Dad sighs. "Yes. But he had a family, children. I decided back then that I wouldn’t tell him you were his child."
I drop my hands and stare at him.
"A married man?! You were both married!"
Silence stretches.
Finally I sigh and shake my head. "Damn… My whole life I believed Max Strada was my father, and it wasn’t true. And Uncle Dimitri wasn’t even my real uncle."
Dad stays silent. He avoids my eyes. He just watches the fireworks.
"I lived in a lie."
He lets out a breath. "Alex, what could I have done…"
"You could have told Max the truth the moment he came to the hotel for you. You could have told him you slept with someone else, maybe taken some morning-after pills."
A quiet snort. "I spent years trying for a child. I couldn’t have taken anything like that."
"Sooo you decided to stay with Max and pass off another man’s child as his, and you didn’t tell that man anything either. He doesn’t even know I exist. That’s fucked up, Dad!"
Dad presses his lips into a thin line. He was never someone who admitted his mistakes easily, and the word ‘sorry’ rarely ever crossed his lips. Now too, he reacts defensively.
"You can judge me however you want, son."
"Oh, can I? A lie to him is one thing, a lie to Max, a lie to Dimitri, but a lie to me?"
Silence.
"Thanks for a bomb like this on my birthday. A life I thought was normal, built on a lie. From top to bottom."
"Son, I had to live with this every day, with the awareness that I cheated and lied…"
"Yeah. Make it all about yourself!"
Dad sits motionless.
I get up from the bench. Now is the moment to say it.
"Okay. I don’t want to talk about this anymore. It’s late. I’m going to Bay’s house to sleep. And I want you to know that starting tomorrow, I’m living here. I’m eighteen, I can make my own decisions."
Only now does his hardened, pale face shift a little, his lips trembling slightly as he speaks.
"You’re living here? You said the earliest would be summer break."
"Yeah, but I’m moving it up. I’m staying here. I need to sort things out in my head, and right now I just need some space."
His eyes stay on me, and there’s a strange acceptance there, something almost out of character for him, because he usually has strong opinions, but now he just… lets go.
I turn and walk away, trembling inside.
Bay stands at the edge of the patio, staring into the garden, waiting for me.
When he sees my face, he knows immediately something is wrong.
Tears sting my eyes. I grab his hand and say, "Let’s get out of here. Tell your dad we’re not coming back, ask him to wrap it up and end the party."
We start walking, and when Bay passes his dad, he leans in and whispers something in his ear. I see worry on Lake’sface, guilt too, like he already suspects I talked to my dad and something went wrong.
