Page 139 of Enzo

“Have you checked the links I sent you?”

I set down my coffee. “I was just about to. What’s happened now? I have missed calls from Father.”

Matteo sighs at the other end and my gut hardens even more. “Don’t worry about him. You have bigger problems.”

I hold my breath. “What?”

“It’s about your friend, Molly.”

I sigh escapes my lips. “And?”

Matteo continues. “Other news has broken about her past.”

“What past?”

My stomach feels strange. As if spiders are crawling inside my belly.

“The press has gone crazy. They’ve dug up things … her father went to prison.”

“What?” I don’t understand what I’m hearing.

“Armed burglary. I dug a bit deeper into older news reports, and the guy’s an alcoholic. The original reports mention domestic disturbances.”

I set down my cup and grip the edge of the worktop.

Domestic disturbances? What the hell is a domestic disturbance?

“That … that can’t be Molly’s father.”

“Unfortunately it is. Sorry. I wish it were otherwise, but it’s the truth, Enzo.”

“Where is this blowing up?” My voice is shaky. Pieces of conversation float through my mind, the things Molly said, the things she didn’t.

“You still there?” Matteo asks.

I hang my head. This is the biggest shock so far. This is news I never saw coming. I was expecting more on the Knight family’s past.

Something about me. Maybe also Molly, because she’s been identified.

What I didn’t expect was this.

“Yes.”

“I'm tracking the major news sites and socials now. Chicago picked it up first, but it's spreading.”

I shake my head. Suddenly, I can’t think straight. This news counteracts everything Molly told me.

And what I said to her. What I assumed.

I envy your childhood. One mom, one dad. A regular family.

I press my thumb into the edge of the countertop until it hurts. Now I understand why tears welled up in her eyes. I remember her obsession with calm and safety. How good she is at looking after people. How little she asks for.

How happy she is.

I believed that Molly had the perfect childhood, the perfect family. Not because she lied, but because I assumed. I saw sunshine and believed she’d always lived in sunlight.

Turns out the truth was darker.