Chapter 84

“So, Mom had the accident on the very same day! I have a wild guess. The day Tarquin flew back home, Mom picked him up, and they got it on at the airport, which led to us being conceived. But for some reason, they didn’t get a good look at each other, so they had no idea they had just hooked up with one another. And that’s where all the misunderstandings started.”

“Huh?” Evan and Emmett both stared at Elliot.

Their eyes said it all: they didn’t get it, not one bit.

Elliot furrowed his brow and continued, “So, that’s why Tarquin changed the divorce papers, and Mom just silently admitted to everything because she didn’t know that she had been with Tarquin. She thought she had actually cheated during her marriage.”

Evan and Emmett blinked, asking, “Then what?”

Elliot explained, “That could explain why Mom came back wanting a divorce from Tarquin, even though she had seen him several times but didn’t recognize him. Because she had not idea what Tarquin looked like!”

Evan, still puzzled, asked, “So you mean to say, Mom confused Tarquin and our dad, thinking they were two different guys, but actually, they’re the same person?”

“Exactly, that’s what I’m saying! Likewise, Tarquin didn’t know that Mom was his wife in name.”

“Whoa, this is…” Evan scratched his head, “So, tell me, is Tarquin a good guy or a bad guy?” “If you look at it from his point of view, him saying Mom cheated isn’t exactly wrong.”

“How can you say that? Wasn’t he the one who slept with Mom? He’s the one who wronged her and then accuses her of cheating!”

“That’s because he doesn’t know that he was with Mom, just like she doesn’t know she was with Tarquin.”

Evan got all muddled again, “So… so… do we still go after Tarquin for revenge?”

“Yes, we do. No matter what, he hurt Mom’s feelings, and that’s wrong!”

“Yeah, exactly!” Evan nodded vigorously. He was worried Elliot might suddenly say they shouldn’t seek revenge. Evan didn’t care about the details; anyone who made his mom sad deserved payback!

“But…” Elliot’s tone shifted, “We need to clear up two things first. One, Tarquin didn’t want Mom, and he was the one who initiated the divorce, so why is he reluctant to go through with it now? Two, what exactly happened back then? Why did they get intimate but fail to 09 47 see each other’s faces clearly?”

Evan said, “The first point is the most crucial because that’s what’s eating away at Mom. She came back to finalize the divorce.”

“Right, now things are starting to make sense. Although they didn’t recognize each other, Nola picked on Emmett at the airport on the day we came back, and you went to settle the score. You ended up trashing Tarquin’s car, which got Mom and Tarquin tangled up again. Because of that, Tarquin had Mom taken, but we smoked ‘em out and got her to safety. Then, to get back at him for Mom, we snatched some of his business deals and cracked his security system as a warning. Plus, I made sure no one could track Mom! This made Tarquin think that Mom was some big shot who was deliberately making her presence felt and had a target on his back. That’s why he’s been so fixated on Mom, tossing attitude her way! The other day, I accidentally overheard Mom talking with her friend, and she mentioned that Tarquin has been misunderstanding her intentions the whole time.”