Chapter 115 A Tired Version
The room went so quiet that Lenora could hear the grandfather clock ticking in the hallway.
Her mother stood in the doorway, one hand still gripping the frame as if she needed something solid to hold on to.
For the first time in years, she didn’t look polished and untouchable.
She looked tired.
The kind of tired that settled into your bones and never fully left.
Lenora kept the blue file pressed against her chest.
“Start talking.”
Her mother closed the door behind her and stepped into the study.
The hockey boy stayed beside Lenora, his hand resting lightly at the small of her back. He wasn’t trying to take over the moment. He was just there, steady and impossible to ignore.
Lenora’s mother glanced at him.
“I suppose you deserve to hear this too.”
He nodded once.
“If it affects Lenora, I’m staying.”
Something about his calm certainty made Lenora’s chest tighten.
Her mother noticed it too, but she said nothing.
Instead, she looked at the file in Lenora’s hands and let out a slow breath.
“I was nineteen when I met his father.”
The hockey boy stiffened almost imperceptibly.
Lenora’s mother moved farther into the room and sat on the edge of the sofa.
“He was charming, older, and very good at making promises he never intended to keep.”
Her grandmother looked away but didn’t interrupt.
“I knew he was married,” her mother continued. “I also knew I was young enough to believe he would leave.”
Lenora sank into the chair again.
Every sentence felt like a missing piece dropping into place.
“I loved him,” her mother said quietly. “At least I thought I did.”
The hockey boy’s expression tightened.
“My father told my mother he was working late half the time.”
His voice held no anger, only a flat disbelief that made Lenora want to reach for him.
She did.
Their fingers intertwined.
Her mother gave them a brief look before continuing.
“When I found out I was pregnant, I thought it would force him to choose. Instead, he panicked.”
Lenora held up the letter.
“So he sent this.”
Her mother nodded.
“He offered money and told me to disappear.”
Lilibeth muttered something under her breath that sounded deeply unflattering.
Kylen folded his arms and leaned against the doorframe, unusually quiet.
Lenora’s mother gave a sad smile.
“Your father and I had broken up months before. We were young and stubborn. When I told him I was pregnant and there was a chance the baby wasn’t his, I expected him to walk away.”
Lenora swallowed hard.
“But he didn’t.”
“No.”
A softness entered her mother’s voice.
“He said he didn’t care. He loved me, and if I wanted him there, he was staying.”
Lenora blinked rapidly.
Her father knew there was uncertainty.
He stayed anyway.
He loved her before he knew if she was biologically his.
The thought hit her so hard she had to press her lips together.
Her mother continued, “We did the DNA test after you were born. When the results came back, your father was your biological father.”
The hockey boy exhaled, the tension easing from his shoulders.
Lenora let out a shaky laugh.
“So all of this started over a child who was never his.”
Her mother nodded.
“And your grandmother wanted the scandal buried.”
The older woman lifted her chin.
“I wanted my daughter protected.”
“You wanted control,” her mother corrected.
The words landed sharply.
For the first time, Lenora saw her grandmother’s composed mask slip.
“I watched you throw your life away over a man who treated you like an inconvenience,” the older woman said. “Forgive me for wanting to prevent the entire city from knowing.”
Her mother stood.
“I lost enough without your help.”
The air between them crackled with years of resentment.
Lenora looked from one to the other.
“So what happened after the DNA test?”
Her mother sat back down slowly.
“I thought that would be the end of it.”
She gave a humorless smile.
“I underestimated how badly some people wanted to rewrite the story.”
The hockey boy frowned.
“My father?”
Her mother nodded.
“He couldn’t accept that he had almost destroyed his marriage and reputation for nothing.”
Lenora frowned.
“What do you mean?”
Her mother met her eyes.
“He started telling people your father falsified the test.”
Silence.
Kylen swore softly.
Lilibeth stared.
“You’re kidding.”
“I wish I were,” Lenora’s mother said.
“Your father wanted to sue him. Your grandmother wanted to fight him in the press. In the end, we chose to walk away.”
Her grandmother spoke quietly.
“Not everyone walked away.”
Lenora turned.
“What does that mean?”
The older woman hesitated, and for once, she looked her age.
“His wife knew more than he realized.”
The hockey boy’s face tightened.
“My mother.”
“Yes.”
The grandmother folded her hands.
“She confronted me years later. She said she didn’t care what the DNA report said. She believed your mother ruined her family.”
Lenora’s mother closed her eyes briefly.
“She never forgave me.”
The hockey boy shook his head.
“My mother never mentioned any of this.”
“She probably thought burying it was the same as surviving it,” Lenora’s mother said.
Lenora thought of the anonymous texts, the old video, the rumors that had exploded at school.
“Someone is digging all of this up now.”
Her grandmother nodded slowly.
“And they know enough to be dangerous.”
Kylen pushed away from the doorway.
“So who had access to the file?”
“Very few people,” the grandmother said.
“Me. Camille. Your father. And one other person.”
Lenora’s pulse quickened.
“Who?”
Before her grandmother could answer, a voice came from the hall.
“I did.”
Everyone turned.
Pamela stood in the doorway.
Her usually perfect hair was windswept. Her eyes were red, but her spine was straight.
Lilibeth blinked.
“Okay, wow. We are really collecting secrets tonight.”
Pamela ignored her.
She looked directly at Lenora.
“I sent the messages.”
Lenora rose slowly.
“You?”
Pamela nodded.
“I was the one who kept the video. I was the one who told you about the file.”
Lenora stared at her.
“Why?”
Pamela stepped into the room.
“Because I’m tired.”
Her gaze flicked to Lenora’s mother and then to the hockey boy.
“My mother spent years pretending none of this happened. My father spent years pretending he wasn’t the villain. And everyone expected me to protect the family name.”
The hockey boy went still.
Pamela’s eyes softened slightly when she looked at him.
“I love my brother. But he deserved to know the truth just as much as Lenora did.”
Lenora’s mind raced.
Pamela had been behind it all.
The warnings. The clues. The push toward the blue file.
Not to destroy her.
To force the truth into the open.
Pamela looked back at Lenora.
“I know I handled it badly.”
Lilibeth snorted.
“That is one way to put it.”
Pamela almost smiled.
“Probably.”
Lenora tightened her grip on the file.
“Were you trying to help me or punish them?”
Pamela considered the question.
“Both.”
No one spoke for a moment.
Then Lenora did something that surprised even herself.
She crossed the room and hugged her.
Pamela stiffened in shock.
Then, slowly, she hugged her back.
“I hated you for a while,” Lenora admitted.
Pamela let out a watery laugh.
“Honestly, fair.”
When they pulled apart, the room felt lighter somehow.
Not fixed.
But honest.
For the first time.
The hockey boy stepped forward and wrapped an arm around Lenora’s waist.
His touch was grounding.
Real.
A reminder that whatever came next, she wouldn’t face it alone.
Her grandmother looked at the gathered group and exhaled.
“So. I assume no one is sleeping tonight.”
Kylen straightened.
“Absolutely not.”
Lilibeth grinned.
“Are you kidding? This is better than any show on television.”
Lenora laughed for the first time in hours.
Then she looked up at the hockey boy.
He brushed a strand of hair behind her ear.
“You okay?”
She leaned into him.
“Ask me tomorrow.”
He smiled softly.
“Then I’ll be here tomorrow.”
And for once, she believed him completely.