Page 35 of West (The Moral Compass 1)
I show her pictures, but she is just looking at them with a blank expression as if she doesn’t know the person in the pictures.
“Is this your mother, Sutton?” I need to check; she is not responding to the pictures how I thought she would.
“Yes,” she whispers and pushes the photos away. Tears are now falling down her cheeks, and she is too stunned to even wipe them away. I reach for some kitchen roll and hand them to her. I don’t want to leave her side whilst we go through the rest of this.
“I understand now why she said I ruined her life. Look at her, West! She is beautiful. The woman that brought me up is nothing compared to her. She was stunning,” she sobs.
“Woah, Sutton, that’s only the beginning of the story. Your mother was with your father for a year. These pictures were taken at the beginning of their relationship. This picture here was taken at the end. Before the news broke and this picture was leaked, they had parted ways a week earlier.”
I showed her another picture. Her mother looked gaunt and completely wasted. She was hunched over with makeup smeared across her face. The man in the picture—Sutton’s father—looks on, but he looks lost as if he doesn’t even know her.
“Are there any more photos of my mum?” she asks.
“No, she disappeared out of the public eye right after the breakup. She went into rehab, Sutton, and spent the following nine months trying to rebuild her life. When she came out, she cut ties with everyone and everything connected to her old life. Maybe this was for the best, but, by the sounds of it, she regretted it every day. You were born before she was released. You were kept out of the public eye to the point where no one in the press even knew you existed.”
Another muffled question escapes her lips, “Did my father even know I’d been born?”
“That I don’t know for certain, Sutton, but your mother refused all contact with him and even had him blocked from calls, and even stopped his attempts to visit. If I were a betting man, Sutton, I don’t think he knows you exist.”
This completely floors her. Her sobs are full-on cries. Her head is so far down that it’s touching her knees.
“This is what I do know, Sutton: Your mother was an addict. She was addicted to prescription drugs, alcohol, and also street drugs. Your father was a straight, honourable man, and his career wouldn’t have stood him being involved with a woman of her vices. What I know of your biological father, Sutton, is that he is a good man. An honest man. I know this because I know him, and I know him well.”
Chapter 27
Sutton
Allmylife,Ihad hated my father for leaving us. For turning his back on us and leaving me to pick up the broken pieces. All this time, he might not even have known my mother was pregnant, never mind that he has another child.
“Who is he, West? Who is my father?” I’m scared, but I need to know.
“He was my father’s best friend. His name is Mark Fredricks.” He’s looking at me as if I should know who that is. “I grew up calling him ‘Uncle Mark’, that’s how close I was, and still am, to him.”
“Am I supposed to know who that is?” I ask.
“Well, unless you have been under a rock for the past fifteen years, yeah, I would have thought you would know the name. He owns Technolabs, and his company has been developing smart media since before Steve Jobs and Apple. Most of the apps you have on your phone have been touched at some point by Technolabs. He developed all the software for our company, and that’s why we can do what we do worldwide so easily. It was all over the news for weeks when he announced his retirement and that Danika, his daughter, was taking over.”
“And Danika is my sister, right?” I ask. This is so overwhelming, but I notice my tears have stopped. My head is spinning, and I can’t take it all in. “Can we take a break for a minute? Maybe a coffee or something? Wine. I need wine. Please.”
He jumps up from the table and grabs two glasses and a bottle of red wine from the counter.
“Had a feeling we might need some of this.” He smiles gently, but it doesn’t quite reach his eyes. I can see the pity, and it makes me feel sad for him. He didn’t ask to be brought into this but without him, I would never have known all this. I look at the table and realise there is more. So much more. I have only been given one of the piles, and there are at least another six. I take a deep breath, a large gulp of the wine and place my glass back down.
“How do you know he’s my father? It could be anyone! My mother is a slut and a whore.”
“When my father was ill, he needed a transplant. We all had our blood taken to see if we were a match. Mark tested but, unfortunately, he wasn’t a match and was devastated when he couldn’t help. None of us were a match either. North accessed the information from my father’s medical files, and I know he shouldn’t have done so, but he got yours, too. You are a match with each other. A full DNA test will confirm everything, and North wouldn’t have told me if he wasn’t sure. I don’t know what you want to do with the information, Sutton, but I think Mark would want to know about you. Don’t decide just yet, you need to think long and hard about that, but I wanted to put it out there.”
He is so gentle with his words. He’s holding my hand and looking right into my soul. I’m sure he can feel my heart hammering because he leans forward and places a small kiss right on my lips and then backs away, never breaking eye contact.
“What’s next?” I ask.
“So, we’ve covered your father. Do you want to know more about your mum? Where she is? What she’s doing?”
“No. I don’t think I can take that shit today. She’s messed with my head enough. Why did you say that I could be in danger? Does it have something to do with my mum?”
“Yes and no. I don’t think you meeting Jaxon was fate. I have a strong suspicion that she sent him your way to keep tabs on you.”
“Oh my God, no. I can’t believe that. She doesn’t even know my name. I changed it, remember?”
