Cruel Lies (Lies 4)

She stands up suddenly. “Did you ever figure out why you and Phoenix weren’t legally married?”

I shake my head.

“I don’t think she’s my cousin. I don’t think she’s my blood. I think you weren’t married because her last name isn’t actually Dunn, it’s Brown, same as Waylon. Same as Corbin. Same as Maxwell.”

I rack my brain, but her theory makes sense.

“What else?” I ask, knowing she has more.

“The letter I got; it said something crazy. Something I didn’t think was possible.”

“What?” I beg frantically.

“You were at the hospital the day Atlas was born.”

I nod. “I wish I had told you, and I could have held your hand when you went into surgery. I could have held you when you cried, but I was too angry with you. I was always furious with you because you never chose me.”

She frowns. “I was pregnant with triplets.”

My eyes widen.

“The day I gave birth to Atlas, I thought I lost the other two. That’s what the nurses said, but the letter I got from Corbin said differently. He said I had three kids, and he’d have all three soon enough. I thought he was bluffing, but now I’m not so sure. You didn’t take my kids and hide them away?”

I shake my head.

“You think all three survived?”

“Yes, and I think they have all three,” she says in disbelief.

“Who are the three?”

“Maxwell has Atlas, who we both already know is mine. Corbin has Declan, according to his letter. Waylon’s DNA proof all these years wasn’t proof of Atlas, it was proof of Declan, I just didn’t know it. And Phoenix has Rose.”

“This doesn’t make any sense, Rose is Phoenix’s and mine,” I say.

“Phoenix lied to you, Langston. She said she had your child, when really she had mine and wanted to keep you close to control us both. I think you’ve known for a long time. I suspected it when I got the letter, but I didn’t want to hurt you. I didn’t want to take away a biological kid from you because I know how that feels. But Atlas, Declan, and Rose are my kids. Somehow, they all survived.”

I collapse on the bed in shock, as I come to so many realizations at once.

Finally, I lift my head and look at Liesel. “And now they have them all.”