𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 44.

𝐈 𝐖𝐀𝐓𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐓𝐑𝐄𝐄𝐒 pass by through the dark tinted-glass, the leaves and branches transforming into hues of green and brown in front of my eyes, blending in with the rest of the street in a painting of moving colours. The tiniest of raindrops lay scattered over the car windows, falling down to the very rims, and creating puddles of clear water all over the paved ground to later seep into the sewers. Outside, the world was cast with a gloomy look, hiding the blazing sun behind mountains of grey clouds overhead.

The droplets fell from the sky and landed in the water of the marsh, creating a light and peaceful sound to fill the silence inside the vehicle. I tapped my foot on the ground repeatedly. With both hands intertwined together, I stared out the window beside me. The trees slowly started to diminish, decreasing into smaller and smaller sizes with each second the car drove. My mind was racing uncontrollably, at a fast pace similar to how quick the road was moving underneath the tires, resulting in my head beginning to ache.

"Can you believe it?" Sarah squealed.

I didn't feel like saying anything, more focused on the thoughts jumbled together in my brain, piling in with every word. I couldn't say anything, for my lips wouldn't move apart.

Immediately when Sarah had let the words fall from her mouth, as she stood on my porch, my lips departed— I didn't believe her. Who would believe a seventeen year old girl, that has randomly shown up at your doorstep after days of not speaking, who suddenly tells you that you're sisters. When she said it, I didn't no how to act. My brain felt empty.

But, after staring at her face for a long moment, and how she seemed nothing but sure of her statement, I had narrowed my eyebrows. In the first moments, the only possible reasoning for Sarah's appearance, sudden claim, and unusual facial expression, was that she had either stole too much alcohol from her parents, her brother had slipped her some of his drugs, or she had hit her head really, really, really hard. Hard enough to think that the two of us were suddenly related.

I had offered to let her into my home, maybe get her a glass of water and talk about why she was acting so weird, and why this was the reason she was coming over after five days of being apart. But before I could do anything else, she had insisted that we go to TannyHill. To talk to her father. Figuring that her whole sudden declaration was just a big coping mechanism, for whatever things that were going on inside her mind, similar to when everyone thought John B was crazy for chasing after the Merchant— to cope with his father's death, I decided to give in.

As she had pulled me over to her Range Rover without another word, Caroline and Daryl had called for me from the doorway. The whole time she was guiding me to the car, and hopping into the seats, I had been thinking that something was really wrong with Sarah, something that was making her delusional— it was the only possible explanation. But as soon as I had turned around to look at my grandparents, my whole idea had shifted. They were standing in the door, scared.

My blood had felt like it had gone cold when they stared at me from behind the screen door, their facial expressions instantly shooting right into my heart. Why did they suddenly seem so scared. Then, I nearly froze in the passenger seat when their eyes silently sent me a message, an unintentional one, that Sarah was right. They knew what she had been saying. Both of them ran onto the lawn as we drove away, almost as if they wanted to stop the car and take me back, to keep me from learning something I wasn't supposed to learn about.

"And that's why I didn't call you or come see you this whole week," Sarah was now saying, "I was too busy crying over the fucking fact that Cecile Collins, I mean, the Cecile Collins, is my fucking mom!"

When we had gotten far enough away from my grandparents house, Sarah had begun talking about it. She had been completely confident, and the way she spoke made my mind race even more, revolved around the fact that she didn't sound drunk, nor drugged, nor delusional from hitting her head. She was completely normal, just in a state of extreme shock.

"Like, oh my god," she gasped, "My favourite actress from my favourite movie, EVER, is my mother. Like, she's my mom." Sarah was rambling, she had been rambling since she started talking. "My own fucking mom. Cecile Collins birthed me."

Apparently, my mom, was also Sarah's mom, according to Sarah's story and non-stop rambling. I didn't know how to feel, how to act, or even how to think, when she had said it. I wasn't exactly giving in just yet, because there was no proof. I was still holding onto the possibility that Sarah had accidentally drunken far too much wine, that she stole from her father.

