“Burn those who burned me!” Chapter 119

***Gracie’s POV:***

I sat quietly for what felt like an eternity.

So those were the circumstances surrounding my birth? I was possibly the product of an affair, so my mother wanted me gone to conceal her secret….

My heart started to pace as one thing became painfully clear….My number was up the minute I became a Rochester. I placed my hand over my heart as if to calm myself. Kai sat quietly while staring at me; probably waiting to see what I would say or do next. I needed to compose myself. I didn’t want to cry over these horrible people anymore. Breathing slowly, I lifted my head towards Thorton.

*"Tell me everything."*

He nodded in response; guilt riddled on his face.

*“I first met your mother when she became engaged to Calvin Rochester. By then, I had already been working for that family for about three years. When I first met her, she wasn’t like anything I’d ever seen before. She was beautiful. She had this innocence and purity about herself that could melt any type of ice.”*

I sat quietly, giving Thorton my direct attention. I could tell by the way his eyes sparkled, he was in love with my mother.

*“Our affair began after their marriage. It honestly just happened. She’d suspected Calvin of bangin his secretary and asked me to find out. At first I said no…I mean my loyalty was technically to Calvin and David Rochester. But the way she looked at me…those pleading eyes…I couldn’t deny her.”*

*“As it turned out, he was sleeping with the secretary….Sharon was furious. She threw things, yelled, cursed…and then finally…started crying. I couldn’t take it. I couldn’t take those beautiful eyes shedding tears of sadness.”*

Kai twitched in his chair. For a moment, it looked as if he understood Thorton.

*“Anyway…in my attempt to comfort her…she kissed me. That was how the affair began. It went on for years and I was in love with her. I thought she was in love with me too.”*

The sadness in his voice almost made me feel sorry for him.

*“Anyway…when she found out she was pregnant again for the fourth time; she was already irritated. She didn’t want to have another child; the last pregnancy was already too risky.”*

I laughed to myself thinking about how much of a pain in the ass Brian has always been.

*“And when she found out she was having a girl…well let’s just say that didn’t help. At the time, she asked Calvin if it was wise for her to have another child because of the complications with Brian.”*

He recalled the night she called him panicking because the baby might be his.

*“Bernie….I can’t have this child! You know that! You know why!”*

*“I…Sharon…what do you want me to do? You said Rochester didn’t agree to the abortion. What’s the big deal anyway?”*

*“The big deal!!! This fuckin baby could be yours! Do you want them to find out!!! Do you really not know what would happen if they did??”*

*“Sharon…why would they find out? They didn’t…”*

*“Because it’s a girl!!! They’ll test the baby because it’s a girl!”*

Thorton explained how that was the first time he’d heard of the Rochesters not having girls; how Calvin's mother Rosemary Rochester ordered an immediate paternity test when my uncle’s wife gave birth to a girl.

*“So that was it…she was right…Rochester would have ordered my immediate death.”*

I looked at him in disgust and scoffed.

*“So, you chose yourself over your possible daughter?”*

He looked me in the eyes, so much guilt filled in them.

*“I…yeah. I’m scum Graceland. I know that. I don’t make any excuses. But I couldn’t do what she asked me. I couldn’t harm you. The night you were born, Sharon asked Calvin to bring her some specialty soup. That was how she lured him out.”*

Thorton told us about how Sharon gave me to him. How callous and detached she had been.

*“Sharon…we don’t have to do this maybe-”*

*“Do it Benard!! Either you do this…or I’ll tell my husband you took advantage of me.”*

Thorton’s eyes darkened as he spoke of Sharon’s betrayal.

*“All that time I thought she was in love with me…turns out I was just another patsy. She made that threat without even blinking an eye. So I took you. My original plan was to just drop you off in an orphanage somewhere, but…as I was leaving the hospital, I overheard these nurses talking about this woman that had just discharged who’d lost her husband and child. That was when I first met Diana Teagues.”*

My heart skipped a beat at the mention of my adoptive mother.

*“She was standing on the bridge over the lake. Probably compilating suicide. I don’t know why; but in that moment…she looked like an angel. An answer to my prayers. I immediately ran over to her and begged her for help.*

I could feel my eyes began to water as he began to explain how I ended up with Diana.

*“Ma’am!! Please! I need your help!!”*

*“What is it??”*

*“I…need you take this…please!!!”*

*“Take what?? Who are you??”*

*“I don’t have time to explain! Just please! Before they hurt her!!!”*

*“Her??? What are you carrying???”*

Thorton explained how he immediately shoved me into her arms and ran away.

