I Still Hate You by Marie Skye (top 100 novels .txt) 📕

“Morning, did I wake you?”

I stared and blinked a few times before remembering I had a voice. “No. No, you didn’t…” I paused. “I wasn’t expecting you. Or even know you knew where I lived.”

“I didn’t, I had to ask around.” I nodded at his answer, both of us just standing there. “May I come in?”

“Yes, of course.” I stepped back and that’s when Ash came out, practically wearing a suit, including a tie. How the hell did he get dressed so fast? He grabbed his phone and walked toward us. I motioned to Ash. “This is my roommate, Ash. Ash, this is my... well this is my moth…” I paused since I never could call her that. “I mean this is—”

Before I could think of something, Gerald did. “Gerald Lexington, Perrie’s stepfather.” My eyes widened at his introduction. He’s never referred to himself as that before. He held his hand out, which Ash shook. The three of us stood there not really saying anything.

“I have a few meetings to attend to, so I’ll see you later. It was great meeting you, Mr. Lexington.”

“Pleasure,” Gerald responded back.

I didn’t want Ash to leave. I needed an anchor and he would have been it. I motioned to the couch and he sat promptly, the awkwardness just brewing around us. Truth is, I have never been alone in a room with Gerald before. I made us both a cup of coffee, doing my best not to show my nervousness.

“I won’t take up much of your time. I know you’re very busy, and I know you don’t owe us a damn thing. But you are owed an explanation, if you’ll allow me to give that to you.” I wanted to lash out, tell him how I was owed an explanation over ten years ago when I showed up on their doorstep practically an orphan. I was owed an explanation when I was kicked out, and more importantly, I was owed an explanation on why a mother abandoned her five-year-old daughter. A five-year-old that did nothing but look up to her and wanted to be like her. But I didn’t say any of that, instead, I simply nodded my head and waited for him to continue.

“Jacqueline is a wonderful woman that I love very much. I know you don’t believe nor understand but she does indeed love you, too.” I snickered at that statement but he ignored it. “Jacqueline and I met when she was ten years old. I was twenty.” I knew there was an age gap between the two of them but I had no idea it was that great. “It was decided by our families that her and I would marry.”

I sputtered out my coffee. “She was a child!”

He held his hand up to stop me. “I know, which is why the idea was absolutely preposterous not to mention absurd that the request was even made.” He paused as he narrowed his eyes and leaned forward. “Do not look at me like that, I’m not a fucking child molester.” I wiped the shocked look off of my face before he continued. “I met her once when I was twenty, then again when I was thirty-five. That’s when we married.”

“You mean that’s when she left me,” I corrected him.

“Have you ever met your grandparents, Perrie? Your mother’s family, anyone on that side?”

Of course, I have... haven’t I? I searched my memory, and even though it had been so long, I couldn’t ever remember meeting my mother’s parents. I think maybe I thought they had passed.

“You haven’t, have you?” I looked up as Gerald interrupted my thoughts. “Would you like me to be blunt or do you want me to sugarcoat the answer as to why?” I remained quiet but lifted my chin slightly to let him know what I expected. He leaned forward and poured some cream into his coffee. I watched as he stirred it but didn’t take a sip. He leaned back as if he had to search his memory. “How did they put it exactly? Ahh yes, They didn’t want their lineage tarnished with the blood from a line of wetbacks. Their exact words they said often to Jacqueline. They were racist assholes that tried subjecting Jacqueline to their behavior.” I gasped as I looked up at him, my eyes already welling with tears but I didn’t dare say anything. I wanted him to continue. I needed him too. “She defied her family long before you were born, and the fact that she was in love with someone that didn’t ‘look’ like them didn’t make hers and your father’s relationship spectacular with them being racist and all. Their love made it dangerous, not only for Jacqueline but for your father as well. They hated your father, which means they hated you.

“For five years, which was five years too long, Jacqueline’s family threatened to report your father’s family to immigration. When she came to me seeking help, I was engaged to be married. I told Jacqueline that I wouldn’t be caught up in whatever family shit she had going on. She stood in front of me, practically pleading on her knees, to help her, to help you. Again, I told her no, but we both knew I would. Otherwise, I would have to live with myself knowing I could have prevented your fate and didn’t. She left you because she had to. She left you to protect you. Our marriage was based on politics not love, but it grew. The political justification grew to like, and that like grew to respect, and that respect grew to love, which brought us, Hailey.” He smiled to himself briefly, no doubt remembering the daughter they have. The daughter they had.

“She became more detached after Hailey passed. But I assure you, she does love you. She was just prevented from showing you in order to keep you alive. Her family is very powerful, and