"When does that ever happen." She breathed, "How often does someone find out their mother is famous." She was sitting up straight, barely even focused on driving. I swallowed the air in my throat.

I was holding myself back from asking her about my dad. Maybe she was, in fact, drunk, but was really good at hiding it.

"And you!" she shouted with excitement, "Charlie, your parents are the Danny and Cecile! Holy SHIT! It's fucking unbelievable!"

I bit down on my lip.

"And that's why my dad never talked about her!" She gripped her hands tighter around the wheel.

"Sarah..." I tore my eyes away from the window beside me, and looked to her with sad eyes, "What are you even saying. And why aren't you mad at me."

"Mad at you? This is the best thing that has ever happened to me!" She squealed. "And Charlie, this is not bullshit," she glanced to me for a second, her eyes wide and excited, "This is not a drill, my dad told me four days ago, I'm not kidding—"

"Are you okay, Sarah? Seriously." I turned my body slightly in my seat and stared at her sadly, "Your dad told you, that your mom, is my mom." I lowered my eyes, looking at her dumbly.

"Yes, Charlotte!" She exclaimed. "You don't believe me?" She looked over at me with hard eyes, her eyebrows furrowed, looking offended.

"Sarah, you can't just show up at my door after five days, tell me I'm your sister, and expect me to believe it!" I rose my voice, quietly yelling.

"We're gonna talk to Ward," she ignored my outburst, not seeming fazed by it, "He'll tell you everything he told me."

"This has got to be a fucking joke," I scoffed, settling back in my seat, "Is today, like, national 'prank your best friend day' or somethi—"

"Charlotte." Sarah said, seriously.

"What, Sarah," I turned my head to her, my tone of voice sounding angrily fed up. "You can't just show up and pretend that we're fucking sisters, take me to your house and get your dad—"

"I'm not pretending." She muttered, turning the car around a corner.

"Sisters, Sarah. Sisters. You think that we're sisters." I scoffed, at the absurdity. "You realize how insane that sounds?"

I bit down onto my bottom lip, feeling my heart sink from how serious she sounded, which was rare of her. I then looked forward, as the TannyHill mansion came into view in front of us. We pulled into the driveway.

"I didn't fucking believe it either," she was saying, as she pulled the key out of ignition and opened her door. "Took me four damn days,"

I didn't care how long it took her to believe whatever she was believing, something was wrong. It didn't make sense, that all of a sudden, Sarah Cameron and I were related. It was the farthest stretch I think anyone on this island could go to.

But then again, as I hesitantly followed her into the entrance of her mansion, the images of my grandparents expressions, of when Sarah and I had driven away, slid into my mind. Along with their— almost— bullshit story of how my parents met. And then finally, Ward entered my mind, the image of him choking on his words once hearing who my grandparents were.

It all sent a whirl of emotions to flow through every part of my body. I didn't know who was right, what was right, and it was scaring me. Really scaring me.

In a suffocating silence, I followed Sarah up the flight of stairs, remembering how just weeks ago I had been climbing up the same flight with her and John B. This was nothing like that time.

Before I knew it, she was pushing open the door to her father's office.

"Good afternoon, Charlotte," Ward stood up from his spot behind the desk, a forced smile on his lips.

I didn't quite know how to feel just yet, but the way he spoke with such a reserved voice, sent a nervous feeling inside of the pit of my stomach. Along with his cautious actions, the slowly standing up, and the uncomfortable placing of his hands on his hips, told me that something was bothering him— and that something, had to do with me.

I stayed quiet, keeping my head lowered as I followed Sarah over to the leather couch, my hands folded together. I felt awkward, out of place, and wrong, sitting in Ward's office, after hearing Sarah tell me all about how we have the same mother. She had never mentioned her father. It was ridiculous, but I was starting to align dots in my head, which resulted in my silence.