*“I stood behind a wall in the parking lot so I could see what her next move was. I watched her look down at the baby in her arms. Watched her face turn to shock and then tears. Watched her look around as if she were looking to see where I went before walking to her car and immediately leaving.”*

The tears began to fall down my face as I recalled the time my mother told me I was a gift that saved her life….now I knew why. Turns out, we were each other’s saviors.

*“Afterwards, Sharon concocted this whole story about the baby being kidnapped while she was sleep. The kid was a Rochester, so it wasn’t hard to believe. Calvin lead a three search before Sharon begged him to call it off. Saying that she was too afraid to find the child dead…ironic right. But with no ransom ever being made, they all assumed the worse.”*

*“Shortly after, they adopted the Olivia kid. Turns out, Sharon had actually always wanted a daughter. But what she didn’t know was that Calvin made sure his DNA was in the system and ordered that if a child born that same day and year ever came in that was sick or had an accident to immediately have them tested. Of course I didn’t know that either.”*

So that’s how I was found. They tested my blood after the accident…so I really was a Rochester…she’d done all of that for nothing.

Kai’s brows furrowed.

*“Tell me something Thorton…why not just test the baby? After you took Gracie…you could have had her tested and then informed Sharon of the results.”*

Thorton’s eyes twitched as the guilt began to overpower his gaze.

*“Because I was too afraid of the results. I honestly thought for sure she was mine. I was afraid that if I learned the truth, I wouldn't be able to let her go. I couldn't do that again”*

I looked at Thorton with a puzzled expression. Again?

*“Why were you so convinced?”*

Thorton lit another cigarette. Took another drag and let out a deep sigh.

*“Because her last kid was mine.”*

WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!

All of our eyes widen!! Wait….does he mean….I had to know…

*“Wait a minute!!! Are you saying you’re BRIAN’S biological father???”*

Thorton nodded in response. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Thorton explained how he’d sneaked and got a paternity test for Brian one day after seeing him.

*“The kid looked just like I did as a child. Over the years he ended up favoring Sharon, but as a child…my spitting image. Of course he was a boy, so there were never any worries of a paternity test.”*

I swallowed hard. This was all too much.

*“Does Sharon know?”*

*“Yeah…she knows. I told her immediately after finding out…asked her to run away with me. But she said she couldn’t…that Calvin would find us…that it wasn’t the type of life a child should have. That she LOVED our baby too much to make him suffer.”*

*“Of course I realized later on…she just wanted to secure her place as a Rochester. Calvin was the only one with three sons…and because he was the oldest, his three sons would inherit majority of the businesses.”*

I shook my head in disgust. My mother was a real monster. She’d protected Brian to secure her place and ordered my death for the same reasons.

*“Anyway…after what happened that night, I ended our affair. She didn’t even bat an eye. When I found out she adopted the girl…my heart tore into a million pieces. And then…twelve years later…you showed up again. Although the circumstances were tragic, I was glad Sharon’s karma was coming back to bite her.”*

I furrowed my brows…is that what I was? Sharon’s karma? Thorton continued to speak.

*“I want you to know Graceland….I always knew where you were. I’d followed up on Diana Teagues and learned she was an amazing mother….I don’t expect you to ever forgive me…but I hope you know.... I don’t regret giving you to her that night. You deserved better than your mother and me.”*

My eyes watered up and the tears began to flow. Kai embraced me as Tyler and Parys rubbed my back. After letting out every single tear of sadness I would ever cry again, I smiled warmly. I finally got my answers. Finally learned the truth.

Turns out my adoptive mother wasn’t some *‘thief’*. Instead, she was an angel…my guardian angel.

I collected myself and stood up. Kai immediately stood up as well. I looked down at Benard Teagues no longer holding any hatred for him. Instead, I pitied him. Pitied him for being foolish enough to fall in love with such a cruel and evil woman. A woman that forced him to watch his only son be raised by another man while ordering him to destroy his possible only daughter…all for greed and status.

*“Release him.”*

Kai’s eyes immediately darted to me.

*“Gracie…are you sure? You don-”*

*“I’m sure.”*

I looked at Calvin and smiled lightly.

*“I owe him Kai.”*

Kai’s face twisted with anger.

*“You don’t owe him any-”*

*“Yes I do. Kai…if it weren’t him, I wouldn’t have been fortunate enough to be with my real mother…Diana. I also would have never met you…so for that reason…I owe him a debt. This is my payment.”*

Looking at Ramone, I repeated in a stern voice.

*“Release him.”*