ALISTAIR
"I was born into a broken family, raised by a single mother," she began, her voice quiet. "From what I've been told—mostly by Aunt Susan—my mom was still in college when she met a guy at a bar. They hit it off, got drunk, and ended up sleeping together. It was reckless... just a drunken mistake." Her fingers tightened slightly around mine.
"That mistake was me. Mom tried to find him afterward, but it was like he vanished off the face of the earth. No name, no number, nothing. Just gone." She took a breath, eyes cast downward.
"Even so, she decided to keep me. Her family didn't take it well—strict, religious, and obsessed with reputation. They saw what happened as shameful, an unforgivable stain on their image. So they disowned her. Kicked her out."Her voice wavered slightly,
