Chapter 102 Deeper than that
“Wade was about a year older than me, but due to my skipping classes, I spent little time in the same class with him. However, he seemed to hate me from the moment he laid eyes on me, observing and knowing that I only had my dad by then," Roger began to recount.
"He had his mom, something I always desired, and he never ceased to rub it in my face until one day when I forced Molly to take me to the park against Dad’s will. There, I met Wade with his mother, again."
"I couldn’t let him rub it in my face, so I grabbed Molly’s hand and bragged that she was my mother but to be honest, I loved the feel of it, and it became a new beginning for Molly and me. She treated me like a son, and I tried to make her the happiest mother."
Karen sighed. “That’s sweet but not enough reason for you to hate Wade.”
“That’s because I haven't begun telling you the real story,” Roger recounted, his expression hardening slightly.
“Molly’s relationship with Dad was complicated. She was his first and vice versa, but Dad told me later that along the way, he had to leave Molly due to the evil heads in the family. They lost contact, and Molly got married to Wade’s father.”
“No, no, no, put a break on it,” Karen said, finding the information too hard to digest. “You mean your mom had a first marriage to another man?”
Merely seeing them, she assumed that their love was from childhood, but now, the punch was blinding.
“Exactly. She married Wade’s father, but he was cheating on her with her sister, Wade’s mom.”
It was too hard for Karen to not interrupt again. “Wait, you mean, Wade is your mother’s nephew? Delanie’s cousin?” She was already opening the door.
“I think we should go get her. What if they kiss? It would be incest,” Karen voiced her displeasure, regretting allowing Roger to leave the matter to rest, but Roger calmed her.
Pulling her back into the car, he spoke assuringly. “No, she found out later that her sister, Kiara, was adopted, so technically, Wade and us share no blood.”
“Ahhhh,” Karen sighed audibly. “Then don’t allow the feud of the parents to affect the children.”
Roger shook his head. “It’s deeper than that,” he pointed out, gaining Karen’s full attention once more.
“Kiara did not only steal Molly’s company but also her songs, causing her public humiliation to the extent of making her quit music. She and Molly’s ex-husband, Wesley, also orchestrated the death of Molly’s parents,” he revealed, Karen was lost for words as Roger continued to reveal.
“As such, my parents considered them too toxic to live, so they orchestrated an accident for them."
"Sounds fair,” Karen nodded, feeling the Dawsons vibe again. “People must pay for their crimes." But suddenly, she recalled something and asked,
"Wait a minute, so what happens to Wade?" She remembered him talking about his adoptive parents before.
"Well, Wade was poisoned by his grandparents, aunt, and uncle. He was sent to kill me and Molly when he was just six, but Molly took the stab for me in her hospital bed," Roger explained sadly. "Do you know another reason why I can’t give up on Lani?"
Karen shook her head, and he explained further. "Molly thought she was barren all her life until she fainted one day, which happened to be on the night of her wedding day.”
“When the doctor announced that she was pregnant, we were all elated, but Molly almost suffered a miscarriage during a stage performance."
"The doctor advised her to abort the child, but I was certain it was going to be a girl. I was longing for a baby sister and insisted that she keep the pregnancy, even if it meant that I had to stay with her at the hospital throughout."
"And she kept it?" Karen asked, touched.
"We later discovered they were twins, Delanie and Declan. Two lives would have been lost that day. It was during that time, that Wade attacked me at Molly’s ward and when she took the stab in her palms, I chased after Wade.”
“Trust me, Kitten, everything in me wanted to kill him that day, but dad stopped me when he found us."
"He suspected there was someone else behind it, and it turned out to be true. That day, we not only killed the fifteen gang members they brought along but also his grandparents, aunt, and uncle."
Now Roger’s fear and the main reason for him not wanting Delanie and Wade together was hitting home. Wade could still harbor resentment towards the Dawsons for taking so much from him.
"You are afraid he might hurt Delanie if he finds out she’s your sister?" Karen asked.
Roger nodded, but Karen went into deep thought. "Then I don’t think you should worry. Wade doesn’t hold that kind of resentment, from what he told me on the night of your birthday."
"What did he say?" Roger asked eagerly, and Karen tried to recall Wade’s exact words.
"He said his adoptive parents gave him a kickstart, and now he has clubs scattered all over. I think his adoptive parents changed him."
“Well, Dad found out that his first adopted parents died, and it took a while for another family to take him in. It’s a powerful mafia family based in Mexico."
As Karen pondered everything, only one thing came to mind. “Roger, can you let them try it out? I mean, you can’t shield her from love. It’s best for her to find her own footing in that world.”
Roger stiffened at Karen’s words. All his life, he vowed to protect and love Delanie, and now he felt like he was leaving her to the wolves.
As he was about to respond, his phone beeped, and it was Hector. ‘Roger, can I get the key to the small apartment you rented?’
Roger felt something odd, dialing his number. “Why do you want the keys to that apartment?”
Silence reigned at the end of the line before Hector finally confessed. “I don’t need it for myself. It’s for Delanie.”