Her Secrets

29. Lies Brought Us Here

"How did it go?" Asher asked a few minutes after the nurse left the room.

"It was good." She bit her lip to hold back tears. "Thank you, Ash."

He nodded as he went up to her to pull her in a tight hug, causing her to wince as he accidentally pressed against her gunshot wound. "Oh, Mia. I'm sorry." He said.

"It's okay." She replied.

"It's not. You shouldn't be here." He said.

"I don't care, Ash. If it didn't happen I don't think I would've met my mom. If I did anyways, I don't think I'd get the answers I needed had I shown up unexpectedly." She said.

"Exactly Mia. Had you shown up without notice, she would've had to think of everything on the spot. In this case, she had days to perfect her answers making her seem perfect in your eyes." Christian said. Benjamin and Asher exchange glances, something Mia couldn't miss as she listened to Christian.

Mia shook her head as she responded, "my mom isn't perfect. You don't even know her and what she's been through."

He scoffed, "I don't know her? Mia, you don't know her either. I've known about her longer than you ever had. Why wouldn't she have contacted you if she cared? If she really did care she would've told you she'd come back tomorrow or something not that she'd be in touch."

"Why are you trying to ruin the moment I had with my only fucking family? I don't care what you keep telling me, Christian. You have Ben and Asher. They're your blood relatives. I only have her. If my mom didn't care, she would've kept having kids and raise them without thinking of me. She would've kept me in that fucked environment. She never would've gotten clean. You know the one picture of me that she has, she kept. It was taken eighteen god damn years ago and she kept it. She gave me something to pass down as a tradition. She's sober for me. She's the only person in my life whose never lied to me." She cried.

"How do you know she's telling the truth, huh? How do-" he was cut off as Benjamin interrupted.

"Outside now." He demanded with a raised brow. To his pleasure, Christian followed as he wanted.

Once they were out of Mia's earshot, Benjamin went off on his oldest brother.

"Leave it, Chris. Just stop. You even realize what could've happened to Mia? Let her know her mother. None of us can stop her from having a relationship with her. None of us, and if we do that would be an asshole move. Just listen to her with compassion for her situation. If you were in hers you'd probably want to know her too. Especially after losing your adoptive mother." Benjamin said.

"Fine, Ben. I'll listen but I'm not going to stop protecting her. Ever." He replied. "I'm not sorry for not accepting this. She's been hurt over and over again. I'll do everything in my power to keep her from continuously hurting."

"You can do that but you're hurting her with how your showing it, man. She needs her mother. She hasn't had a motherly figure in years and it's torn apart. All these years she spent thinking her mother was dead and now? She has a second chance with her biological mother. It's not fair to take this from her. You can't. If you do, she'll never forgive you. Yes you've cared for her, but it's not fair to hold it against her. Do you really think our mother would approve?" He asked. When he received no answer he continued, "our mother put Mia's middle name as Gabriella for her bio mother. You can't push her away."

"I'll do whatever I feel is in Mia's best interest. I'll give her a chance but the second she makes a wrong move, I'm finished and Mia will be finished with her too. I won't have her face any more pain than she already has. I won't accept that." He said.

"Only Mia can make that choice. It's Mia's decision to make and only her decision. Not yours." He stated.

"I'm not going to sit back and watch my sister get hurt time and time again while waiting for that woman to live up to her expectations." he said.

"Did you even hear Mia? Before and after the visit with Aniya? She had no expectations. The only one that she wanted was to know she was loved. And she got it. So where the hell is the problem? She got her questions answered, she knows her mother loves her. I don't see an issue here at all. Chris, you're being selfish."

"I'm not trying to be an asshole." Chris said. "I'm trying to protect our sister."

"You may not be trying to be an asshole but you are." He said. He patted his oldest brothers shoulder as he walked back to Mia's room. Chris followed behind him.

When they reached her room Mia eyed Chris warily before she spoke up, "You can say whatever you want about her but I'll always know is to me. And I'll know she loves me. Even if I don't get to see her again, she answered my questions. That's more than I've gotten before now with you guys. It took me almost dying to finally get the truth."

She had a point and all of them knew it. It wasn't an easy subject knowing their lies had almost gotten her killed. They hated the thought but it wasn't something they could ignore. They knew sooner or later they'd hear it from her. What they didn't think of is that they'd be hearing it only a couple hours out of her comatose state. However, Christian was glad he was going to be told off by his younger sister. It meant she was alive. Something he'd feared wouldn't be, just a week ago.

"I know, Mia." He said quietly. "I'm sorry. So sorry for everything I put you through."

"What?" She said. She heard him but she wasn't sure she had heard him right. Christian never gave up so easily. Especially not after a lecture done by their brother, little brother for him, at that.

"I'm sorry. I know I put your life in danger by lying. I thought I was protecting you, Mia. I truly thought keeping this from you was protecting you. It did the opposite and I'll spend the rest of my life making it up to you. I'm so fucking sorry for everything. If you want to know your mother, I'll let you know her. No lies, no secrets. From here on out, I'll give you the truth." He explained.

She'd never seen her brother so defeated. She couldn't help but feel awful for him. For the first time, she noticed the prominent bags under his eyes, disheveled hair, and red-rimmed eyes. The guilt of being the reason he looked like a mess gnawed at her brain, making her want to cry. However, she sat stoic as she eyed her oldest brother. While the guilt was strong, she knew he brought it upon himself.

All the lies he told, got them into this situation. As painful as it was to admit, had he told the truth, she never would have had come close to death. She never would've been shot.

However, neither would ever admit the fact out loud.