(Sophia) 

"Am I doing the right thing?" I ask myself repeatedly as my dad explains the situation to Ray. Should I do it? Should I go inside and try to talk to Christine? What was I risking by talking to her?

This wasn't an easy choice. If I went inside, then Christine may try to do something to me. She doesn't look dangerous , but who knows what she possesses on the inside. I've spent way too much time around Sonia to know what that feels like. 

But at the same time, if I don't go inside, then it may take a lot longer for us to crack who had done this to Ray. Roman's dad was still out there. Somewhere. We didn't know where. If I didn't take this chance, then Roman's dad could strike again. 

I don't need a repeat of what happened 2 months ago. My sanity can't afford to lose Ray again. Plus, my parents, Anthony, and Sonia always told me one thing. "You never know until you take the chance." Those words kept repeating in my mind. 

I know that I have to do this in an attempt to bring closure to all of us. It may not work, but it's worth a shot. 

"Dad?" I ask once he's done explaining. My dad looks at me. 

"Yes, love?" he asks. The look in his eyes tells all. He knows that I want to do something that will make him nervous. It's a father daughter connection. 

"I'll go in there and talk to Christine," I say bluntly. No sugarcoating. Nothing. Just the plain blunt truth. This isn't the time to sugarcoat anything. My dad looks at me like I just said that I hated Oreos. 

"Sophia, you are not going in there. I don't know what she can do to you, and you're too young to be going in there-," he says, but I cut him off. I'm tired of always being babied. Granted, sometimes I liked it, but this time, I won't tolerate it. I'm almost a legal adult. 

He's treating me like I was a toddler. I want to go talk to Christine. I want to see what I could do to make Christine talk. It isn't going to be easy, but it was worth a shot. I convey all my thoughts to my dad. 

"Dad, I'm not a little girl anymore. I'm almost 18 years old. You're acting like I'm 5 years old again. I'm not that 5 year old anymore. I want to have this case solved for Ray. I want to get some answers. And plus, your team will be here, monitoring me so that nothing goes wrong," I say angrily. 

Once I make my point, my dad seems to relax a bit. He seems to notice that he is being completely unfair with me right now. Most of the worry and fear fades from my dad's eyes, but there is a small sliver left. 

"Ok, Sophia. I'll let you in. But be careful," he says, emphasizing his command. I nod. It wasn't a suggestion; it was an order. We are both keen on the possibilities that Christine possesses. And I'm going to remind myself of those constantly.

 My dad puts his hand on the doorknob and slowly opens the door. I can still sense the slight hesitation in his step. Slowly, I walk inside, ready to tackle anything that Christine throws at me. Once I walked inside the room, my dad closes the door behind me. 

When I enter, Christine doesn't stir. She just keeps staring at the table with her arms crossed and an angrily dead look in her eyes. When I see her face, I immediately turn on my tough mode. My dad, being a police officer, taught me, along with Sonia, how to be tough with people. 

Sonia has dealt with people like these almost every day of our friendship together. My dad has dealt with these people longer than I've been alive. They're experts. If I want to get anything out of Christine, I have to put whatever they taught me to use. I cross my arms, and establish order in my voice. 

"Now. We can do this the easy way or the hard way. The easy way we do this is that I ask you a few questions, you answer them easily, and there will be no apprehension. The hard way is when you just don't cooperate and you try to be smart with me. You pick," I say. 

The second those words fly out of my mouth, I realize that I sound like a drunk cop from a bad action movie. The things I just said are probably the corniest choice of words that I've ever chosen. Christine barely looks up at me. 

She just snaps, "Listen, princess. You really think that I would tell you anything about my son or my husband? You're in a fantasy world, dear. If you think that I'm going to crack anytime soon, then you're wrong." 

Her words intend to pierce me, but they do nothing more than to bounce off of me. I realize that I'm probably being a little bit too mean. I tone my attitude down a little bit and sit down in front of Christine. It's time to play the sympathy card. 

"Look, I understand where you're coming from. I know that you and your husband lost your son, and I'm sorry that happened. But if you want to make this easier on yourself, then you have to tell us what you can," I say, the aggressive tone in my voice changing to a serene one. 

