Page 42 of Secrets

"You didn't think I deserved to know who my real father is?"

Shaking her head, Grace says, "Cannon is your father. At the end of the day, that's all that matters."

"Then why keep the letter?"

"I don't know," she admits. "I was going to send it after your father threatened to take me to court for custody because you threw one of your tantrums about having the electricity turned off because of a mistake on the company's end. But the day I planned to mail it, I found out Ryan had been arrested. For the fourth time. He was in prison or jail or a half-way house for most of your life. Probably all of it. That's why I never sent it, and I guess I just forgot about it."

"I cannot believe you," she says. "I'm glad you're okay, but I'm not going to be talking to you for a long time while I sort through this information. Have a good life, Mother."

Grace calls out to her as she leaves, but Sutton has one more stop she needs to make. It's unclear whether securing the building for the clubhouse so close to the hospital was intentional or not, but it's helpful for Sutton today.

Sutton storms into the building she used to consider a sanctuary for so many years, not long after walking away from her mother.

"Sutton, baby, is everything okay with your mom?" Cannon asks, setting his beer down on the bar and turning towards her.

"Yeah, she's fine."

"She'll stay fine?"

The concern is genuine even though she knows he can't stand her mom. "Yeah, she'll be fine, but I won't be talking to her anytime soon. And I won't be talking to you, either, after this conversation."

He narrows his eyes at her. "What's wrong?"

"How could you not tell me?"

"How could I not tell you what?"

"That you're not my dad!"

The blank look on his face stuns Sutton. Not the reaction she'd expected. "Excuse me?"

Holy shit."She never told you, either."

"Who never told me what?"

Tears cloud her eyes as the panic in his tone fills her ears. "I found a letter Mom wrote when I was going through her disaster of paperwork while she was in the hospital. I found... I found a letter. She wrote a letter to the man who is my biological father."

"Wait, back up."

"Mom confirmed that what she wrote in the letter is true. Apparently, I'm supposed to forget about this guy because as far as everyone's concerned, you're my dad. You raised me as your own, but I'm not. I'm not yours."

Rocky and Mac walk up behind Cannon, both grabbing his arms to keep him steady as his hands shake and ball into fists. "No, this is a mistake. She wrote the letter a long time ago when we were fighting or something. It has to be a lie. Something she did to try and fuck with me."

"She wrote it eight years ago. Said it was fifteen years too late," Sutton says. "She tells him I'm his daughter, and that he needs to clean up his act."

"Sutton, there has to be some other explanation," Mac says. "Your mother isn't our favorite person, but she wouldn't let Cannon believe you were his daughter if she knew you weren't."

"Have you forgotten who that woman is?" she cries. "She did. She told me the letter was true. I've spent my entire life looking up to you and being a Cannon. But I'm not a Cannon. I'm a Hennessey. I don't even know who I am anymore. What I can't figure out, though, is why she kept that fucking letter? If she wasn't going to send it, why not just throw it away?"

Rocky shakes his head, his hands still tightly gripping Cannon's arms. "Because she wanted to hurt your father one day with this information."

That sounds just like Grace. "I need to get out of here. I... I don't know anything anymore. And I don't belong here."

Turning, Sutton runs out, her entire world shattered. For twenty-three years, she's been Sutton Cannon, the beloved daughter of Marvin Cannon. Now she's the daughter of a liar and a criminal. Great. Just great.

Chapter Seventeen

Summerville

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