"The worst thing about being lied to is knowing that you weren't worth the truth." -Unknown
***
Lesley's P.O.V
He frowns as he scans me.
"I'm not sure if you're Cinderella or her step mother."
My dress is dirty at the hem showing my bare feet and I'm pretty sure my mascara is smeared. He scoots aside as he lets me in.
"Thank you for letting me stay over, Spence."
"What happened to you?" He says as he closes the door. I walk in and sit on that ugly orange couch of his.
"I need to lie down for a while." I'm not making eye contact and I'm barely blinking. Seconds later, he hands me a loose shirt of his and I thank him as I make my way to the bathroom.
I take off my dress and hop in the shower. I can see the dirt merging in the water as it cleans my bare feet. I let the water cover me whole as I let myself cry. I cry because those minutes I spent staring into my father's eyes were emotions ready to escape. And now they're flooding.
I turn the faucets off and step out, wrapping the towel around me as I grab tissues wiping away the smears. My hands reach to the wound on my shoulder and I stay staring at it for some while. A knock on the door catches me off guard.
"You okay in there?"
"Yeah," I wipe my face. "I'll be out in a second."
"You better not be playing with my cabinet pills."
I open it. "You can open a pharmacy with that."
"I don't think they're for medication use." He says over the door.
"If by medication you mean drugs, then it should work."
He laughs. "Do you want me to hook you up?"
I roll my eyes, ignoring him. Spencer's shirt reaches at my knees. It's off wearing any shirt other than Adam's. His used to reach above my knees. My phone kept vibrating the whole drive, so I turned it off, dashing away.
When I head out, I lie on the couch. After hearing the sounds of cabinets opening and closing, he comes with two cups, a bottle of whiskey and a blanket. He pours a bit for each as he hands me it. I sit up straight.
"Was it Adam?" He eyes me curiously.
I shake my head but then stop, realizing that he was the one who told me. I drink as I let the heat of the liquid slide down my throat.
"Breaking news..."' I take another sip. "Trenton Parker is alive."
"Who? Is that your cousin or so?"
"No, Spencer. That's my father."
His eyes widen as his jaw drops. It takes him a few seconds to recover. "How? Why?"
"He married his best friend, Maria. I mean I saw the damn ring blinking at me." I twist my ring in hand, feeling it tight. "And he has a son. Remember Max?"
He nods.
"Yeah, well. She was his mistress but he chose them instead of us. On top of knowing he's alive which I still can't crank into my head, he is fucking married."
I gulp all at once and cough in return. Spencer pours me more.
"Did you just like what, I don't know, run into him?"
"He's living right under our noses this whole time. Literally. And I ran into him once but I thought it was my conscious deceiving me because I couldn't find him later. But no, that was true. I'm not crazy. Am I?" I start laughing as I shake my head.
He arches an eyebrow. "If you don't know how to hold your liquor, I'm going to start considering that."
I finish the cup. He pours another.
"See," I gesture to my cup. "You're good at bartending after all."
He rolls his eyes. "Adam was the one who told you, wasn't he?"
"Yes. Yes, he did. He hid it for some time. Riley was the one who told him."
"Riley, Riley?"
"Riley," I confirm.
"And after that he still got the decency to look me in the eye and ask me to marry him."
Goosebumps erupt and I run my hand along my arm. "Who does that?"
He looks away, staring at his cup. "Someone who's afraid of losing you."
I gulp down and lick my lips, feeling them turning numb. "And Maria shot me."
"Maria, Maria?"
"Maria."
"Jesus." He rubs his head as he finishes his drink. He pours again.
"So basically, just trying to organize the series of unfortunate events."He gives me a look and I roll my eyes. "Riley came to you about his sister. Maria was there and shot you. Riley found out who Maria is. He told Adam. Adam hid it for two months. He tells you now and you find out your father is alive and you have a step-brother."
I cross my legs and adjust myself on the couch. "Something doesn't add up though."
His eyebrows frown. "What do you mean?"
"I kept repeating those series of unfortunate events," I quote him. "But I always stop at why Maria shot me."
"She didn't want you to find out." He offers.
"Yeah, but if that, her intention was to kill me. She missed."
"Bad aimer?" He arches an eyebrow.
"No. Why do you think my father was best friends with her? She was an athlete and archery was her sport."
He takes a second to let it all in. "She doesn't miss."
"And that got me thinking. What if she was forced to shoot me?"
"Blackmail?"
I nod.
"But by who?"
I smile. Not because I'm happy of what's going own. But because I finally figured out the dangling clue.
"Lucian."
"Come again." He shakes me off.
"Think of it. He got something on her. Probably that she's married to my supposed to be dead father."
"No," he cuts me off. "That doesn't make sense. She knew you'd find out eventually. I mean, Riley did see her."
"Then what did he blackmail her with?" I ask.
"We better find out. Because if Lucian was the one who forced her, this will help the trial. We'll get her to testify."
"What makes you think she'll do that?" I frown.
"Because we will offer her an agreement to reduce her sentence if she does. Both ways if she picks our side or his, her "secret" will be exposed by either of us."
I arch an eyebrow, impressed.
He shrugs. "I learned a thing or two from my uncle."
"She can lie. We need to find evidence. And if you noticed we barely even have evidence against Lucian."
"If she lies, the truth will come out eventually. And she'd be accused of perjury. I mean, she's losing both ways we just need to offer her a way out."
"What would that make me?" I gulp down and place the cup aside. "I help put Lucian behind bars for Adam and Maria for my father."
I cover my face. "I'm a horrible person." Hot tears threaten to leave.
"None of these people cared enough about you to consider their consequences. They brought this on themselves."
I wipe my tear away. "And I'm speeding up the equation."
"No." He cuts me off. "You're simplifying it."
I sigh.
When will this nightmare end?
Our attention jerks to his phone beeping. After he reads the text, his face falls. "Speaking of the trial, it's been pushed. It's after two days."