This time, Christine actually moves a little bit in her chair. She actually looks at me straight in the eye. When I scan her and process her facial features, the nagging feeling in me intensifies. She reminds me a lot of someone. I just can't put my finger on it. It actually makes me a little bit uncomfortable, but I don't show it. 

Christine seems slightly affected by my words. I can't tell if it's in a good way or a bad way. "No you don't! You don't understand the pain that I went through! My husband went ballistic when he found out that my son had done so many horrible things to such girls! We were disgusted! And he couldn't take it!" Christine says, standing up angrily. 

The tone and her choice of words provides me with an answer. I sit back and process what she just said. When I think about her words, I realize that when she was referring to how her and her husband felt, she said, "my son,", not, "our son." The thought crosses my mind. 

Was Philip Lerman not the father of Roman Lerman? "Your son? Philip isn't the father of your son?" I ask. She sighs. She presses her lips together and looks away from me. I sigh a little bit too. 

"Christine, I'm not going to judge you in any way for this. I'm the last person to judge anyone for anything. I've been judged all my life, and I don't want to do the same with other people," I say. Christine looks at me straight in the eyes. Beneath the layer of lackluster emotions, there's a thin layer of what I never imagined to see. Trust. 

She thinks that she can trust me. Christine parts her lips, and she tells me what happened. "20 years ago, I met a man who swept me off of my feet. He was my everything, and he gave me everything that I wanted in life. About 10 months into the relationship, he left me abruptly. He said that he couldn't do this anymore. He said that he had a wife and son at home, and that he couldn't leave his role as a husband and a father. He left me all alone," she says. 

I start to feel nauseous. A devoted husband and father cheating on his wife like that was something that just didn't make sense to me. "A month later, I had gotten into another relationship with Philip. 3 weeks after starting the relationship with Philip, I found out that I was pregnant. I was overjoyed. I thought that Philip and I were going to have a baby. It was magical. Then, after Roman was born, we did a paternity test just to make sure. I realized that he was the father of Roman. I went to his house and told him the results. He wasn't as pleased as I had hoped for him to be. He slammed the door in my face and acted like nothing had happened," she says. 

Oh gosh, that's actually pretty awful. I can't imagine what Christine must have gone through. That's pretty messed up. "To make matters worse, when Philip had found out that Roman wasn't his child, he turned abusive. He'd call me the worst names ever, and he'd say that Roman would always be his child. He even tried to convince me that we had a baby together. Eventually, after Roman was arrested, Philip grew to the most abusive that he had ever been," she says. 

When she says that, I can see some of the bruises that she suffered due to Philip's abusive nature. I don't tolerate abuse at all, and the nausea was replaced by anger. 

"Philip started to watch what you and your little boyfriend were doing. Then, he realized that you two knew his daughter. Roman's dad's kid knew you guys. He thought the perfect way to get back at his family was to get you in the car accident, and to cause grief onto all your families. He had him and his friends carry it out, and all was done. But he survived," Christine says. 

Shock slaps me in the face. My dad was right. It wasn't an accident. It was premeditated murder. "Now, Philip is in the Maldives. Hiding somewhere," she says. I sigh, and try to hide the disappointment that just hit me. 

"Who was the man that you had an affair with?" I ask. Hesitation forms on Christine's face. 

She looks at me, and then she says in one breath, "Steven Bell." 

My mouth falls open, and a huge wave of shock hits me. It can't be. No. This isn't possible.

Not Victoria's dad. 

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BOOM! PLOT TWIST! WHAT ABOUT THAT? YOU DIDN'T SEE THAT COMING, DID YOU? *takes deep breath* I should probably calm myself down. So, what did you think of that? Did you expect Steven and Christine to have an affair? Let me know in the comments. 

Hey everyone! My evilness is at an all time high! Woooo! I finally gave you the answers that you deserve from the last chapter! Now, how shocked were you when you found out Steven was Roman's dad? Let me know.

Also, if you think this seems kinda unimportant, it'll all play out. You just have to trust me on this one. I promise it'll all work out. And also, side note, I'm changing what I'm signing off on chapters with. Literally 99% of my followers on here refer to me by "Shree," so I'm going to go with that. Feel free to call me whatever you'd like though. 

That's pretty much it. Hope you all liked this chapter!

Please vote/comment/share/follow/message if you like my work! See you all next Sunday with a brand new chapter! Have a great week!

Love you guys, 

Shree