and looks at the guys. “Again, I’m so sorry about that. I see clearly now what an idiot I was.”
“This can’t be happening,” I mumble.
Ramada looks like she could jump for joy at this point, but she keeps her bony arms crossed and a pleased smirk on her overly tanned face. I hate her guts and then some. Derrick gives me a brief glance, holding back a smile of his own.
“The jig is up, Amaya. You can’t play these people any longer.”
What am I supposed to do? This man came up with some kind of fake document to back up his lies. Ramada is here, offering her full support, of course. They’ve been working Kace, Finn, and Elias for a long time. That much is obvious now. All the meetings, the talks… they were building up to something, and I think I was the last hurdle that they needed to get over in order to push forward with their scheme. Since they couldn’t exactly toss me aside, since they understood that my presence and my knowledge of Derrick’s true nature would always be an impediment, Derrick and Ramada decided to come up with this immoral scheme.
Holy shit.
Discredit Amaya so they can get Kace, Finn, and Elias on board with whatever it is they’re planning. I can’t believe it.
“Do you believe him?” I ask Kace. I don’t know where I’m getting this calmness from. I’m still fuming on the inside, but I think part of me knows that the harder I try to explain the truth to them, the worse it will be for me. Whatever I tell them, Derrick will jump right in to refute it with a perfectly reasonable comeback. And after the way I pushed them aside, the way I’m still accepting their gifts and their support, Kace, Finn, and Elias might actually have reason to consider Derrick’s lies as a possible truth.
I’m beyond disgusted.
My heart is breaking. Over and over again.
“I don’t know what to believe right now,” Kace concedes with a heavy sigh.
I look at Elias. “Do you believe him?”
“Amaya, Mikey’s paternity isn’t really my issue,” Elias says. “Nor Finn’s, for that matter. But you have to admit, it does make a lick of sense.”
“So, you do believe him,” I reply, feeling my shoulders drop in sheer disappointment and defeat. If ever there was a time for me to let my pride lead, it’s now. “Good to know where I stand. Where the truth stands.”
Finn tries to appease me. “We should talk about this further. In private.”
“You can all screw yourselves,” I say and toss the manila envelope across the table. Finn catches it before it falls off. “This came in the mail for me today. It’s why I was coming to see you. But you go ahead and believe whatever it is you want to believe. Just leave me alone.”
“Amaya,” Kace tries to stop me while Finn looks into the envelope.
“We’re done. Goodbye.” I walk out in a blazing fury.
I hear the doors shut behind me. The dwindling murmurs of a heated conversation. I can’t care about this anymore. They believe Derrick over me. They believe that bastard’s lies, and it’s all I need to know. This was a mistake. From day one, it was a mistake. I understand now what the universe was trying to tell me.
We were all getting played by Derrick.
Not me though, not anymore. I’m no longer a piece on the game board. Kace, Finn, and Elias are grown men. They can handle themselves. And if that bastard swindles them, it’ll be on them. I bear no fault nor any responsibility. I’ve suffered enough humiliation for one morning. I’ll be damned if I’ll let Derrick ruin anything else for me.
I have no idea what will happen with those photos. I don’t know if I’ll be on the receiving end of a call or email, part of a blackmailing scandal. All I can do is wait. Until then, however, I have a new job to get to and a son to raise, a family to protect. Everything and everybody else can fuck off. I’m done with the pain and the lies. I’m done with Derrick and Ramada and anyone else who thinks they can walk over me in order to gain something.
I’m better off alone.
