Run, Girl (If You Can)

Chapter 477: Shame

Even though Violet felt like Thanksgiving had been a success overall, she felt listless. Michael Gray had seemed oddly fond of her father and her family in general while he was at their house. Their relationship seemed almost sibling-like even though they didn't appear to be all that close.

She knew her dad didn't have any siblings though. Unless her grandfather had cheated on her grandmother and had an illegitimate child…but why wouldn't her dad tell her something like that?

Aaron Hale valued his family above all else but he had tossed his snobby parents aside like they were nothing. He could easily do the same for a half-sibling. Still, it seemed too farfetched. She wanted to ask but had to wait until everybody had gone home.

"Spit it out, Dad. Is Michael Gray related to you somehow?" Violet demanded once she caught him alone.

Her brothers were all playing VR games after eating more pie than should be humanly possible. There was no danger of being overheard.

Aaron's eyes narrowed. "Did your mother tell you that?"

"No, I figured it out on my own. She did say that you didn't want me to know what his deal was though even though I'm an a.d.u.l.t."

He sighed and rubbed his face wearily. "You're right, I don't. I'm afraid it will affect you negatively. Can't you leave the past in the past? It doesn't matter who he is."

It mattered to her, alright? Her curiosity had been eating her alive. Plus she was still concerned he might be dangerous. His explanations had been too cryptic and Violet needed to know the truth to decide for herself.

"It matters to me. Will you please tell me? I promise I won't tell anyone else." Except Noah, if he ever answered her texts. But he kept secrets better than anyone else she ever met so he didn't count.

"Fine but if you tell any of your brothers I'll never trust you again," Aaron muttered.

Shame flooded his face, startling her. The situation with the man he called Gray must be a lot worse than she originally expected to be making a face like that! Her dad never seemed to be ashamed of anything. Although he did never speak of the family he had been born into in general…

"He is my father's son by another woman and I didn't meet him until after I had already married your mother. You wouldn't understand…the world I left behind was terrible. I have never once regretted my decision to leave high society and my parents. But they do things differently there…or at least they did twenty-six years ago."

Aaron launched into a brief explanation of the importance of sons and how his father had been obsessed with bloodline purity. Violet was horrified to hear that he tried to make his illegitimate son disappear into the foster system by getting rid of his mother once his pure heir was born.

Her dad's expression grew progressively more miserable as he continued explaining things. She had no idea that he used to have a psychotic stalker. This all sounded like something out of a mystery novel. Even more surprising was discovering that the suave man she had felt so uncomfortable around had murdered said stalker solely for his brother's sake.

"Do you see, Vi? I don't like him but I'm the only person he actually does like. He killed Lacy Knighton and went to prison for me, his only remaining family. He would never do anything to jeopardize our relationship so even though I don't trust him as far as I can throw him, you guys are safe as long as I occasionally do something to keep up the farce," Aaron finished.

Violet was surprised he was so forthcoming. Being blood related to two murderers was no joke. No wonder he hadn't wanted to say anything.

"Why did you tell me so much about this? I only wanted to know who he was."

A wry smile appeared on his face. "I know how you think. The second you found out he was related to me you would've looked it up online and found all of the old gossip from when you were a baby. I figured it would be better coming from me than from the internet."

Violet could respect that. And he was right about her looking things up when they were done talking. That had been her plan. Her dad understood her need to know everything because he suffered from the same affliction.

But wow…despite telling her Gray's story in minimal detail, she could tell her father's life before her mother came along had been fairly miserable. His family was a total wreck. It made perfect sense that he wanted nothing to do with them, even if you didn't factor in their disapproval of the woman he loved.

Violet suddenly felt an upsurge of affection for him. His life had been hard but he was still the best father and husband in the world. He didn't let that hold him back.

She threw her arms around him and buried her face in his chest. "I love you, Dad."

Aaron stroked her hair as he returned the hug. He seemed to understand what she meant. "I love you too."

With one mystery solved, Violet's thoughts turned to the progress she had made with Jeremy and her lack of contact with Noah lately. She really wanted to know if it was because he met someone. If he had, they could double date like they always used to joke about.

If it wasn't…something was definitely wrong. She tried grabbing his interest by texting him what she had learned about her uncle.

'I figured out who Michael Gray was. It's a doozy'

His curiosity must have gotten the better of him because he replied almost instantly. 'Who is he?'

Ugh, Violet should have tried appealing to his natural curiosity ages ago. It was something they had in common. They both always wanted to know as much about the world as possible, ever since they were little. Most of their conversations involved some sort of philosophical significance.

So she told him what her dad had said almost word for word. There were no secrets between them.

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