Chapter 2: The Secret Emily Buried
Chapter 2: The Secret Emily Buried
The wedding ended before it even began.
Half the guests left.
The other half stayed for the drama.
Emily locked herself inside the bridal suite.
Olivia sat outside crying.
I knocked.
"Emily."
No answer.
"Emily, open the door."
Silence.
Then finally...
Click.
The door opened.
My wife looked broken.
Completely broken.
"What happened?" I asked.
Emily sat down.
For several seconds she couldn't speak.
Then she whispered:
"It happened before I met you."
My stomach dropped.
"What happened?"
She wiped away tears.
"When I was nineteen..."
Her voice cracked.
"I was assaulted."
The room went silent.
I felt sick.
Emily stared at the floor.
"I never told anyone."
"Not even me?"
She shook her head.
"I was ashamed."
Olivia stood frozen.
Crying.
Listening.
Emily continued.
"I found out I was pregnant months later."
Nobody moved.
Nobody spoke.
Then Emily looked at me.
"You saved me."
Tears filled her eyes.
"When I met you, you loved Olivia before she was even born."
I couldn't breathe.
The room blurred.
Twenty-six years.
Twenty-six years I had loved that little girl.
Protected her.
Raised her.
Cheered at every soccer game.
Every birthday.
Every graduation.
And now she thought I wasn't her father.
Olivia suddenly stood up.
"You ARE my father."
I nearly broke down.
But Emily wasn't finished.
"There is something else."
My chest tightened.
"What?"
Her face turned pale.
"The man who assaulted me..."
She swallowed hard.
May you like
"...was at this wedding."
The world stopped.
