ONCE DIVORCED, TWICE MARRIED.

The Truth In The Storm

The storm raged long after Don left, but the silence he dragged behind him lingered even louder. Katrina stood frozen, staring at the shards of glass across the floor. Her reflection splintered a dozen ways, watched her with the same question echoing through her skull:

What truth was he talking about?

What does Mum know?

A cold shiver crawled up her spine. Her mother had secrets, every family did but this wasn’t the cold kind of secret passed quietly over years. No. Whatever Don hinted at felt sharp, urgent, and terrifyingly close to everything she had buried.

Her heartbeat thudded painfully. She grabbed her bag, shoved papers aside, and stormed toward the office exit. She needed answers now. The elevator button glowed under her trembling finger. As it descended, her pulse raced faster.

The doors slid open.

Emily stood inside.

Her friend’s eyes widened instantly. “Kat? God.....you look like you just fought the devil.”

“Something like that,” Katrina muttered.

Emily stepped out and took her arm. “What happened?”

Katrina pulled away, not harshly, but enough for Emily to notice. “I need to get home.”

“To check on your mum?”

Katrina froze.

Emily’s voice softened. “She called me. She said you were upset.”

Anger stirred beneath Katrina’s ribs. “Emily….what aren’t you telling me?”

Emily blinked, startled. “What? I don’t....”

“Don said I should ask my mother,” Katrina interrupted, her voice low and uneven. “About what I lost. About…” She swallowed hard. “About him.”

Emily’s shoulders tensed, just for a moment. But Katrina, sensitive to every tremor now, caught it.

“Kat,” Emily murmured, “maybe you should calm down first. You’re shaking.”

“Answer me,” Katrina whispered sharply. “Do YOU know something?”

Emily hesitated too long.

A c***k spread across Katrina’s composure. “Emily,” she said again, voice shaking, “tell me the truth.”

Before Emily could speak, the elevator doors slid shut with a metallic thud.

Katrina didn’t wait. She pushed past her, storming toward the underground parking lot. Emily called after her, but her voice was drowned beneath the roar of the rain.

Katrina drove through Silvergate with the storm chasing her tail lights. Every raindrop sounded like a warning beating against her windshield. She replayed Don’s words, searching for meaning in them.

Ask your mother.

Her fingers tightened on the steering wheel.

When she finally reached her mother’s townhouse, the house felt too quiet. Too still.

“Mum!” Katrina called, slamming the door behind her.

Her mother appeared in the hallway, heart-shaped face tight with anxiety. “Katrina? What on earth”

“What did you do?” Katrina whispered.

Her mother froze.

Katrina stepped forward, rain dripping from her coat, eyes blazing with accusation. “Don implied you know something. Something I lost. Something he caused. Why would he say that? What have you told him?”

Her mother’s face drained of all color.

“Katrina,” she said faintly, “please, calm down.”

“Don’t tell me to calm down!” Katrina shouted, voice splintering. “Tell me what he meant!”

Her mother’s lips trembled. “I....I didn’t tell him anything.”

“Then why did he say it?”

A long moment passed. Her mother looked away, shoulders collapsing inward like an old building folding into itself.

“I told him about the night you left,” she whispered. “About how broken you were. About how you….lost something that night.”

Katrina’s heart stopped.

Lost something.

Her breath grew shallow. Her mother’s gaze darted to her stomach to the memory of who she used to be.

“You were pregnant, weren’t you?” Her mother’s voice cracked. “I knew it. I saw the signs. The doctor’s appointment. The way you held your stomach. And then you lost it.” She covered her mouth. “I told Don he had no right to break you like that.”

Katrina staggered back as if slapped.

“You told him THAT?” she whispered.

Her mother nodded, tears streaming. “He deserved to know what he caused.”

“But I didn’t lose it,” Katrina said in a broken whisper. “Mum….I didn’t lose it.”

Her mother froze.

Katrina wiped at her eyes with shaking hands. “I carried them full term. I had the twins. Don’s twins.”

Her mother’s knees buckled. She gripped the wall to keep upright. “What?”

“I hid them,” Katrina confessed. “I hid my pregnancy. I hid the birth. I hid my sons.”

“Katrina…” her mother whispered, horrified, “why?”

“Because I couldn’t raise children in that marriage!” Katrina cried. “Because I couldn’t trust Don with anything. Because he destroyed me. Because I was terrified!”

Her mother sobbed. “My God….oh my God.”

Katrina sank to her knees, sobbing into her palms. Her mother knelt beside her, pulling her into her arms.

For a moment, they cried together.

But the relief lasted only seconds before Katrina remembered something worse.

Emily’s hesitation.

The way she froze when Katrina asked if she knew something.

Her mother gently cupped her face. “Kat….who else knows?”