"So," Ward spoke out, after releasing a stressed breath. He sat back down in his desk chair, with slow movements.

Sarah tapped her foot on the ground.

"I know this is, um..." Ward trailed the word out, speaking to me, "Sudden, and shocking," he paused, clearing his throat uncomfortably.

I wanted to tell him to just cut the bullshit, and get right to the point, but I held my tongue. I didn't want to be rude.

"And it's come to my realization that you've never heard about this, Charlotte," He said, forcing a calm voice, "I've already told Sarah."

Sarah nodded.

The room fell quiet for a quick moment, and just before Ward was about to continue, I rose my head. "Yeah, I'm just a little bit lost." I said, unintentionally adding hints of attitude between my words. "This isn't making sense, like at all."

"Because we haven't told you everything, sweetheart," he tapped a finger on the surface of his desk, "No one has."

"What the hell does that even mean," I sharply narrowed my eyebrows at him, "Is this some Mafia shit—"

"No, Charlie," Sarah placed a hand on my leg.

"Listen, there's no... easy way to say this," Ward rubbed a hand over his beard.

"Are my parents bad people," I shifted my eyes between both of them, "What's with all this secrecy? Do you know about them, Ward," I stood up.

"Charlotte," He sighed.

"Shouldn't my grandparents be telling me about this," I spoke, crossing my arms. "If it's so important."

"I've told Sarah about her mom," Ward said, disregarding my comment. "Everything."

I remembered how Sarah had mentioned, before going to Midsummers, that her dad had married Rose, twelve years ago— and they had Sarah's sister, Wheezie. She had never mentioned anything about her real mother, and so I assumed that she was simply out of the picture.

"Okay," I lightly shrugged, not knowing what it had to do with me.

"Say it again," Sarah said, quietly, "The whole thing."

"Charlotte, take a seat," Ward motioned to the spot next to Sarah, from his desk. His face sort of fell, as if he wasn't excited to tell me the next part.

Hesitantly, and after glancing to Sarah who wasn't looking at me, I sat myself back down where I had been sitting before. I was sitting up, not comfortably, my teeth biting down on the inside of my cheek.

There was a long and uncomfortable pause, as Ward placed his elbows on the desk, his hands folded together. He cleared his throat.

"I met Cecile when I was twenty-three," he started, and immediately the mention of my mom's name sent a strike of fear right into my heart, "She was from Figure Eight, and I was from the Cut, so I worked for her, and we met through business." he explained. "Long story short," a small smile pulled at the corner of his lips, "We fell in love," he grinned, and Sarah smiled, "Then everything that comes after that, marriage... kids."

Instantly, something was off. My grandparents had told me that my mom was from France. Someone, I didn't know who, just yet, was lying to me, big time.

"We moved to TannyHill," he looked around the office with admiration, "Then we had Rafe, you know Rafe. Few years later, my baby girl came along," he smiled at Sarah. "And then things started to... change."

I narrowed my eyebrows. Sarah wasn't really smiling anymore.

"Cecile, she... wasn't happy anymore," he looked down, "And it was weird, because, together we'd always dreamed of moving into the TannyHill mansion, starting a family. But now that it was really, really happening, she wasn't as happy as I was."

I bit down on the inside of my cheek harder.

"And so, she..." he trailed off, looking at me sadly, "Left."

Sarah was looking down at her hands. I tried not to narrow my eyebrows.

"A year after Sarah, she just, left us." He said, with a small tone of hatred. "And she only stayed on the island for a few months after that. To my surprise, she found someone new, in those few months."

My dad.

"Your father, Charlotte," he looked at me, "Daniel Collins."

I didn't know what to say, do, or how to react. My mind felt like it was on overdrive.

"They moved away to god knows where, left your grandparents in the dust, and left everything else behind. Your mother's career was... completely gone, so I took over. And the one thing I didn't know, that nobody knew of, was that she was pregnant."

I felt my stomach sink.

