Chapters 27 - Evelyn Williams

***Analyzing and Confronting – Part 2***

“What? Isn't that Ayumi? It can't be true, then you'll be…”

“Sisters? Or some kind of relatives?” I say, and he takes the photo frames from my hands, looks at them, and then looks at me. “There's no resemblance, I know. But if there's someone who can answer, it's Dad.”

He holds my hand, and we go to the living room. As soon as we arrive, Paul goes to the kitchen, and I approach Dad, who is holding the phone with a wide smile on his face. He must be up to something. Mom and Dad have been separated for a while, and they've been honest with me all along. I approach him, and he tucks the phone into his suit pocket.

“Oh! Did he bring Grandma Amanda's photos?” He stands up, and I hand him the photo frames.

“I don't remember seeing these photos of Grandma at home, Dad.”

“These photos were stored in the trunk, my dear. Grandma always asked to handle them with care because they were precious, and I'm sure Celina must have taken them out to clean. I asked her because I want to display Grandma Amanda's photos around the house. I asked Marco to draw one of them and restore the other. Do you remember Marco?”

“Yes, Dad, your artist friend.”

“Yes, him. So I gave him the worn-out image, and he made this one for me, and it turned out beautiful.” He continues looking at the photos, and I know how much he misses her. Now I need to get to the bottom of this. I grab my phone, go to the gallery, and find two photos of Ayumi.

“Dad, take a look at this photo and tell me who it is.” I hand him the phone, and he looks at the photo.

“It's Grandma Amanda! Where did you get these photos? Was she wearing a wig here?” Before I can answer, he speaks again, looking closer at the photo. “Wait! I recognize this place.” He starts fiddling with the phone and then slumps on the couch, looking at me and then back at the phone, handing it to me. I look at the phone, and it shows the date when I took the photo.

“Yes, I took this photo months ago.”

“It can't be!” I sit beside him, holding his hands.

“Dad, Thom brought these photos because he says it's Aunt Ayumi, but he also says it's Grandma. She looks so much like Grandma Amanda, Dad, and everything indicates that she's a relative of ours or a sister we didn't know.” As I say this, Dad abruptly stands up, goes to the door, opens it, and leaves without saying a word.

“Dad!” I shout, running to the door and opening it, but he's already gone. I only hear the sound of tires screeching.

“What happened?” Paul appeared, speaking with his mouth full and holding a cookie jar.

I looked at him, not understanding anything. I really didn't know what had happened.

“He simply ran out of here and took my cellphone with the photo frames. When I went after him, he had already left, and from the sound of the tires, it was very fast.”

“Honey, calm down! He will come back, and when he does, we'll find out why he behaved like that.”

“Okay, he will come back.” I closed the door and walked over to Paul, who had sat down on the couch.

“Why are you eating that? Dinner is already ready!” I stopped in front of him, and he looked at me with wide eyes.

“Sorry, dear,” he said, getting up and covering the cookie jar. “I was just about to have dinner.” He quickly headed to the kitchen.

“I have two children at home!” I closed my eyes, sighing, and went to the kitchen.

•••••••• 🌺🦋🌺 ••••••••

“The doorbell rings, and I make my way towards the door. I couldn't eat, let alone stay still. My dad's reaction left me perplexed. I open the door and almost stumble backward. There they are, my mom and dad, holding hands!

“W-what?” I say as they enter the house. I close the door automatically and look at both of them as they sit together on the couch.

“Come, sit down, Evelyn. We need to talk,” my dad says. I walk towards the couch and sit next to Paul, who looks at the two of them with the same confusion as me.

“So, I know it's strange to see us like this, but…” my dad looks at my mom, who sighs and turns to face me.

“Your dad and I are in a relationship.”

“What?” I look at my mom with my mouth open and then at my dad, who has a big smile on his face.

“We were waiting for the right moment, but it never came,” my dad says.

“Since when? I mean…” Paul asks, seeing that I'm speechless.

“Since when have we been together? Oh, I'd say about four years.”

“What? Four years?” I shout, standing up. But Paul holds my arm, and I remember that Thom is sleeping. I sit back down, unable to believe what I'm hearing.

“We got back together when Thom was born, and we understood each other.”

“But why did you hide it? You know how much Evy and I tried to make you two get along,” Paul asks, and I know he's also sad about it.

“Wait! So you mean all the fights were fake?” I ask, not believing that I've been deceived all this time.

“Yes, we had to play our roles until we found the right moment to tell you,” my dad says, caressing my mom's face.

“I can't believe this. How could you deceive us like that?” I say, trying to hold back the tears.

“Calm down, daughter! You should be happy that we're together. You always wanted this,” my mom says, standing up and sitting next to me.

“Yes, but you deceived me.”

“Forgive us, daughter, but now we're here to deal with something serious. I promise we'll talk about it later.”

“Okay,” I sigh and compose myself.

“Here is your grandmother when she was younger, and she was an incredible woman! She always supported me in everything… well, almost everything,” my dad smiles nostalgically, looking at the picture frame.

“Why almost everything?” I stand up, sitting next to him.

“Sometimes, my daughter, it's best not to delve into the past. There are things that are better left alone.”

“Oh no, Dad! Now I'm going to be curious. You can't tell me this and not continue. No more secrets!”

“Daughter, not now!”

“Father, come on, don't leave me curious, speak up,” he puts his head against the back of the couch and looks at the ceiling.

“I'm not very proud of it, my daughter,” he sighs heavily. “Your grandmother never forgave me for betraying your mother,” I look at him in shock.

“You betrayed my mother?” I stand up, placing my hand on my hip, looking at him with closed eyes. It never crossed my mind that my father would ever do something like that. I look at my mother and see pain in her eyes.

“Twenty-seven years ago…” my attention returns to him. “I had an affair for almost three years with another woman,” he opens his eyes as he speaks, and I take a step back, unable to stay close to him.

“I can't believe the man you are, could betray my mother,” I started crying.

“Daughter!” he looks at me and tries to reach out to me, but I move away.

“How could you?”

“Let me explain, it's not that simple! Sit down and let me explain how things unfolded,” I look at him for a while but decide to let him explain. So I sit on the same couch next to Paul, who embraces me. I take a deep breath, squeezing my eyes tightly shut, and then I open them.

“Go on.”

“About twenty-five years ago, your mother and I were in the early stages of our marriage,” he lowers his head, almost seeming ashamed. “At that time, there was immense pressure to have a child soon after getting married, from both sides of the family. We had been married for almost two years, and your mother wasn't getting pregnant. The family pressures, including my own, strained our relationship. You know, we grew distant, constant fights between us. We couldn't spend more than five minutes in the same room, and my work trips only made things worse.”

“And that was a reason to cheat?”

“I know it's not! But things back then were different, Evelyn. I was pressured from all sides! I was tired, and during one of my business trips, I met a woman. It started as just talking, and she understood me, she empathized with me,” my mother sits beside my father, holding his hand.

“Daughter, there are certain things we have to go through in order to mature,” my mother speaks.

“Continue, Dad…” now that he started, I want to hear it through to the end.

“Eloise, that's her name, I said. She was the CEO of a major construction company. We had closed a contract with her. But she became a great friend at that time. My business trips started to get longer, my conversations with her became more intimate, and one thing led to another. I ended up spending more time with Eloise than with your mother. I even considered ending everything with your mother to be with Eloise. Not because I felt something overwhelming like I feel for your mother, but because of the way things were, you know? The way she supported me, encouraged me, while your mother didn't treat me well. It felt as if we were obliged to be together.”