“She knew everything,” Eleanor replied in a low voice.
That answer was like the ground had completely disappeared beneath my feet.
I couldn’t stand it anymore, so I grabbed my jacket, left the keys and the envelope behind, and left that room as if the walls themselves were closing in on me.
I wandered around for hours until I found myself sitting at a roadside gas station, still dressed in my wedding suit, watching the trucks go by and wondering how many times a person could break in a single night.
When I returned home at dawn, my adoptive mother, Linda Miller, was feeding the chickens in the yard and dropped the can of feed when she saw my face.
“Travis,” she said softly, fear already visible in her eyes.
“Tell me the truth right now,” I demanded without hesitation.
My father, Daniel Miller, came outside and immediately understood what was happening without needing any explanation.
My mother paled and placed a trembling hand on her chest before uttering a few words that changed everything again.
“If Eleanor has already told you part of it, then you need to prepare yourself because there’s still more you don’t know,” she said quietly.
