I Thought My Dad Was Cheating on My Mom After My Graduation – but What He Was Really Hiding Left Me Speechless

He reached for my arm, but I pulled away. “Sweetheart, please, just let me tell you—”

“I don’t want to hear it,” I choked out, running past him toward the stairs.

“I can’t believe you’d do this to Mom.”

I locked myself in my room and sobbed until I had no tears left. I heard him standing outside my door for a while, but eventually his footsteps faded down the hallway.

***

The next afternoon, there was a knock on the front door. Mom had gone to her book club, and Dad was at the hospital for a few hours.

I considered not answering, but the knocking persisted, gentle but insistent.

When I finally opened the door, I couldn’t move.

Melissa stood there holding a wicker basket of muffins, her eyes red and swollen like she’d been crying. She looked thinner than I remembered, and there was something fragile about her that hadn’t been there before.

“Is your dad home?” she asked, her voice trembling slightly.

I folded my arms across my chest, trying to look tough even though my hands were shaking. “Why do you need him?”

She smiled faintly.

“Because I owe him my life.”

“What are you talking about?” I asked.

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