Everything seemed to make sense now. Christine's testimony was like the final piece in the entire puzzle. Now I knew why I thought Christine looked kind of familiar. She bears a strong resemblance to Mrs. Bell.

Steven must have a thing for blonde haired, blue eyed women.

I couldn't believe that Steven had fathered the monster that nearly wiped me off the face of this planet. But the thing that bothered me the most? Victoria and Roman were siblings. They were half siblings all because of their father. That's what really bothered me. But at the same time, it made sense.

Back when I used to spend some time at the Bell household, Caitlin always used to look like she hated Steven for something. Now, after hearing what Christine said, my suspicions were confirmed. At the same time, however, I can't help but feel absolutely horrible for Caitlin.

Her husband had cheated on her, and I know that she loves Steven with all that she can manage. She must have been absolutely heartbroken when she found out. I would've been too if that had happened to me.

When I hear about what happened, it's just too much for me to process. I can't believe it. If past events had felt like a punch, then this is a beating. I don't care about anything else. I don't care that Philip is still out there. I don't care that Ray and my dad were outside, watching. I just need to get out of there as soon as possible.

My hand starts feeling around in a desperate effort to find the doorknob. Once my hand grasps the doorknob, I turn it and  just run out of there. I force my legs to carry themselves out of the police station. I'm just glad I don't run into anyone as I'm trying to get myself out of the police station. Once I get outside, I find a nearby bench and  throw myself down on it.

I start to process all the information that was just hurled at me. Victoria and David are half siblings with Roman. Steven is the father of Roman. Christine and Steven were in love 20 years ago. Caitlin found out about this. All these pieces of information were like  kicks in my chest. And the one question that plagued my mind really frightened me.

Did Victoria know about the affair? Did she know about Roman being her sibling? Did she know ANYTHING at all about this? All these questions plagued my mind. While I'm reviewing everything that happened, I hear the door to the police station open and footsteps making their way to where I'm sitting.

I don't budge one bit. I just keep staring into space. I feel someone sit down behind me. They scoot in a little bit closer to me and put their hands on my shoulders. "Sophia, are you okay?" Ray's gentle voice asks. I sigh. Gosh, I wish I could tell him, "yes," but lying to Ray is the last thing that I want to do right now.

"It's times like this where I wish I could say 'yes', Ray," I say. I turn around and look at his face. He looks worried, but he wants to help me and see what's the problem.

"You can tell me everything, belle. If you want to," he says, and he tucks a piece of my hair behind my ear. I raise an eyebrow at him.

"Ray, you sure you want to hear this?" I ask. He nods, with the "duh," look on his face.

"Of course I do. Tell me everything," he says. I nod.

"Long story short. Victoria and Roman are half siblings," I say in one piece. When that piece of information flies out of my mouth, Ray's jaw drops. If it wasn't attached to his face, it probably would've hit the floor with a loud THUD!

"Wait, are you serious right now?" he asks. I nod.

"I'm dead serious, Ray. I wish I was lying. Why else did I run out of there?" I ask. He shrugs.

"That's true. But how in the name of hell are they half siblings? Fill me in," he says. I sigh.

"20 years ago, Steven and Christine had an affair. Roman was the result of it. It was messy," I say. Ray sighs.

"So Mr. Lerman isn't Roman's father?" he asks. I shake my head.

"Nope. Step father. But at the same time, I feel bad for Christine in a way," I say. Ray looks at me in a strange way.

"Why do you feel bad, Sophia? We all know that she birthed a total monster," he says. I sigh.

"Ray, that's no reason to judge her. And plus, she made a mistake. We all do that. And when her husband found out that Roman wasn't his child, he grew abusive. And he's been abusive for a long time. For one mistake that she made 20 years ago. I feel bad for her," I say. Ray sighs.

"Well, I don't. We've both seen Steven and Caitlin's relationship. Caitlin always looks like she wants to strangle Steven. Christine drove a wedge into their relationship, Sophia. They're at each other's throats. I don't know how to feel any kind of pity for her," he says. I sigh.

"We always differ on these opinions, Ray," I say. He nods.

"But at the end, we're still together," he says, and we smile. While we're happy, my phone suddenly rings. I grab my phone and  answer the call.

"Hello?" I say into the phone.

"Hey Sophia. How's the investigation going?" Sonia's familiar voice asks. I sigh.

"Well, we've found out the motive for Ray's car crash. But in a horrible way," I say.

"Well, tell me. I hate waiting, and you should know that really well. What happened?" Sonia says. I look at Ray, and he nods.

"Roman and Victoria are half siblings," I say in one breath. Sonia gasps. I press my lips together and brace myself for her reaction.