Katrina’s blood ran cold.

She whispered one name.

“…Brock.”

Her mother stiffened. “Katrina….tell me the truth. Does Brock have something on you?”

Katrina nodded, tears spilling again.

“He knows,” she whispered. “He knows about the twins.”

Her mother gasped. “No…”

“I don’t know how,” Katrina said weakly, “but he does.”

Her mother trembled violently. “Then you are not safe.”

Katrina swallowed. “I know.”

“And the kids?”

“They’re safe with Emily,” Katrina cut in.

Her mother’s face twisted. “Emily? You trust her with your children?”

Katrina froze. “Why wouldn’t I?”

Her mother’s voice shook.

“Katrina…Emily visited me two days ago.”

“What?”

“She asked about your pregnancy, what happened that night, why you left Don, whether you lost something.” Her mother swallowed. “She asked about symptoms. Hospital visits. Medical files.”

Katrina’s veins iced.

“And then she left,” her mother whispered, “before I could ask her why she needed that information.”

Katrina felt sick.

“Emily,” she said hoarsely. “Emily knows something.”

Her mother grabbed her shoulders. “Katrina, listen to me, Emily is NOT your friend. She’s been jealous of you since school. She only ever cared about Don. If she knows about the twins”

A sharp sound cut through the air.

Katrina’s phone buzzing.

She snatched it from her bag.

it was Kevin.

"Kat, you need to come home right now. Please. It’s urgent."

Her breath caught. “Kevin?”

Her mother whispered, “What’s wrong?”

Katrina’s fingers shook as she typed back.

" Is it the boys? Are they safe?"

Three dots appeared.

Then....

Kevin replied. "just get here. Now."

Her heart nearly stopped.

Without another word, Katrina sprinted for the door.

Her mother chased after her. “Katrina!”

“I’m going to my kids!” she shouted.

“What about Don?”

Katrina paused at the threshold, breath heavy, rain roaring outside.

A truth hit her violently.

Don had warned her about Brock.

Don had warned her about traps.

Don had said he would protect her.

And now,

Her sons were in danger.

Something deep, primal, fierce rose in her chest.

She whispered, “Call him.”

Her mother blinked. “Don?”

“Yes,” Katrina trembled. “Call Don. Tell him something’s wrong. Tell him I need him.”

Her mother nodded and grabbed the house phone.

Katrina raced out into the storm.

The rain felt colder now like it knew something catastrophic was unfolding.

Katrina sped through the highway, her lungs tight, her pulse erratic.

Kevin’s building came into view, a tall glass complex illuminated by sharp white lights.

She parked recklessly and ran toward the entrance.

The lobby door swung open before she reached it.

Kevin stood there.

But the look on his face…

Katrina’s stomach dropped.

“Kevin,” she whispered, “where are my sons?”

His jaw clenched. Rain streaked his cheeks. His fists were shaking.

“Katrina…” Kevin breathed, “they’re safe. But”

“What happened?” she cried.

He swallowed hard.

“I think Emily knows.”

Katrina staggered back. “What?”

Kevin stepped closer, voice low, urgent. “She showed up before I called you. She kept asking strange questions. About the boys. About their birth. She watched them like she was studying them.”

Katrina’s heart battered against her ribs.

“And then?” she whispered.

Kevin hesitated.

“I don’t think she came to see the boys,” he finally said. “I think she came to confirm something about you.”

Katrina felt the floor tilt beneath her.

Emily.

Her friend.

Her betrayer.

She whispered, almost inaudible, “She knows…”

Kevin gently touched her arm. “Katrina….Emily is not safe to be around your sons. Or you.”

Thunder cracked above them.

Kevin added, “And Brock is moving. Whatever he’s planning…you need help.”

Katrina’s throat tightened. “Don.”

Kevin nodded. “I figured. I called him too.”

She blinked. “You what?”

“He deserves to know,” Kevin said. “He’s their father.”

Katrina’s chest tightened. “Kevin”

Before she could finish, the elevator dinged behind them.

Both turned.

Don stepped out.

Rain-soaked.

Eyes blazing.

Breathing hard like he’d run here.

His gaze found Katrina instantly.

Then it slid to Kevin.

Then...

“Katrina,” he breathed, voice raw, “where are our sons?”

The world stilled.

Katrina felt something inside her c***k open fear, guilt, anger, love all colliding at once.

She whispered, “They’re safe. For now.”

Don closed the distance between them in three strides.

“Tell me everything,” he said. “Now.”

And for the first time in years,

Katrina didn’t push him away.

She let him in.

Because tonight, the storm wasn’t outside.

It was here in the heart of Silvergate.

Gathering.

Rising.

Warning them both:

The truth was coming.

And nothing would ever be the same again.