Chapter 47

Wade

"He's not here." I hear my mother yelling from the hallway.

She thinks I'm not, but little does she know, I let myself in while she was entertaining someone in her bedroom. Poor fucking guy, she more than likely has plans to eat his heart for supper. Isn't that what crones do?

"His truck is here," Kali screams back at her. "Wade." She calls out for me like the foghorn of a lighthouse does a ship, her voice getting closer to my grandfather's office I'm sitting in.

"Get out of my house." My mother sounds frantic. "You can't be here."

Every door opens and bangs shut as she searches for me, Lola's voice joining in.

Why the hell is Lola here?

Annoyed with my phone, which has persistently been ringing and pinging away for the past twenty minutes, I put it on silent, ignoring each call and text as I've searched for the evidence confirming the identity of my father.

I'm guessing Marcus called Kali after I left his office, shitting himself that I would tell the world about his secret love child.

What he doesn't know is that I don't want anyone to know.

It's embarrassing knowing he didn't want me in his life. Not only that, but everyone will also think I only made the team because he felt guilty. Which is exactly what I think too and has me questioning my talent as a hockey player. It was given to me, not earned.

Was I ever good enough?

The nagging feeling in my mind struggles to comprehend it all.

"Wade." The office door flies open, and I already feel better as the love of my life stands in the doorway. "Thank God you're here." Kali gasps, running into the room.

My mother appears from behind her, and I bare my teeth. She makes me sick to my stomach.

Dressed in her silk robe, she looks panicked as she storms toward the desk I'm sitting behind with Lola hot on her heels.

Lola grabbing Kali's hand doesn't go unnoticed, and there's something not adding up that I can't quite put my finger on.

"What are you doing here, Wade?" my mother snaps.

"Currently working out exactly how much Marcus paid you to keep quiet about his bastard child." I pick up dozens of bank statements. "Quite a lot it would appear."

Her face turns ashen.

I point to the monthly transactions, running my finger down the list as I read them out. "Transfer from M E, ten thousand dollars. Transfer from M E, six thousand dollars. Transfer from M E, twenty thousand dollars. Oft, that was a big month. Two transactions the next month, transfer from M E, ten thousand dollars and another for five grand. Did you need a top up that month? Did that pay for the cruise around the Mediterranean or the month you spent in the Bahamas without me? Although spending it on a personality change or had you bought a soul with it would have been a much better investment. Or a heart," I say dryly. I can't work out whether I should laugh or cry. Or fucking punch something, which is what I feel like doing more than anything.

"Don't do this, please." She flicks her gaze over to Kali and Lola and back to me, then begs some more. "This is a private matter."

"Marcus is my father," I state, ignoring her, continuing to shuffle through the old bank statements, no longer giving a shit what she wants.

She's never cared about my feelings. Why should I care about hers now?

"M E. Stands for Marcus Edwards, right?"

"You were never supposed to find out." Her lips pucker as if she's annoyed.

"I see where the money came from to pay for all the extra hockey lessons for me now." My grandfather inherited this house, financially comfortable, yes, but he was a simple man and worked as a bank manager. When I was younger, I never could work out how she paid for everything and could afford not to work.

Now I know.

"Anything to keep me out of the house, I suppose," I say dryly. Long enough for Marcus to visit while I wasn't around. "You've never worked a day in your life. Although is lying on your back a career? I suppose it is."

She looks shocked at my outburst. It's been a long time coming and she deserves my anger. "Don't be so disgusting, Wade."

I ignore her. "I look just like him." It's so fucking obvious now.

Heavy footsteps race across the wooden flooring of the hall, Marcus appearing in the doorway looking like he's about to have a heart attack.

"Hey, Dad." I feign happiness. "I'm so glad you could join us. Better late than never. Although that was the plan, right? To never tell me I was your secret love child. You swore her to secrecy. Paid for her silence." I throw the bank statements toward him, letting them scatter everywhere. "Zane is my brother?" Mixed feelings surge through me as the truth I've been avoiding since I found out about Marcus flashes in my mind like a giant neon sign. I can't fucking deal with that now, so I box up my emotions to unpack later.

"I'm you're fucking what?" Zane storms into the office, naked aside from his boxers, his face instantly turning red in anger.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Marcus and I ask his son at the time while Kali and Lola watch on in horror.

My life is unraveling before me.

I look at my mom. With her head in her hands, I get the memo.

"Father and son. Wow. You're a piece of work. Did you get a cab ride here so no one would know you're fucking your father's mistress?"

Zane's eyes flit around the room as if he's unpicking my words. "I think I'm going to vomit." he folds in two, holding onto his stomach.

"Well, isn't this lovely? All of us here, together, like one big happy family. Minus Lola and Kali, of course." I sound stupidly sarcastic.

