Who is this girl?
Dad clears his throat. "I'd be lying if I said I liked Dustin, but I never thought he’d go so far as to have a child kidnapped. I thought he might, well... I worried about your mother’s safety, but not yours. You were just a child. Who would hurt a child? Especially not you, the golden child of the District. I didn't realise how far he'd gone until now. I don’t know for sure, Konnor. I have no proof. But if this statement is true, then someone paid that man to take you."
Covering my lips, I gasp and stare at my dad from above my hand.
"And I know in my heart that it wasn’t Madeline, so that leaves... Well, it's Dustin and Madeline’s account."
I look at the papers my dad is shuffling around on his desk. A statement of some kind. Is he saying that money came out of Konnor's biological parents' account to pay for the kidnapping? That's sick.
"That’s bullshit, such bullshit," Konnor yells. "Money came from that fucking account for my tuition! How’s that possible? Answer that question! I saw it, Ben." He cuts us both up when he refers to our dad by his Christian name. I wait with bated breath. "The invoice was clearly made out to the university for my tuition."
Wait? What?
My parents pay for his tuition. Don’t they? So, that can't be true. That would meanmyparents paid for him to be kidnapped. Is that what Konnor is accusing him of? Is that why he's yelling at my dad and calling him by his Christian name?
Shaking my head, unable to believe any of this, unable to rationalise this information, I listen to Dad talk.
Dad stiffens. "Konnor, your mother handed the rights to that account over to me a few weeks before she died. She said it was for you and you alone if you were ever found or everreturned. That money would have gone to Dustin’s other children, his future children, and she knew she didn’t have much time left. So, I have been using the funds for your tuition and for anything else I see fit. We didn’t need the money, of course, but it was important to Madeline that it went to you.”
A bit of relief fills me. It wasn't my parents' account that the money had come from. Dad now has the rights to that account, though, because Madeline wanted to make sure Konnor would get his inheritance. It's confusing as hell.
Konnor blinks at him. “You loved her."
As I watch my dad fall apart from all these secrets, I don't know what to do. I can't even imagine what my brother is going through right now. Blesk leans into him and whispers in his ear. I glance at the window behind Dad's desk. It's open all the way. Max is probably below that window, listening...
With a sudden thought occurring, I look directly at my dad, wondering if we're all sharing an infidelity that my mum knows nothing about.
"I love your mum, Cassidy." My dad's voice is soft and pained as he reads the accusation in my eyes. "But, yes, Konnor, Madeline was my first love.”
Konnor looks desperately at our dad. "Okay, so are you my dad? I mean, are you my biological dad?"
My dad—our dad—shakes his head. “No, Konnor. I wish I was." We all sink together. "You’re my son, but you’re not my blood. I’m sorry. I don’t know who is. She never told me.”
Konnor's face contorts. “So you two planned my adoption? Before they even found me? That’s such crap."
I shake my head, clearing my throat, "That makes zero sense. This sounds like fricking BS, Dad. When kids gomissing and they aren’t found for four fricking years, don’t people just, kind of—" I hesitate. "Assume they’re dead?”
Dad's response is sad, but also almost... robotic. "Madeline never gave up hope, not for a second. I don’t know if she suspected foul play because she never told me. We very rarely spoke, Konnor. We'd never discussed the adoption. I received a letter in the mail one day, and it just said that I was entrusted to make sure you'd receive the money if you were found or that it went to her charity if you weren’t. It was from a lawyer. She didn't even send it herself."
He stares directly at Konnor. "I’m not sure if you have heard about this, but Madeline started a charity for you. Nerrock Missing and Beyond. It's for lost children and their families. This is your legacy, Konnor. If you were never found. If you were just... gone. All the money would have been donated in your name. That was Madeline’s wish. Well, that was what the letter said."
Konnor grimaces. "You never tried to talk to her? Face to face?"
"Of course I did. I was completely disconnected from her. No one would let me speak to her."
"Did she know? Did she know Dustin had something to do with my disappearance?"
Dad rises from his chair and holds up shaky hands. "Slow down. Firstly, we don’t know he did for sure. We are just speculating here and only because you came in here, guns blazing. But since we are, I can admit it crossed my mind. It was very peculiar that months after the rumours of your legitimacy as a Nerrock began, you went missing.”
Konnor's whole face tightens. He glances at Jax, perhaps seeking comfort in his friend. "She stayed with him anyway?"
"Even if she did suspect him, you don’t divorce people like Dustin Nerrock. It’s too... dangerous."
"I don’t understand," Konnor mutters.
Dad smiles tightly and shifts his weight in the chair. "I know you don’t. Because I have worked very hard to keep you kids out of that world." I hold my breath as he continues. "The District's streets are run by The Families. The whole structure is corrupt. They are just dangerous company to keep and even more so to marry into."
Dangerous company to keep...
