Leaving Sadie’s side didn’t sit well, but I had to do it for the sake of my daughters and our future. The sooner I took action, the better. It’s been four days since the big news that my fiancée is in the hospital broke the internet. I spoke with Alicia’s parents about their current situation. They had no idea that I didn’t know where my daughters were. Alicia told them they had permission from me since I was out of town.

After a long conversation with my lawyer, he suggested I file for full custody of my daughters, though I can’t do much until I get a court date. However, since we have a family emergency, they will stay with their grandparents in the interim. The hearing to establish permanent custody isn’t until next month. If Alicia doesn’t come back by then, I’ll have less trouble convincing the judge that their mother isn’t fit to care for them.

“You can’t make me do this,” Tess insists as we drive to the therapist’s office.

“This isn’t torture.” I hold on to the wheel, counting by twos to keep my anger down.

“I have my own therapist.”

“We can go there. Give me his name.”

“Mom has it.”

“You don’t know the name of your therapist?”

“It’s Smith or something like that.”

“What’s the first name?” I touch the screen on the dashboard and find the phone app.

“This is stupid.”

“Tess, you’re lying to me—again.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I would if you’d tell me what’s going on.”

“Why would you care?”

“I care, and I need you to understand that just because I love Sadie doesn’t mean I ever stopped loving you.”

“You’re only doing this because you’re going back to her and abandoning us.”

“Tess—”

“She’s dead you know.”

“Sadie isn’t dead. She’s in a coma.” I gasp, coming to a complete stop at the red light.

“Potayto, potato. If you’ve read the news, you’d know that her brain is dead. She’s never going to wake up. This is pointless.”

“Where did you get that?”

“Mom told me.”

“When?” I drum the wheel as I wait for the green light.

“When she called to tell me that you’re going to force us to come with you to therapy, but that I should be strong. You’re not convincing me to change my mind. I won’t accept her. Never. Nor that kid. He’s not my brother.”

“He’s our brother,” Hannah who is in the back seat, finally speaks. “You have to stop it. I think once was enough.”

“Shut up, Hannah. You have a loose mouth.”

“You know that what you did was wrong. I can’t keep lying to them.” Hannah crosses her arms. “Sadie is in the hospital. And it might be your fault.”

“You can blame me for that, but I forbid you to blame me for what happened to them.”

I want to stop this discussion, but I have a feeling that these two will spill the lies once they begin to fight.

“Dad would’ve been somewhere with Sadie on their honeymoon. She would be safe.” Hannah starts crying, and I’m confused as hell.

I remain silent, though. Watchful. This is like watching two trains that are about to collide, and no one can stop them, yet I can’t move my gaze away. I pull the car over, parking in the first spot I find.

“Or if Dad wasn’t stubborn, we all could’ve been in Europe, as a family. Like Mom planned. But you didn’t help me convince him. That’s why she left us and went on the trip by herself.”

“You’re not blaming me for that again,” Hannah raises her voice. “She left us because she’s selfish.”

My poor daughter couldn’t be more right.

“That’s the only thing she asked from us, and you said no. They need to fall back in love like they did when they were young. High school sweethearts who danced during prom as the King and Queen.”

What the hell is she talking about?

“Wait, you’re still hung up on me getting back together with your mother?”

“Mom says it’s the only thing that’s going to make her happy.” Hannah exhales, dropping her head on the backrest.

“You love her,” Tess insists. “Mom has told us the story. How you only had eyes for her and married her when you two were young and couldn’t wait to have babies.”

“That’s the story she gave you?”

I close my eyes because I want to kill Alicia for putting so much nonsense into our daughter’s heads.

“Look, sweetheart, I love you.”

“Oh, boy. That’s the beginning of you’re not going to like what I’m about to say,” Hannah sasses me.

“Hannah,” I chide her, giving her a stern glare.

“Yeah, shut it.”

Hannah snaps her lips.

“I adore the two of you.” I inhale before breaking the crazy fairy tale. “It doesn’t matter what happened with your mother. Know that I’ve loved you from the moment I held you in my arms.”

“Oh, please. This is so dramatic,” Tess grunts. “What are you going to tell us? That you barely spoke to each other in high school?”

“I met her at a concert. She was a groupie.” I skip the part where she slept with some of the roadies too. “One thing led to another, and she was pregnant. As soon as I found out she was expecting you, I married her because of you. Not for her. I need you to understand that the only reason I’ve been with your mother is because I adore the two of you. I respect her because she’s your mother, but that’s all the affection I have for her. Our marriage didn’t work out because we didn’t love each other. Now that I’m older, I know that I could’ve done the right thing for you without getting involved with her. But that’s not the point.”

“She says—”

I lift my hand to stop Tess.

“Believe me when I tell you that there’s no lost love from her side either.”

The bitch hates me.

“No matter what you try, your mother and I will never get back together.”

“But that can’t be true,” she protests. “You composed several songs for her.”

“That’s also a lie.”

“You’re wrong.”

“I’m sorry, Tess. I didn’t know she raised you with the notion that we were a perfect couple with the perfect love. Actually, love isn’t perfect. What makes it magical is the imperfections. Shit, if I had known …” I trail my voice and my gaze.

“But she says you’re the only one who can make her happy. That’s why I did everything, so you two could finally see that you were meant for each other.”

I twist my body and lean forward because her tone of voice feels like a cold bucket of water. “What did you do?”

“Nothing. Never mind.” She pretends to pick at a piece of lint on her jeans and turns her gaze toward the window.

“I mind. What did you do, Tess?”

