Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 64406 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 322(@200wpm)___ 258(@250wpm)___ 215(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 64406 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 322(@200wpm)___ 258(@250wpm)___ 215(@300wpm)
So she did. “After the funeral, I was alone, and I couldn’t stop thinking about what my mother had told me. By then I was a reporter, and my desire to prove who my father was outweighed my mom’s wish for me to leave things alone. I started with one of those ancestry tests, just to see if it revealed anything. It came back, connecting me to…” She looked from Derek to Nikki. “Both of you.”
“Holy shit,” Asher muttered.
“I need to think,” Derek said, running an agitated hand through his hair.
Nikki blinked. “Wait, Derek. Remember that Christmas we bought each other one of those ancestry tests? We knew Mom would have a fit, so we sent them to your friend’s house and took them there?”
Derek nodded, and his furious expression eased a bit as memory lit his eyes. “Our mother wouldn’t want anything out in public or online that would call attention to our father, the senator, or impact his potential run for the White House.”
Yes, Winter knew all too well how badly Collette Bettencourt wanted to be First Lady and how far she’d go to make that happen.
“The test came back with the information we already knew about our ancestry, and I forgot all about it.” Nikki removed her hand from Asher’s grip and waved it in the air as she spoke, growing more excited as she recalled the connection to Winter’s story.
Derek leaned forward. “I checked off the boxes that would notify me if someone signed up who was related to us. But a couple of years later, my email was hacked, and I had to get rid of the account. I re-signed up for as many places as I could remember, but I forgot about the ancestry site.” He shook his head in wonder.
“But your names were listed,” Winter said.
Derek ran a hand through his hair and groaned. “And you found us. But I still want a DNA test as proof.”
“I figured you would.”
Derek’s demand wasn’t insulting. Winter wanted the same thing.
“I have a friend who’s a pediatrician,” he went on. “I’ll ask him to pull strings and get it rushed through the lab.”
She couldn’t expect to announce she was the illegitimate daughter of Senator Corbin Bettencourt, who represented NY State in the US Congress and hope to be immediately believed.
And she wasn’t finished with her story, either. “Umm, there’s more.” She figured she might as well air all her dirty laundry at once.
Derek placed his arms on his thighs and groaned. “Let’s hear it.”
She sighed because the story didn’t paint her mother in the best light, but they deserved to know. “As you already figured out, my mother and your father had an affair. It was after you were born, but before Nikki,” she said, looking at Derek. “Mom knew the senator was married. From what she told me, he never made any promises, and she didn’t ask for any. When she found out she was pregnant, she had every intention of raising me on her own. But your mother found out.”
Winter swallowed hard, deciding to leave out how Collette discovered her husband’s mistress was pregnant for another time. “She confronted my mother, swore her husband’s slut wouldn’t ruin their political aspirations, and paid her to have an abortion.”
Nikki gasped, but Winter forged on, needing to purge herself of the information and see what the siblings chose to do afterward.
“Obviously, my mother didn’t have the abortion but did keep the money. She moved from New York to a small town in Maine and raised me there. And that’s it in a nutshell.”
Silence settled over the room as everyone processed Winter’s words and she held her breath, worried about what Nikki and Derek would think of the mother Winter had loved.
What Winter found most interesting was that neither Nikki nor Derek questioned that their mother would do such a thing. Given the fact that Collette Bettencourt had belittled Nikki for not living up to her expectations while manipulating her daughter to do as she wanted, perhaps it wasn’t a shock.
Nikki had cut ties with her parents after they’d ignored her in public, humiliating and hurting her badly. It worried Winter that their father was capable of such cruel behavior, making her wonder if she wanted to get to know the man.
“Assuming your story is true, and I believe it probably is, what do you plan on doing with the information? The revelation could bring down a politician and create a massive scandal,” Derek said, his gaze on Winter’s.
“Which you and Nikki, especially Nikki, have had enough of.” Winter blew out a long breath. “I never had any intention of hurting either one of you. I just wanted to know my family because the truth is, I have none.”
She forced herself to meet Nikki’s gaze, only to see her half-sister’s eyes were glassy, and she stared at Winter as if trying to work through all she’d learned.