"Lola?" My mom snaps her head in her direction. "Lola? Is that you?"

"You know her?" Now I'm confused, so I fix my gaze on Lola, waiting for my mother to reply.

She shakes her head, tears rolling down her face. "She doesn't know me. She knows nothing about me. She didn't want me."

"Gladiola," my mother says under her breath.

"How do you…" My question dies in my throat.

Blond, as beautiful as my mother, but nothing like her all at the same time, because Lola has a heart, a couple of years younger than me…

"She's my mom," Lola sobs.

"You're my sister?" My voice is quiet with disbelief.

She nods rapidly.

I push myself up from the seat and move from behind the desk. Eyes wide, Lola looks petrified as I make my way over to her and stand toe to toe, to get a really good look at the girl who loves nothing better than doing everything to help me.

"I have a sister?" I ask gently, awe-struck that I have someone who has the same DNA as me. I have a family.

"Yes, she's my mom too. She was married to my dad. Not Marcus, his name was Ritchie Ramsay." Sobbing between words, I pull her into my arms and hold her close, hoping to bring her some much-needed comfort. Which I am in need of myself.

"I have dreams about you," I confess, kissing the top of her head. "Did your father tell you before he died?"

She nods. "He wanted me to reach out to you. He wanted me to know I wasn't alone in this world. He had so many regrets, Wade, about how he treated you and separated us. He wanted me to let you know how sorry he was before he died."

A billion questions swirl around in my brain.

"You're not alone, Lola. I'm here." I have a sister. I can't believe it. Which can mean only one thing. "Did he find out she was having an affair with Marcus? Is that why they split us up?" I ask Lola and not the two idiots I appear to have as parents.

"It's complicated. I can explain everything."

"It's all over the news, Wade," Kali says from my side.

"What do you mean?"

Lola covers her face as if embarrassed. "Graham sold my story to the press."

I take Kali's phone out of her hand, and scroll down the page of the open browser that shows dozens and dozens of news articles and headlines staring back at me.

Wade Collins revealed Marcus Edwards' ‘secret son'

Marcus Edwards fathered secret love child with ‘Rich and Reckless in Canada' star Miranda Collins

Eagles star Wade Collins shunned by his business tycoon father Marcus Edwards

DNA test confirms Eagles Owner, Marcus Edwards, Wade Collins" father

Shock ripples down my spine.

"You weren't meant to find out like this." Kali's words stop me scrolling.

"You knew?" My tone is thunderous as shock turns to fury.

Kali's eyes shimmer with unshed tears. "I'm so sorry, Wade. I wanted to tell you but?—"

"You didn't." I shoot her a cold look. "Did he pay you to keep quiet, too? Is that what pulling a support team together for me was all about?"

"It was never like that," she counters icily, looking furious.

"Was I a publicity stunt for you? Some sort of charity case? Help Wade Collins the fuck up? You made me believe you loved me," I shout, my words booming through the house, as sorrow seeps into my bones for speaking to her the way I am. I hate myself right now.

Her face crumbles. "I do love you."

"You sure about that? Was making me fall in love with you all part of the plan too? To distract me from discovering the truth?" I feel like such a fool.

"I didn't tell you to protect you." Her voice is much louder now, eyes blazing.

"Protect me?" I turn the screen around to show her the headlines. "This is protecting me?"

"Marcus and I agreed to wait until the season was over. We were working out a plan of how to tell you and Nicki. The team."

That doesn't make me feel any better. "Because the team's reputation takes priority over people's feelings. It's always about the fucking team."

And poor Nicki. I hope she divorces Marcus and takes him to the cleaners.

"Wade, it wasn't like that. I promise you it wasn't." She grabs at my arms, reaching up to try and get me to look at her, but I can't. She betrayed me. "You were getting your life back on track and learning to live without Gretchen. I love you. I do." Her voice trails off, and when I look at her again silent tears are falling down her cheeks. "Please believe me."

I suddenly feel weak and vulnerable.

I don't know who to believe anymore.

"Well, if he was giving you a bonus, it looks like you won't be getting it now, huh?" I throw her phone on top of the desk. "You and I are done."

"No." Much stronger now, Kali says firmly, "We're not done."

"That's where you're wrong. I'm fucking sick of everyone making decisions they think are best for me. I'm done with all of you." My heart breaks into tiny shards, making me feel like, with every breath, I'm bleeding out.

"I quit the team," I announce.

Kali throws herself in my path, standing between me and the doorway I desperately need to get to. "Don't do this, don't go, please don't go. I love you."

I cup her face and look into her eyes, knowing this will be the last time I lay my hands on the woman I love, but no longer trust. "You fucking destroyed me."

I push past her and run.

From them all.

From my past.

From my career.

I run until I'm all alone.

Again.