“When I found out that Sadie was pregnant, I told Mom.”

“You knew about the baby?” I growl. “How?”

“Sadie was talking to the seamstress while they were adjusting the bridesmaids’ dresses. She asked if they could adjust the dress in case she gained weight. The lady asked if she was pregnant, and Sadie shrugged but didn’t deny it. Then she puked twice while we were at the spa, and one of the ladies gave her a tea that’s great for pregnant ladies and morning sickness.”

“You knew,” I mumbled. “What did your mother say?”

“Mom freaked out. She told me that we had to take drastic measures, or we’d lose you. That the plan of boycotting the wedding wouldn’t be enough because you always did the right thing.”

“You were going to boycott the wedding?” I stare at the kid next to me, not recognizing her.

When did she become so deceitful?

“I had to help Mom. But it was too late for the wedding. We had to do something radical. She made me take them. They were a lot, but she said the pills weren’t dangerous. That we’d get to the hospital in time to have my stomach pumped. She said she’d take care of the rest. That she’d explain it to you, and you’d break up with Sadie. That after what happened to your sister there was no way you’d continue with her.”

Anger boils inside my body. How dare she use my daughter like that? She could’ve killed her. And for what?

“She used Hannah,” I whisper, banging my head against the wheel.

“I didn’t do anything,” Hannah protests.

“I meant my sister, sweetie. Do you have any idea what that did to me, Tess?” I roar, unable to control myself.

“I wanted us to be a family again.”

“She set up everything to look like my sister’s suicide, Tess. The fear of losing you, combined with one of the darkest days of my life prevented me from seeing what was really going on with you—and her. I let her manipulate me. She’s been manipulating you, too.”

“I just wanted her to be happy.”

“A part of me died that day, Tess, and your mother might be happy only because she hurt me.”

“You say that because of Sadie.”

“No, almost losing you killed a part of me. I’ve been wracking my brain, blaming myself for what I could’ve done to save you from that moment. I keep reaching for you, and you ignore me. Do you think it’s been easy for me? I tried to talk to you about it, and you keep pushing me away.”

“Because I hate that I lied.” She sniffs but doesn’t let a tear drop from those watery eyes. “Mom forbid me to talk about it because she knew I wouldn’t be able to lie to you.”

“I have to ask…if Sadie, and I reconcile, are you going to do this again?”

“You’re going back to her?” Tess shrieks, agitated by my question.

And I’m back to the same place where I was six months ago. Or am I? This revelation changes everything. Yet, nothing can change while Sadie remains in a coma. I run a hand through my now short hair looking out the window. My future with Sadie doesn’t depend on me at all. There’s a long road ahead of us. After waking up, she has to recover and then … would she take me back after leaving her without glancing back?

“I simply don’t know.”

“Will you marry her because of the baby?”

“No. I’d marry her because I love her.” I exhale the words, closing my eyes for one second. “But that’s not what’s important. We are what matters right now. You lied to me, and I can tell you’re upset, but you won’t tell me exactly what’s on your mind. I think you need a different therapist.”

“You don’t understand.” Tess breaks down, crying hard. “Mom won’t let me, and if Sadie’s back …”

She opens the door, leaves the car and leans against it.

“What just happened?” I say astonished.

“Mom,” Hannah sighs. “She’s always yelling at us, telling us that we need to get you two back together, like the Parent Trap. She says she sacrificed everything for you and for us. That we’re useless.”

“She called you that?”

“Kind of, in other words.”

“How long has this been going on?”

My heart stops because I never saw this coming. I thought the girls were safe with her.

“A few years, maybe more for Tess. She didn’t say anything to me until I was older, but every time Sadie drove me home, Mom would be nasty with me.”

“Is that why you began to change with Sadie?”

“Yeah. I tried not to love her because one time I told mom that I wished she was a lot more like Sadie.” She twists her lips. “Mom…she wasn’t very nice about it. Things got complicated.”

“Is she treating you right?”

“She’s Mom,” she answers as if that explains it all.

“I have no idea what to do now.”

“Go back to Sadie and my baby brother. You were happy when you were with her.”

“For a twelve-year-old, you’re too opinionated, Hannah.”

“I liked you more when you were with Sadie.”

“Why?”

“Now you’re too sad to even care if we’re around you. By the way, Mom said she was going to take us away from you.”

“When?”

“Two days ago, when she called us about the therapist. She told Tess to do something drastic, or she wouldn’t see you again.”

“What does that mean?”

Alarms begin to sound inside my head, I couldn’t understand what would happen if I don’t prevent Tess from …

“Tess wouldn’t do anything,” she says, casually. “It scared her the first time.”

“Are you safe with your grandparents?”

“They’re okay.”

“If I could, I’d take you home, but I can’t be there.”

“Honestly, Dad, we’re fine.” She rises from her seat and kisses my cheek. “Sorry, Dad. I didn’t mean to lie to you.”

“Can you promise not to lie to me again? I understand your mother forced you, but I’m here for you, to listen to you.”

“I’m sorry, Dad,” Hannah apologizes.

I walk out of the car, take Tess in my arms, and let her cry for a long time. Sadie used to tell me that sometimes people need to release their sorrows before they can talk about them.

“Sorry,” Tess mumbles, after a long time. “I wanted Mom to be happy.”

“Tess, you need to trust me and talk to me about what’s going on with you. It’s hard for me to guess.”

“She’s going to be mad.”

“You shouldn’t be afraid of your mother. If anything, remember that you have me. I will make sure that she stops this nonsense. I promise.”