Five Years For A Lie

Before I even opened my eyes, Lucas had already blown out my birthday candles.

Where I came from, there was a saying that if someone else blew out one’s birthday candles, one was bound to have bad luck.

Lucas gave a slightly embarrassed smile, but there was a trace of malice in his eyes.

“Sorry, the flames looked a little too big. I was worried they might burn you. That won’t bring bad luck, right…”

It was a pretty lousy excuse. However, Xena and Riley rushed to reassure him.

“It’s okay, we know you didn’t mean it.”

“Exactly, it’s just a superstition. There’s no way you get bad luck that easily.”

I did not say anything, but I did not have to. My feelings did not matter.

After comforting Lucas, Xena finally cut the cake. Riley was happily enjoying the cake when he looked up and ordered me to get him a Coke from the kitchen.

Lucas stood up and followed me there. I was not going to pay him any attention, but he suddenly grabbed my hand.

“Does it make you happy to see your wife and son like me but hate you? Don’t tell me you still don’t know it was me and your wife who got you thrown in prison? You’re really pathetic. You've been fooled for over five years, and your own mother died from the stress we caused her.”

My breath hitched and my heart clenched painfully.

Lucas let out a quiet laugh. “When you were wrongfully accused, I was the one who told your mom to plead for help everywhere. I was the one who told her you had been beaten in prison. I told her you wouldn’t get out. In the end, I even said it was all me. That old lady died from anger.

“Tsk, tsk, when she died, we just scattered her ashes somewhere. The tombstone you see now? We put it up hastily when we found out you were about to be released.”

I could hear my breathing getting heavier. My head was buzzing like it was about to explode. I never expected Xena to allow Lucas to treat my mother that way.

My mother had treated Xena like her own daughter while she was alive. She had even given Xena a family heirloom bracelet!

The last shred of reason snapped in my mind. Even though I knew Lucas was trying to provoke me, I raised my fist and slammed it hard into him.

Lucas’ pupils dilated. He did not have time to dodge and stumbled backward. Pots and pans clattered all over the kitchen floor. After getting hit, blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.

I was not satisfied and rushed forward to hit him again, but Xena grabbed me fiercely. “You’re crazy! Why are you hitting someone for no reason?”

Riley rushed over as well. He kept hitting me over and over.

“Daddy, you're bad! I won’t let you bully Mr. Scott!”

Breathing heavily, I replied in a cold voice, “What do you think? Don’t you know better than anyone what he did?”

There was a flicker of panic in Xena’s eyes, but she quickly shouted at the top of her lungs, “You put yourself in prison! And now you want to blame Lucas for it?”

I scoffed. I had not even said anything yet.

At this moment, Lucas swayed and clutched his head. “Xena, my head hurts so much…”

She ignored me and immediately took him to the hospital. Riley did not hesitate to follow.

The room fell silent again.

I gathered myself and, clutching the strands of Riley's hair I had secretly collected in the bathroom, headed to the hospital for a DNA test. The paternity test results came back quickly.

Sure enough, Riley and I were not related. Even though I had already expected the result, my heart ached sharply and burned with anger. Everything I learned today had crushed me to the point where I could barely breathe.

Over the past five years, I had regarded someone else's child as my own.

I was about to leave the office with the results when I ran into Xena, who was there to get medicine for Lucas. She let out a cold sneer when she saw me.

“You know you were wrong now, so you’re here to apologize, right? Come with me first.”

I said nothing at first but then quietly spoke up. “No, I came to confirm something and to let you know that I’m filing for a divorce.”