Chapter 9 - HELENA'S VERSION OF THE TRUTHGraham confronted Helena.
She was sitting in her living room when he arrived.
She didn't look surprised.
“I wondered when you would come.”
He placed the letter on the table.
“Why did Dad write this?”
Helena looked at it.
Then she laughed.
Not loudly.
Almost sadly.
“Your father was a weak man.”
“You lied to me.”
“I protected you.”
“From what?”
“From him.”
Graham's voice cracked.
“You told me he abandoned us.”
“He was going to leave.”
“For you?”
“For another woman.”
Graham froze.
Helena continued.
“You were seventeen. What was I supposed to tell you?”
“The truth.”
“The truth would have destroyed you.”
“No.”
He shook his head.
“You destroyed me.”
Helena's face hardened.
“You've always blamed me.”
“Because you never loved me.”
For the first time, Helena looked wounded.
But Graham didn't stop.
“You loved Corinne.”
“She needed me.”
“I needed you too.”
Silence.
Then Helena said something unexpected.
“I was afraid of you.”
Graham stared at her.
“What?”
“You reminded me of your father.”
She admitted that Graham's independence terrified her.
His questions.
His kindness.
His refusal to become cruel.
She had punished him because she feared he would leave like his father.
But there was one thing she still refused to explain.
Why had his father written that Helena had lied?
Helena looked at Graham.
“You don't want to know the rest.”
May you like
Graham stepped closer.
“I've spent my entire life not knowing.”
Related Stories