"That's why I was so shocked when you said Caroline and Daryl were your grandparents." He explained. "Danny never had a kid, and neither did your mother, apart form Sarah and Rafe."

Slowly, it started to fit. And I felt myself growing emotional.

"And then what do you know," he chuckled, "A few years after that, your mother's face ends up on my TV."

Sarah looked to me.

"I— I don't know what to say," I nearly choked on my words. I was looking down at my hands.

"That's okay, Charlotte, I know it's a lot." Ward sighed. "But you see that necklace around your neck," he pointed to me.

I looked down at my neck, seeing the gold chain with the C initial that Sarah had given me a while back. She was wearing hers, the one with the S.

"Your mom, Cecile, wanted to name our next child Charlotte, if it was going to be a girl," he said, and I felt my heart drop, "So she bought an S and a C for her two potential daughters, and was going to keep them for when you guys were older. But when she left us, she left the necklaces, too. I gave them to Sarah and pretended they were both for her initials."

I suddenly felt my vision start to go foggy, and I looked to Sarah. She nodded.

"Why— why would my mom," I paused, swallowing hard. I stuttered, feeling unable to speak, "Why would she send me here— to the island, if she knew about— about you guys. Why would she send me here,"

Ward cleared his throat again.

Sarah looked down.

"That's what we were thinking," Ward looked to his daughter, uncertainly, "Maybe your mom wanted the two of you to meet." He said. "For you to meet me."

"I don't... understand." I tried to hold the tears back. "That doesn't make any sense,"

"We were thinking, Charlotte," Ward stood up slowly, and spoke cautiously, as if his next words were going to change everything, "Maybe you'd like to stay with us, stay here with us."

Suddenly, in the snap of a finger, everything did change. I looked to Sarah with my lips departed.

I stood up.

"Maybe that's what your mom wanted!" Ward called, as I turned on my heel, "Maybe she sent you here for us to be a family, like it was supposed to be!"

I tried to drown out the words as I pushed the office door open and practically ran from the room. The tears bubbled at my eyes, and as I ran down the stairs, they were falling down my cheeks. I didn't really know why I was crying— maybe it was from being overwhelmed, or from the possible idea that my grandparents, had been lying to me the whole time.

Right when I ripped open the front door, I heard Sarah call my name. Her steps echoed on the stairs.

"Charlie, wait!" She shouted, her voice booming off of the walls.

I looked to my side, standing on the front entrance of her home, my eyes landing on Sarah's bike leaning against the wall. I charged for it, grabbing the handles.

"Where are you going," Sarah spoke, standing in the doorway, alarmed.

"I— I think, Sarah, I think your dad is lying," I breathed out unsteadily, looking up at her standing on the threshold. I swallowed a bubble of air in my throat.

"What?" She narrowed her eyebrows, out of breath from chasing after me.

"I don't know," a small tear trickled down my cheek, "I just— I have to talk to my grandparents."

And that was all I said before hopping on Sarah's bike, and driving down the laneway.

___

I dropped the bike on the grass in front of my grandparents house.

With dried tears on my cheeks, I marched past the Toyota truck, stepped up the stairs, and tore open the screen door. Caroline and Daryl were both sitting on the futon sofa, sad looks on their faces.

"Charlotte, honey," Carol immediately stood up from the couch, her eyes close to tears, "Are you okay?" She noticed my upset look.

"Are you lying to me." I cut right to the chase, not beating around the bush.

I was standing in front of the screen door, my shoes still on, and my cheeks soggy from tears, as her and Daryl calmly approached me.

"What are you talking about," Caroline forced a small laugh, "Lying about what, hon?"

"Don't bullshit," I said.

The two of them looked taken aback by my choice of words, their eyebrows narrowing. Caroline glanced up to her husband beside her.

"Bug, we don't know what Sarah was talking about," he shook his head from side to side. He swallowed uncomfortably.

"Yeah, you do," I could see right through the two of them.

Caroline reached forward, aiming to place her hands on my shoulders, but I took a step back and shrugged them off.

