Chapter 4 - The Weight of the Truth
The apartment was incredibly small.
There was a tiny living room that doubled as a dining area, and a single bedroom down a short hallway.
Despite the cramped space, it was immaculately clean.
Children's drawings were taped neatly to the old refrigerator.
Leo sat on the rug, making his plastic dinosaur attack a stack of wooden blocks.
I couldn't take my eyes off him.
My son. I had a son.
"Would you like water?" Camilla asked, interrupting my thoughts.
"No, thank you," I said, sitting awkwardly on the edge of a worn-out sofa.
She sat across from me on a folding chair, keeping a watchful eye on Leo.
"If you didn't know," Camilla started slowly, "then why did you look so guilty at the airport?"
"I was just shocked to see you. And... seeing you in that uniform. I felt terrible."
Camilla crossed her arms.
"I wasn't always cleaning floors, Lucas."
"I know. You were a brilliant accountant. What happened?"
Camilla looked away, a shadow passing over her face.
"Your mother happened."
I leaned forward, my stomach clenching. "What did she do?"
"When I refused her bribe to disappear, she didn't just let it go," Camilla explained.
"She called the firm I worked for. She happens to be very good friends with the senior partners."
I felt sick.
"She got you fired?"
"She told them I was trying to extort the family. They let me go the next day citing 'moral character issues'."
"Oh my god," I buried my face in my hands.
"It gets worse," Camilla continued, her voice devoid of self-pity, only stating facts.
"I tried to get hired at other firms, but I was blacklisted. I was pregnant, running out of savings, and couldn't get a professional job anywhere in Miami."
"Why didn't you call me in Canada? Send an email? Anything!" I pleaded.
"I tried," she said quietly. "But my emails bounced back. And when I called the new number I had for you, a woman answered."
I froze.
"Charlotte," I whispered.
"She told me you were happy. She told me to stop harassing you or she would file a restraining order."
Rage, hotter and darker than anything I had ever felt, flared inside me.
Charlotte hadn't just 'believed my mother'.
She had actively guarded the gate. She had helped keep my son away from me.
"I didn't know," I repeated, the words feeling horribly inadequate.
Leo suddenly stood up and waddled over to me.
He held out the plastic dinosaur.
"T-Rex," he announced proudly.
I reached out with trembling hands and gently took the toy.
"It's very scary, Leo," I smiled, fighting back tears.
He giggled, a bright, musical sound that broke my heart into a million pieces.
Camilla watched us, her tough exterior finally cracking. A single tear rolled down her cheek.
"He asks about his dad sometimes," she whispered.
"What do you tell him?"
"I tell him his dad lives far away, but that he's a good man."
I looked up at her, utterly broken by her grace.
After everything my family did to her, she hadn't poisoned him against me.
"I want to be here, Camilla. I want to be his father. If you'll let me."
Camilla wiped her face.
"It's not that simple, Lucas. You have a fiancé. You have a family that hates me."
May you like
I stood up, placing the dinosaur back in Leo's hands.
"I don't have a fiancé anymore," I said firmly. "And as of today, I don't have a mother, either."
