Chapter 3
1547 Words
Willow woke up slowly.
Her head felt like it was being hammered, every thought hurt, every memory hurt more.
She blinked several times before recognizing her room.
The familiar walls, wardrobe, curtains.
Her gaze shifted. Tamara was sitting quietly beside the bed.
Her chair pulled close, waiting.
The moment their eyes met, Tamara smiled.
A small smile.
Careful and almost casual.
As if the world hadn't exploded a few hours ago.
As if Willow's entire identity hadn't been ripped apart in front of people.
The smile instantly disgusted her.
"Leave me alone."
Her voice came out soft and weak.
But the hatred behind it was loud enough, Tamara's smile faded.
Still, she remained seated.
Calm as always and that calmness, Willow hated it.
The woman could sit in the middle of a burning house and look mildly inconvenienced.
"You’re an adult now," Tamara said quietly. "And I hope if you're ever in my position, you make better decisions."
Willow laughed. A bitter laugh.
Before she could stop herself, tears filled her eyes.
"Why today?"
Tamara said nothing.
"Why does everything have to happen today?"
Her voice cracked now.
"Every single time something good happens to me, one of you ruins it, You and Dad separated on my eighteenth birthday."
Her breathing became shaky.
"You destroyed that party too, I should've expected this one too."
Willow shook her head.
A hollow smile appeared on her face.
"It's normal for you two."
The words dripped with disappointment.
"It's so easy for both of you to ruin things."
She looked away.
"Now I get it, those looks you gave other men weren't just looks, you meant everything."
A tear rolled down her cheek.
"He's not my father."
The words sounded strange even now.
Like they belonged to someone else, not her.
"I hate it here."
Willow pushed herself upright.
Immediately regretting it.
The room spun.
Her legs weakened.
She collapsed back onto the mattress.
Tamara instinctively reached forward.
"Careful…"
"Don't touch me!" The scream shocked even Willow.
Using what little strength remained, she shoved her mother's hand away.
The room fell silent.
Neither woman spoke.
Willow noticed her bag beside the wardrobe.
Still packed. Just like she had brought it before her life ended.
She reached for it, struggling to stand.
"I'll come back for the rest of my things tomorrow."
Her voice was flat and emotionless.
"I’m leaving."
"Don't leave." Tamara finally stood. "We can talk."
Willow laughed. A dry, exhausted sound.
"Talk?"
"Yes."
"Okay."
She sat back down.
Mostly because her body wasn't cooperating anymore, partly because she genuinely wanted answers, and partly because she had nowhere else to go.
Not tonight, Not in this state also not with darkness covering the city outside.
"Fine."
She folded her arms.
"Tell me something reasonable."
To her surprise, Tamara smiled. A small relieved smile.
"I'm glad you're reconsidering."
The smile irritated Willow immediately.
Of course she was calm.
Everyone else was on fire. But Tamara was having tea in that fire, as usual.
Willow had always envied that about her.
And hated it at the same time.
"I promise," Tamara began softly, "I never wanted any of this to affect you."
Willow stared at her.
Disgust written all over her face.
"You never thought paternity fraud would affect the child involved?"
Tamara sighed.
"You wouldn't understand right now."
Willow's eyes widened.
"Excuse me?"
"You're emotional." The answer somehow made everything worse.
Willow laughed in disbelief.
"Emotional?"
"Yes."
"Good."
She leaned forward.
Her heart started beating faster.
The question she'd been avoiding finally surfaced.
"Who is he?"
Tamara blinked. For the first time all night, she looked slightly caught off guard.
"My biological father, who is he?"
The room became quiet.
Even the air seemed gone.
"Who is he?" She repeated.
Tamara looked away.
"That's not something we need to discuss right now."
Willow stood.
This time she stayed standing.
Barely, but she stayed standing.
"I'm leaving."
"Willow…"
"No." Her voice was firm.
"Does he know?"
Tamara frowned.
"Who?"
"My father."
"Alfredo?"
Willow rolled her eyes.
"Don't do that."
"What?"
"You know exactly what I mean."
The anger returned instantly.
"Does my legal father know who my biological father is?"
Tamara hesitated.
That hesitation told Willow everything.
"No." The answer came quietly.
"Of course not." Willow nodded.
Then pointed toward the door.
"Tell me who he is, then I might reconsider staying."
Tamara stared at her daughter.
She knew that expression.
The stubborn one. Willow never made empty threats.
Never.
If she walked out tonight, there was a very real chance she wouldn't come back.
Not for weeks. Maybe years.
Tamara couldn't risk it.
