Chapter 6 I guess he….knew.

~Haven.

“What… what. …” I asked, my heart racing at an unhealthy pace.

My grip tightened around my phone, pressing it desperately against my face, trying to figure out what dad found it.

What he'd known.

He doesn't know, does he? That I'd slept with Walter…..

“Meet us at the hospital,” he said, his voice cold as ice.

Without a warning, he dropped the call.

I dropped the phone, my hands shivering.

One thing was sure. If dad ever found out, my plans to get Walter back….and stay where I belong would be completely shattered.

My heart thumped.

What if they'd told Walter? That the woman he'd slept with wasn't his wife?

What if he now sees me as nothing but a slut? A sly trying to take her sister's place.

“Fuck!” I screamed, slamming my hands against the kitchen counter.

“Hannah, is everything okay?” A thick voice asked, snatching me out of my thoughts.

I flinched and turned to check who was at the entrance.

Our eyes met, his curled brown hair rested gently on his face. He had an apron on, and a dusting brush on his hand.

A worker.

Hannah's worker.

But something felt off. The way he comfortably looked into my eyes and the way he kept saying . .

“Hannah, are you sure you're fine? Who were you with on the phone?” He asked further.

I remained silent. Confused.

What could have made a mere….cook so comfortable with Hannah. I was sure. Hannah wasn't the type to keep friends and even though she seemed all soft on the outside, she believed low lives were meant to remain beneath her.

He kept walking towards me, his hands untying his apron. “Won't you answer me?” He asked, finally reaching out to me.

I smacked his hands off. “What's this?” I asked, shooting him a glare, forcing him to immediately lower his head.

“I'm sorry ma'am. I got distracted a bit,” he answered. “I just….got too happy knowing that you're back home and since you decided not to show up the whole night, I decided to come to you myself this morning.”

“Come to me? As?” I spat.

“I'm sorry ma'am. Is there anything I can help with?” He requested, his voice shaky.

I immediately walked out of the kitchen, leaving his questions unanswered.

I rushed into Walter's room to put on my clothes, still bothered by what dad had said.

But somewhere in my mind remained the cook's reaction. It was too. ….. familiar.

But then, I shrugged it off.

I needed to head to the hospital and make sure dad hadn't ruin things.

…..

The door creaked open as I made my way into the ward.

On one side of the room, dad paced around, and on the other side was mom, clutching unto Hannah who had refused to stop crying.

“How dare you!” Hannah screamed the moment she landed her eyes on me.

I knew it. They found out.

I turned to look at dad. He halted for a while before finally letting out the words he'd been holding in. “You think we wouldn't know?” He asked, a scoff escaping his lips. “I'd always known you're irresponsible. But I never knew it had gotten to the point where you'd decided to…..”

I couldn't let him finish. “Decided to do what!” I seethed.

“I can't believe you still have the guts to speak, Haven…. After that you did to me,” Hannah's voice shook. She sounded weak.

Mom gently massaged her back, whispering to her to leave it all to dad.

I looked at them.

All of them…. Pathetic looking.

“I don't know how I ended up with you all,” I said, laughing. Not the one for a joke, but the one I tried to ease the tension in my life with.

Nothing made sense. “You throw someone else into the fire and cry because you're being burnt by the heat. I can't believe you're all acting as the victim when all of you! Every single one of you here are the ones who took Walter from me in the first place! So fuck it if I tried to take him back.

If anyone should be apologizing here it should be you!”

“You're such a thief, Haven,”Hannah sounded, almost whispering.

“You should focus on surviving, shouldn't you?”

Dad walked towards me, his palm met my face. Hard.

I gasped, clutching unto my face.

“You slut!” He roared. “What if Walter hadn't stopped you?” He asked.

What? Walter? Stopped me? From?

“You're acting all ignorant now, aren't you? I thought you wanted to stand up to the fact that you tried stealing you sister's husband? What if Walter hadn't called us?” He asked.

“I …don't understand,” I stuttered, my face still stung from the slap.

“The minute you walked into Walter's gate, he called us asking why you came over and I told him I was the one who sent you there. Only for him to call us this morning, saying he was sorry for sending you out of his house last night because you'd tried to seduce him into sleeping with you!”

Dad spoke and for a while, my head remained…. blank.

It didn't make sense.

Remembering clearly, the moment I walked into that house last night, Walter ran to me calling me Hannah.

If he'd called father that he'd seen me then. …. All the care, the kisses, the “I missed you” it was all an act.

Walter knew. He knew I wasn't his wife yet he slept with me.

I thought I'd fooled him but I was the one being tricked.

Walter ….he slept with me on purpose.

I stood there, in front of dad, silent.

Trying to figure out why Walter did it.

Or ….. has he always wanted me too? From the beginning?

What if…..I'm the one he's always loved?

What if he never loved Hannah.

What if he needed me? What if he had to hide his feelings?

What if?