"My mother?" I chuckled, giving him a doubtful look. "I sincerely doubt that, Dad. Weren't you the one always cheating on her? You could barely keep your dick in your pants at dinner parties we had at home."
"Trust me," Dad muttered as he buttoned his blazer. There were traces of blood on his sleeves, and I cringed inwardly seeing them. I'd put those there. And if I was being honest with myself... I didn't regret it one bit. Dad had some pain due to him after everything he'd put me through. "You don't know much about your heritage, do you, Devlin?"
"What's there to know?" I shrugged. "You married Mom. Cheated on her. Got divorced. The end."
"There's more to it than that." He shot daggers at me with his eyes before going on. "I'll tell you everything on the ride. Come on, we have to go."
We got into my car together, and as the driver pulled away from my father's house, Dad sighed heavily, his eyes trained on the passing landscape.
"Winter... your mother..." He shook his head, a hint of shame in his quiet words. "She found out about my involvement with Brynne. And... I'm going to be honest with you now, Devlin, because I respect you. But please don't lose your head."
"What is it?"
"Well, Brynne and I didn't exactly... stop seeing each other after she married Hugo." He swallowed thickly as I gave him an incredulous look.
"What? You saw Violet's mother behind her father's back? No wonder Cabot hates you. Hates us."
"We saw each other in secret - more than once," he went on, his voice breaking over the words. "I'm not proud of it, but I loved her. I couldn't say no to her. I wanted her in my life, and if it meant her cheating on Cabot, I was willing to go along with it - as long as I didn't lose her."
"But I thought Violet's parents were happy together," I muttered.
"Never." My father's reply was instant, terse. "Cabot was always busy with work. It wasn't the life Brynne had dreamed of, and it sure as hell wasn't the life she deserved."
"Is that why mother hates Violet?"
"There's more to it than that," Dad muttered.
"Then tell me the rest of it. There's no time to lose."
"The Sloanes - your mother's family - and the Davenports, Violet's mother's family, were always bitter rivals. Did you know Violet's father was engaged to your mother's sister?"
I furrowed my brows, shaking my head. All of our family histories were intertwined. There was so much history left to uncover.
"He called off the engagement, for Brynne - Violet's mother. And your mother, Winter, was the one who had to comfort and console her sister. Back then, she swore she'd have revenge on the Cabots for what Hugo did to her sister."
"What about the two of you?" I asked. "Did she find out about your affair with Brynne?"
Dad stared out of the tinted car window, his jaw setting. "It's what ended our marriage, Devlin."
"How come I never knew any of this?" I knitted my brows together. "Nobody ever told me."
"Brynne's death changed everything," my father sighed. "I thought your mother's hatred had faded - that her lust for vengeance had been sated when Brynne died. I thought I was the only one holding a grudge - against Hugo, Violet's father, because he took the love of my life away from me."
"Seems like she made that decision herself," I muttered, my eyes meeting my father's. It was the first time I saw genuine pain in his eyes, realizing this was still a sore topic for him. I shut up pretty quickly after that, waiting for him to go on and tell me the rest of the story.
"Either way, I was wrong," my father muttered after a moment's pause. "Your mother was far from over it. She never let go of her hatred. In fact, it seemed as if it festered, grew bigger over time. And because Violet is Brynne's daughter... Well, unfortunately, your mother's anger extends all the way to the girl you chose to love."
His words rang in my ears and I watched the landscape changing as we kept on driving.
Had I chosen Violet? Or had it always meant to be this way, the two of together - against all odds, and against our families? What never happened for Brynne and my father was happening to me and Violet now. And I owed it to everyone to see the relationship through. To save Violet from my mother's wrath.
We spent the rest of the ride quietly pondering our families' history. I was quiet, thoughtful, my mind circling around the possibility of seeing Violet again, holding her in my arms. I was eager to have her back, to show her how much I'd missed her, to treat her the way she deserved and craved to be treated.