Slowly, she exhaled.
Then nodded.
"Fine."
Willow's heart started racing.
The answer was finally coming.
Years of lies, secrets, and deception.
All leading to this moment.
Tamara looked directly at her.
And said two words.
"Your uncle."
Willow blinked. Her brain refused to process it.
"What?"
"Your uncle."
"No." Willow almost screamed
But Tamara remained calm.
"No."
Willow shook her head.
A nervous laugh escaped her.
"You're lying."
"I'm not."
Willow's stomach dropped.
The room tilted again.
"Uncle Tommy?"
Tamara lowered her eyes. And that was enough confirmation.
The blood drained from Willow's face.
Uncle Tommy. Her father's brother.
The man who carried her on his shoulders when she was little.
The man she bought birthday gifts for on his birthday and retirement from the military.
The man who sat beside her at family dinners.
The man she called Uncle her entire life.
Her mother had slept with him.
Not a stranger, not a coworker, not some random affair.
But her husband's brother, his biological brother.
The realization hit harder than the DNA results.
Harder than Alfredo's accusations.
Harder than everything.
Willow slowly sat back down.
For the first time since waking up, she had no motive to say anything.
Because somehow… Everything had just become worse.
.
The bedroom door flew open so violently that it slammed against the wall.
Both women jumped.
Alfredo stood in the doorway.
For a moment, nobody spoke or moved.
His eyes were bloodshot.
Not from alcohol this time but from crying.
The drunken haze was gone. He was completely sober.
And somehow, that was far more terrifying.
His face was wet with tears that refused to stop falling.
The kind of tears that came from a wound too deep to heal.
Tamara stood immediately. Fear flashed across her face.
Alfredo had been listening.
He had heard everything.
Every word, every confession, every secret she had let out of the bag.
Willow noticed something else.
One of his arms was hidden behind his back.
Alfredo simply stood there.
Breathing heavily, sobbing quietly.
His chest rising and falling.
Then slowly…
He brought his hidden hand forward.
A pistol.
Tamara went pale.
"What are you doing?" Her voice cracked. "Keep that thing away. Our daughter is here."
Willow's stomach twisted.
The way Tamara said it, the immediate reaction showed this wasn't new.
This wasn't the first time a gun had entered their argument.
It was only the first time Willow had been present to witness it.
Alfredo laughed. A broken sound, like an injured Coyote.
The sound of a man falling apart in real time.
"Our daughter?" His voice trembled. "No."
A tear slid down his cheek.
"That's your daughter."
Another tear followed.
"I don't have a daughter."
The words hit Willow harder than she expected.
Harder than the DNA test. Harder than Uncle Tommy.
Because this wasn't drunken nonsense anymore.
This was deliberate.
Conscious.
He meant every word.
"Fredo…"
"No." His voice exploded. "No!"
Tamara flinched.
The gun remained in his hand.
His grip tightening.
"Sit down."
Tamara pointed toward a chair.
"We can talk about this."
"No."
"Put the gun away."
"No."
"Put it away now!"
For the first time, Tamara's composure cracked.
The command came out almost as a scream.
Alfredo ignored her.
Willow remained where she was.
Still. Her vision was blurred by tears.
But she listened.
She listened because somewhere deep inside, she knew this moment would change everything.
"This is how you've spoken to me for years."
Alfredo laughed bitterly.
"Like I'm a child."
The pistol slowly rose.
His hand shaking.
His breathing uneven.
"You order me around."
The barrel pointed toward Willow.
Her heart skipped.
Yet strangely...
She didn't move.
Didn't scream. Didn't run.
She simply stared.
Emotion had exhausted itself.
There was nothing left.
The barrel shifted.
Slowly.
Moving away from Willow.
Toward Tamara.
"You lie to me."
Alfredo's voice broke.
"You betray me."
Tamara stood frozen.
"You make me raise another man's child."
The gun trembled violently now.
Almost as much as the hand holding it.
"And then you tell me how to feel?"
The room seemed to shrink.
Willow could hear her own pulse.
Could hear Alfredo crying.
Could hear Tamara trying not to.
Then…
BANG!
The sound exploded through the room.
So loud.
So impossibly loud.
Willow's ears rang instantly.
For a second she couldn't hear anything else.
Only the ringing.
Only the shock.
Then…
THUD.
A heavy body hitting the floor.
The sound echoed through the room.
And suddenly everything became silent.
Terribly silent.
The smell of gunpowder drifted through the air.
And somewhere in the ringing silence that followed, they all realized that nothing would ever be the same again.
- Writer
