CHAPTER EIGHTY FIVE

ELLA'S POV

Taking a deep breath, I extracted the contents and began to read the documents from the envelope. My heart stuttered as the words on the top page leapt out at me - 'Divorce Decree'.

A divorce decree? Between who? My trembling fingers flipped through the stack until I froze, eyes widening as I stared at the names - Daniel Thompson and Patricia Thompson. My parents' names...divorced?

My mind spun as I rapidly flipped through the official documents. The listed date of legal separation, details of the division of assets and custody arrangements. It was all there in black and white.

What the hell? How was this possible? All my life, Mom had spun the story that Dad simply up and left us, abandoning his family without a trace. She'd never once breathed a word about going through an actual divorce proceeding with him.

Rage sparked within me as the realization sank in - I'd been lied to, by my own mother no less, for years upon years about the truth surrounding my father's disappear