"Sweetheart..." Caroline's face fell.

"That girl has got problems, bug," Daryl claimed, sounding sure.

"Is that right," I squinted my eyes.

"She gets it from her father, son of a bitch," he said, through gritted teeth. Caroline nudged his arm. "What'd Ward tell you, huh?"

"The complete opposite of what you guys told me." I crossed my arms.

"And you believe him?" Daryl clenched his jaw.

"It makes more sense than your story," I shifted my eyes between both of them. "But I don't know."

"Charlotte, that man is a liar," Caroline took a small step towards me, her voice remaining sweet.

"So what's 'all this shit he did to Cecile', then," I spoke, "If my mom only came to the island one time?"

She looked to Daryl. He rubbed a hand over his mouth.

"And why were you guys so scared when I got into Sarah's car earlier," I crossed my arms harder, "If you weren't hiding something, you would've been fine with it, right?"

"Charlotte, he's corrupted you," Daryl tried to reach for my arm. "Brainwashed."

"See! You're not denying it!" I shouted.

Carol's face dropped, "Honey, you're not supposed to know—"

"Know about what, grandma!" I raised my voice, "Know about what!"

"He made us, okay!" Daryl yelled, his voice loud, "Ward— he- he threatened everything— everything if we were to tell anyone, Charlotte, he's a bad man!"

The room went eerily quiet.

"THERE, is that what you wanted to hear?" he yelled, louder than I've ever heard him yell before.

Caroline looked down, upset. Almost as if Daryl had made the biggest mistake in history.

As his words beamed off of the walls, they shot right into my heart. I stumbled on my feet when they sunk into my brain.

"I knew it," I felt tears trickle at my eyes, "You've been lying,"

A million different feelings swarmed inside of my body, but the only one that stood out was betrayal. A tear slipped down the side of my face.

"Charlotte, you don't understand!" Caroline's eyes bubbled, and she tried to reach for me, but I wiggled away.

I shoved past her and Daryl, and didn't look back as I marched through the kitchen.

"Unbelievable," I spat, my voice cracking.

"He was abusive, Charlotte! Your mom— she was lucky to get away! And when she finally did, he erased every damn memory of her on the fucking island!" Daryl was shouting. I'd never heard my grandparents swear before.

Abusive.

I cried and cried, as I threw stray pieces of clothing into the backpack sitting on my bed.

"And he threatened us! If we were to ever say a word about any of this, our whole damn business would be gone, and who knows what would've happened to Danny!" He was screaming, sounding more emotional than I'd ever heard him.

Droplets fell onto my bed covers, and I pulled the zipper of the bag closed harshly.

"He's a manipulator, Charlotte! He manipulated your mom, the cops, everyone on the damn island!" Daryl was yelling. "He's a fucking psychopath!"

I threw the bag over my shoulder and stormed out of my bedroom.

The two of them where standing in the doorway, still, and Carol was crying. Daryl tried to stop me when I shoved past him and aimed for the door, but I threw his hands away.

"I'm going to see John B." I mumbled, my voice breaking. I wasn't going to stay here, and I certainly wasn't going to stay with the Camerons at the moment.

"You can't tell him about this!" Daryl screamed after me, as I hopped on my bike. "I swear to god, Charlotte!"

Tears spilled from my eyes as I struggled to pedal away. Both of them called after me relentlessly, but I didn't look back, and kept driving away.

✰༄✰

😳😳

𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐂𝐋𝐀𝐑𝐈𝐅𝐈𝐂𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍: Ward is NOT

Charlottes dad. SARAH AND CHARLIE

HAVE THE SAME MOM. THEY

HAVE DIFFERENT DADS.

im a bit of a dumb bitch and didn't

make that clear

𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐨 𝐟𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠

𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫

𝐢 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧.

𝐢 𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐜 𝐢𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬𝐧𝐭

𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭 🥺

𝐯𝐨𝐭𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 !!