“ The only son and only grandson of a family with their status and power they're going to make sure he marries the right woman, that is what people like them do they want the perfect daughter-in-law and I was far from it I grew up in a middle class home , single parent it was shortly after the Christmas vacation that's when I understood why Collin could never be seen with me . One day he was walking me home when a car pulled up out of nowhere. I realised something was wrong that day because when he saw that woman get out of that car he was scared it was his mother. That woman is truly evil for the things she did to me. I can't even say it . she grabbed him and put him in the car while looking at me but not saying anything to me , a few days later I was heading back from the library when that same car pulled up next to me the same woman came out and another and she walked up to me ask me who I thought I was if I thought I was good enough for him that I didn't even deserve to be a maid their house she slapped me that day not once not twice but until she felt satisfied ,they beat me that day without an ounce of remorse or guilt and left me on the sidewalk. She told me to stay away from him so I made up my mind I was going to stay away from him but Collin didn't agree to that , he wouldn't”.
“ He was the first guy I ever fell in love with and I was his because they had moved from Connecticut down to Texas so his father could take care of the business and I was the first girl that he ever actually got a chance to be with because they never allowed him, they always had someone watching him. I didn't go to school for 2 weeks so the bruise could heal. one night I was home alone when he came he wanted to know what happened why I hadn't been to school why I had been refusing to answer his calls and I told him I told him exactly what happened we decided to run away that was his decision he knew they would never allow us to be together I knew it also I knew that the only way he could be with me was if we ran away but I didn't want him to do that, I tried to talk him out of it but he wouldn't listen ”.
“ It was early February one night when I was home alone when he came. When he came he had a backpack with him and he told me "let's run away, He couldn't be without me anymore he doesn't want to be in that family so I said okay and we left. We were already eighteen. We were basically adults so no one thought anything. We took a bus, it took us about four days and we headed to Pennsylvania”.
“Colin and I stayed in Pennsylvania for 3 months we both got jobs ,we had a small apartment , after work we usually stayed home we rarely went out , we just wanted to be together , it was a few days after his 19th birthday I had made a cake for him we were sitting watching TV I remember it clearly it was a Saturday night we both had time off from work were eating that birthday cake that we had left and we were watching a show. We heard a knock at the door and usually friends from the cafe would come over. I didn't think anything of it. When I got up to open that door, that's when the destruction started, that's the night I thought that I would die , That was the night we went our separate ways”.
I looked at her she had tears in her eyes
“ What happened mom ?”
“ The minute the door was open she grabbed me by the throat, his mother and she slammed me into the wall , she didn't come alone she came with body guards and she came with her mother-in-law she instructed them the hold collin down make sure he doesn't move she hit me, there was blood coming from my head and my face she took a knife and cut my face she kept warning me she kept saying I warned you didn't I warned you to stay away from him but no. you'll die right here. I don't know how Collin Got loose but he threatened her. I could barely see my eyes were starting to swell but I saw him holding a knife to his chest and he told her if she touched me again she would plunge the knife into his heart. I guess he knew her and knew she wouldn't believe because I saw the blood starting to stain his shirt . That's when she stopped hitting me. He told her to leave and wait for him downstairs. He'll go with her on one condition that she leaves me alone forever. He'll do whatever she wants, go wherever she wants but she'll never touch me ever again as long as he's alive. I guess that's what she wanted because the minute they walked out he came over to me and held me ,he started crying ”.
My heart was breaking from my mother. She went through all of this. Why didn't I ever know why didn't she ever tell me? Now I understand what meant when she said to me that if Dominic really loves me He'll respect me and his parents will respect me.
“He just held on to me and cried he told me that I was going to be okay ,he told me he was going to send Sharon up from the cafe to get me to the hospital he said he's going to pay Sharon to take care of me ,he told me to stay right there not to leave that he'll be back he promised that he would be back and if it's one thing about collin he never breaks his promise anyway after he left Sharon came and she took me to the hospital it was then I found out that I was pregnant”
“What?”
“ Yes , I found out I was pregnant. I didn't know what to do. I stayed that way for 2 months until one evening someone came knocking. I was terrified to answer the door so Sharon went to answer the door. I peeped around and there was a guy standing there in a black suit the minute he saw me he walked in he asked me how I was doing that collin sent him.I told him I was fine so he told me that the Colin wanted to see me but he can't come all the way here he can't come back to Pennsylvania they're watching that he came to take me to meet him. I didn't trust him, he just looked at me and he said to me I know you don't trust me but the last time Colin tried to leave to visit you they caught him and they locked him in his room for 2 weeks . So Sharon and I went with him that was the first time I met Cyrus and I would keep meeting him for the next five years ,after we got into his car we drove for maybe 8 hours when he pulled up to log cabin the minute the car pulled up I saw him I didn't think at that moment I just ran out I just held onto him and cried. I told him I was pregnant but I didn't expect him to say what he said , he told me that all the while he was back home that he had saved enough money we'll run away disappear for good ,get our names changed they won't ever find us again but I couldn't do that , they would never let us be together so I told him no.”
“He understood that they would never allow us to be together. His family would never stop until he's back home where they can control him. I told him that it was better this way. He should continue his life and do what his family wants him to do but he was worried about me. I told him I would be fine. He accepted my decision. That night He gave me 1 million dollars and he told me to leave Pennsylvania and go somewhere far away . I can take care of our child he told me he knew if he asked me to wait for him that I would wait but knowing his family it will never be possible so he told me when I find someone that I want to be with I should make sure that man is a good man that would be able to be a good father to our child and when I'm sure of it that he wants to meet that man that was how I ended up in Florida. I was working at a cafe. I was 8 months pregnant when I met Paul.He was amazing, the rarest of them all. I told Paul everything and the first thing he said to me was he wanted to meet Collin so I said okay. Cyrus had given me his number and I called Cyrus and I told him it was about Two weeks later , it was well into the morning around 2:00 when someone was knocking at our door Paul and I we had gotten married when Paul opened the door Cyrus was standing there that was when I saw him again he asked me if I told Paul everything I told him yes he told Paul in order to keep me and our child safe that he would have to give away his parental rights because if his family ever found out about our child they will stop at nothing, they will make sure that we were both dead and he said he couldn't live with that . He could live knowing that I was with someone that would take care of me and his child and treat us right he wouldn't be able to live with the fact knowing that his family were the ones for our death so he'd signed over his parental rights he would he said he would meet Paul after our child was born and do it. He asked for one of two conditions, one to keep him updated about our child for the first 10 years of his or her life but he never wanted to know our child's name. He said even knowing our child's name would be too dangerous . After I gave birth , Paul would meet him occasionally once every 3 months. I don't know where I don't know how . I never asked Paul about his meetings with Collin and he never told me it wasn't until Paul died when Cryus showed up that I found out some things. Your college fund was from Paul and collin they agreed to do that together put money into your college fund”.
I looked at her
“ wait wait, wait, you're telling me dad wasn't my real dad ?”.