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“I haven’t had a chance to process any of this myself, but apparently there is a 50/50 chance that you and I share the same father,” I say, simply throwing it out there.
“What do you mean?” She gasps, looking completely bewildered.
“Apparently, Ray and Silvia had a long term affair. Both he and Mom seem to think that he may be my father, as well as yours,” I tell her, still unable to fully comprehend it myself.
Mandy flinches, covers her stomach and turns toward the railing. She says nothing, but the groan that emanates from her is simply eerie. I know exactly how she feels since I went through the same emotions less than an hour ago. I stand in silence rubbing her back, patiently waiting for her to say something. For now, she appears to be focused on overcoming her gag reflex. It’s definitely a lot to take in.
Mandy
I don’t even know how to react right now. After spending the last five years completely focused on getting back at the man who ruined our lives, it suddenly seems that my own father may have caused it. How could he do that to Mom? She remained steadfastly by his side through the whole ordeal. My first urge is to call him and give him a piece of my mind. I pull out my phone and click to my favorites.
“No. Let’s talk first,” Trey says, placing his hand on mine. “It’s two in the morning there anyway, so take some time before you do anything rash.”
“What do we do?” I ask, feeling absolutely wounded and bewildered.
“The first thing we need to do is find out whether or not you actually are my half-sister.” He puts his arm around me and lets out a small chuckle.
“I’m not in the mood for any humor,” I snap, shooting him a stern look.
“I know, but I seriously do want to find out as soon as possible.” He pulls me tighter to him. “I really don’t think we are related, but it would make me feel a lot better if we knew for sure.”
“Yeah! You and me both. I am absolutely in shock right now. If you are my half-brother, I think I’m going to kill myself!”
“Don’t say that.” He continues to hold me close. “Regardless of how everything turns out, we will have to make the best of it.”
I lift my head and say, “If we turn out to be related, neither you or I are breathing a word of it to anyone!” with the utmost conviction in my eyes.
“Trust me, I won’t. If anyone found out that Dad wasn’t actually our father, it would most likely jeopardize our entire inheritance.” A look of worry washes over Trey’s face as the words pass over his lips. “His fiancé would jump all over that.”
“You were obviously talking to someone about it,” she says, looking over at my phone. “What do we have to do?”
“We need to get some Q-Tips and swab the inside of our cheeks. Then we just stick them in a zip lock bag and I’ll FedEx them to Jürgen this afternoon. Once he receives them, he will know within a matter of hours whether or not we are related.”
“Okay, you find some Q-Tips and I’m going to put some clothes on,” I tell him. For the moment, I’m no longer comfortable wearing this string bikini.
Trey
Within the hour, both of our swabs have been picked up by a messenger and are on their way to the nearest FedEx drop box. Jürgen sent me a couple links to home test options that we could use, but I would rather have them run in a professional lab. I want to call Mom right now and get some details on their affair, but since it’s only four am in New York I’ll wait a few hours.
“Can I get you anything Bro?” Mandy smirks, joining me out on the terrace.
“I could use a tall glass of something eighty proof, but I could maybe settle for a good breakfast and a strong cup of coffee. There are menus on the desk… Sis.”
We both make light of it for the moment, but there is going to be some serious emotional scarring if we turn out to be siblings. Mandy returns with a menu for each of us and plops down in the chair next to me. “I’m not even sure I can eat,” she concedes with a pained expression.
“I know. I’m just hoping that something will settle my stomach. I feel like shit! My stomach has been gurgling ever since I got off the phone with your dad.”
“Do you think Victor found out about the affair?” she asks after staring at the menu for several long minutes.
“I know he did.” I think back to when he missed our eighth birthday party. “That explains why everything changed so suddenly. Both Tyler and I thought we had done something wrong. As I got older, I accepted the fact that he had simply turned into a greedy asshole. It makes me sick just thinking about it.”
