John is my father, we're sisters Julie

We were still in Mexico, as Jordan hadn't yet recovered to make the border crossing.

We couldn't travel by plane because we didn't want to leave any traces, we needed to be as discreet as possible about coming here. If anything came to my father's attention, he might suspect something and the whole thing would fall apart, and we'd need a new plan, and we didn't have time for that. After all, we were racing against time. Imagining what John could have put into the head of Drew, a two-year-old child, was frightening and distressing. My son would grow up thinking that I never loved him, that I had rejected him and moved on without him. Drew was my life, my faith and my pot of hope when all seemed lost. He was the one who brought reality when I believed Jordan had been killed, my son was my salvation and I can't lose him to the man who almost destroyed me, who almost wiped out everyone I loved.

After eating my breakfast, I walked around the garden looking at the beautiful flowers Ben was growing and noticed the number of security guards there. It was a real wall, and no one would have the courage to breach it. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, but quickly turned my head and defended myself when someone approached me. I looked at the person holding my fist, and smiled when I saw Bella, but it wasn't over. She spun around and ducked under my arm, elbowing me in the ribs, but I didn't let up. I ducked and swung my legs down to her feet, knocking her to the ground. But with a leap, my friend got up and attacked me, throwing blows in my direction while I dodged her, when one of her hands hit the corner of my mouth, causing it to hurt. I touched the wound and then looked at her. With an impulse, I threw her to the ground, standing over her body, and just as I was about to hit her, she hit the ground.

"You won," she said breathlessly, "You need to learn to play, Julie," she said, and I got up off her, helping her to her feet.

"You know I don't mess around when it comes to a good fight," she says breathlessly, and we laugh.

"I really missed you. Things happened so suddenly and when I heard about it, I couldn't let you down," she says and holds my hands tear "You're my partner, and I needed to see you." She looks away and when she looks again, her eyes tear up.

"What happened, Bella? You can tell me anything you want." I touched her cheek and she shook her head.

"Come on," she leads me to a bench in the garden "I have some things to tell you and I know it will sound crazy when I hear them, but," she takes a deep breath, "I've been away for a long time, I mean the last few months, because I discovered something very important. When I found out, I needed proof and to know the whole truth. It was a big shock for me and you were there. I needed to tell you at some point." Bella was making me anxious and scared with those words because, whatever it was, I knew I had my father in the middle of it.

"Bella, is my father involved in this?" I ask quietly, and she nods and takes a deep breath.

"When I came home, my parents were estranged from each other, my father wouldn't even look at me and I didn't know why. In fact, I came to believe that because he had sent me to that place, he felt ashamed," she says. Gradually he drifted away, and I felt bad. He and my mother divorced, and I didn't see him for a year until, a few months ago, I ran into him in a restaurant," she smiled sideways. "My father built a new family and when I questioned him about abandoning me, he looked me in the eye and hugged me asking for forgiveness, and then he told me the truth, the most painful truth." she cries then squeezes my hand.

"Isabella, what happened?" I insisted once again, feeling my heartbeat increase rapidly.

"You're the best part of this story, even if it hurts," she bited her lips. "John is my father, we're sisters Julie." I opened my mouth in shock, I felt my body tremble at the news. My eyes watered, and I simply didn't know what to do. Bella was looking at me asking for support, for me to understand, but I didn't know how to react.

I stood up abruptly and turned away from her, putting my hand to my head and pacing back and forth. I was possessed, I was angry, hurt and... happy. I looked at Bella and smiled sincerely, she stood up and hugged me tightly and that's when I knew, that's when I remembered why I had identified with her so quickly, why I had felt such a strong bond with Bella and had made her my friend and partner. That girl was my sister, she was someone who had also been a victim of John, who had marks on her, just as she had on me.

"Tell me everything, tell me what your father revealed to you," I say to the brunette I'm still hugging, and she nods.

"When I met my father in that restaurant, with his new family, he asked me to forgive him for moving away and disappearing, that I wasn't to blame for anything," she sighed at "He told me that my mother had an affair with John while he was traveling to Dubai at his father's request, and so it was a whole month in that place. When he came back, he didn't find anything strange, everything was normal and a month later my mother found out she was pregnant. My father said that it was all so natural for him, that it was the best news of his whole life," she says "But when I got into trouble because of my relationship, he sent me to that damn place because of John, he instructed him to put me there, because my boyfriend was a thug and he gathered evidence to incriminate him and Dad followed his advice in the end." she says, and I'm surprised, because it reminded me of what John used to say about Jordan.

"Is that when he found out about your paternity?" I asked.

"Yes, when he left me with Valentina and returned home, he caught my mother in a situation with John, and that made him suspicious. That's when he started looking for clues, just like I did when I found out. My father bugged our house with microcamers and went on a trip. He was away for a few months and my mother didn't even mind," she laughed sheepishly. "And it was during this time that my father heard and saw everything, even the intimate moments between John and Margaret, my sweet, lying mother." Bella said sheepishly.

I look at her and see how disappointed she is with everything, with her mother and her father. Her mother for lying and deceiving them for all that time, and her father, the man who raised her, for leaving her alone when it was her right to know the truth too. I stroked her cheek and pressed our foreheads together. Bella needed me, she needed her sister and I would be there for her forever, just as I know she would be there for me. It could be painful to know certain things, but knowing that Isabella was my sister, that she had my blood and was on my side, made all the difference in my life and, at that moment, I didn't want to know anything other than enjoy our lost time.