Save the Date (Modern Arrangements, #1)

"Oh my!" The elderly woman exclaimed and put her hand on her heart. "L-Loreley?"

I nodded. Tears filled her eyes and she reached for me, pulling me into a large hug. I knew that I was stiff in her arms, but I still wasn’t sure who she was and even though I searched them out I was a nervous wreck.

"You know who I am?" I barely whispered.

"Of course I do. You are the spitting image of your mother, my sister." She smiled warmly at me and pulled me into the house. "Are you well?" She studied me intently and her eyes shifting to my round stomach.

I broke down into sobs. She cradled me into her arms and walked me to a large sofa in front of a large fire. I cried until I fell asleep in her arms. After waking, I told her everything.

She was crying freely. "I knew that cold bastard was the reason she did it."

"Y-you knew that she killed herself?" I looked at her confused.

"Yes, dear." She sighed. "We all knew, and we were sure that your father had something to do with it, but we could never prove that he drove her to it." She pulled me into another hug. "I am so sorry that he has manipulated you for so long."

"I chose to live that life." I shrugged and sniffed.

"No, dear." I looked up to her. "You were raised and brainwashed into that life. He did it to your mother and when she couldn’t take it anymore he drove her to kill herself." She went on to tell me of my mother. How independent she had been until my father got his claws in her.

At first he was sweet and kind, but after they married he forced her to do things that she wouldn’t tell anyone about. Except one night, when she was pregnant she arrived at my Aunt Beth’s house. He wanted her to seduce a man for him, whatever it took. She was appalled that he wanted his pregnant wife to sleep with another man.

When he finally convinced my mother to return to him, he hit her and emotionally attacked her, she lost the baby. Eventually, she became pregnant again, with me, but his attacks and requests never deterred. She complied out of fear, until she couldn’t take any more. That’s when she tried to leave him. She tried to take me, but he prevented it. My mother got away, but he followed her, never giving up. Eventually she realized the only way that she would be free was death. So she killed herself.

I cried myself to sleep that night, thinking over everything that my aunt had told me.

Luckily there was a midwife in the small village and I was able to give birth in my aunt’s home, without going anywhere near a hospital. I had also been lucky that there were no complications with me or with my son. He was beautiful and my heart broke at the thought of my father finding me with him. I knew that he would take him from me and manipulate him as he had done with me. So my tears were of joy, but also fear, fear for my son, Cole.

Once he was three months old, I knew that I needed to move on. My father would still be looking for us. I was surer now, after my aunt’s story of my mother. At three months old my son had auburn hair, which I was sure was an Iverson trait, and my blue eyes. His hair was not the exact color of Lilli’s children, but I could see the Iverson features appearing on his face as he grew. However, my features remained quite dominant themselves, my nose and face shape.

We traveled to Switzerland and Norway, spending a month in each place. Then we moved on to Japan. In such a mass population in Japan, I knew that I could probably hide really well. We lived here for two months.

It was at the end of this time that I decided that I would write to Lilli. I needed her to know everything and to understand what happened, even if she hated me for it, she would know that Aidan was not to blame. So, I wrote the letter. Telling her about how I had fallen into my father’s lifestyle and how I had originally gone along with my father’s plan. Then I wanted her to know how much she meant to me and how she helped me to see that I could be a better person, m than my father ever allowed me to think.

I wanted her to know everything, about my father, my mother, and about my son. After apologizing profusely for all of the pain and heartache that I had brought to her, I promised to never bother her again. In the end, only Lilli knew me better than anyone ever had. To keep from being tracked, I mailed the sealed letter to my aunt and asked her to forward the letter from Germany for me as I traveled to a new location.

I also decided to arrange for some things to be sent out to Liam and to their family lawyer, to make sure my father couldn’t get his hands on their family company. My future goal was to collect criminal evidence against my father and expose him. I knew that it was a long shot, especially with me running every month. However, I wanted for him to be locked away for the rest of his life. Though, deep down, I knew that Cole and I would still not be safe.

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