"ARE YOU FREAKING SERIOUS RIGHT NOW? ROMAN LERMAN. HALF SIBLINGS WITH VICTORIA? WHO, WHEN, WHY, HOW?" Sonia shrieks. Sadly, I didn't expect anything less with her reaction. I expected her to lose it.

"Steven and Roman's mom, Christine, had an affair twenty years ago. Connect the dots," I say. Sonia gags on the other end of the line.

"Oh gosh. That just put horrible images in my mind. I can't believe Steven and Christine had-," Sonia says, but I cut her off.

"I know what they did, Sonia. Oh gosh. You had to put that image in my head. Thanks a lot," I say sarcastically.

"No problem! My pleasure!" she says. I roll my eyes while she laughs.

"Anyways, did you ever consider the fact that Roman and Victoria kinda look alike?" Sonia asks.

"Well, Victoria's the blonde version of Steven. David's the brunette version of Caitlin. Roman looks a lot like Christine, but he has some features that are distinct to Steven. So I'd say a little bit. But I never dwelled on it too much," I say. Sonia sighs.

"Well, okay. I thought about it, but I thought it was too ridiculous to happen. I thought there was no way that they could be related. I've been proven wrong," Sonia says. I nod.

"I agree. I feel like my life has been one big fat lie," I say. She nods.

"Agreed. But I still have a question. How did Ray react?" she asks. I look at Ray and smirk. I remove my phone from my ear and  put Sonia on speaker.

"Sorry, what was that?" I ask, feeling a little bit evil.

"How did Ray react?" she asks again.

"Trust me, I was as shocked as Sophia was," he says.

"Ray? How long have I been on speaker, Sophia?" she asks. We both smile.

"I literally just put you on speaker. You're fine," I say. Sonia laughs.

"But he was right next to you, wasn't he?" she asks. Ah dang it. It's a trap

"Oh fine. You win," I say, and she laughs.

"Awesome. But my main question is, did Victoria know about the affair and Roman? Because if she did, then she's no better than Christine. She could've saved you a lot of trouble," Sonia says. To be fair, she's right. But even I'm unsure if she knew about the affair.

"I don't think she knew, Sonia. She actually seems really clueless about the whole deal with the affair. She always used to look completely confused when Caitlin shot dirty looks at Steven. So I think she's innocent," Ray says. Sonia sighs.

"Well, she's innocent in this situation. In many others, she's as guilty as can be," Sonia says.

"Well, can't argue with that," I say.

"Anyways, my mom's asking me to come help her in the kitchen. I'm out. See you guys," Sonia says.

"Later, Sonia," I say, and  hang up. I look at Ray, who smiles back at me.

"I think we should go back inside. I don't want your dad to think that I kidnapped you," he says. I smile.

"Fair enough," I say, and we both get up.

As soon as we're off the bench, I look back at Ray. "Ray?" I ask. His eyes shift over to glance at me.

"Yes, belle?" he asks. I look into his eyes with guilt plastered all over my face.

"I'm sorry," I say. Confusion grows on Ray's face.

"Why, belle? You didn't do anything wrong," he says. I shake my head.

"Yes I did. I caused this whole mess, Ray. If Roman hadn't noticed me, then none of this would have happened," I say.

Ray doesn't say anything. He just walks up to me and hugs me. Confusion spreads throughout me, but I just go with it. He's literally the best person to hug ever. I wrap my arms around him, and he puts his hand on the back of my head.

"Sophia, don't blame yourself for any of this. Roman brought this upon himself. He made the choice of targeting you. His parents couldn't cope with the fact that their son did something horrible. None of this is your fault," he says gently.

I let go of him and  look up at him. "You sure about that?" I ask. He nods.

"I wouldn't be telling you any of this if I wasn't sure about it," he says. I smile.

"You're the best," I say. He smiles.

"I know," he says. I roll my eyes and  walk back to the police station.

"I was just kidding, belle," he says, running after me.

"I know you were," I say,  opening the door. My dad immediately approaches me.

"You doing okay, Sophia?" he asks. I nod.

"Doing fine," I say. He smiles.

"Did Christine give anything about Philip's whereabouts?" he asks me gently. I nod.

"Maldives. You may want to get on it," I tell him. He nods.

"Excellent. I'll send some officers and contact the police there to apprehend him. This should be over soon," he says. I nod.

"Thanks, Dad. Hopefully it will be," I say. He smiles and goes back to his work space. Ray comes up to me.

"Well, it's not all bad. At least we'll be turning 18 soon," he says. I nod.

"Yep. I can't wait," I say. He smiles.

"You ready to tackle being 18?" he asks. I nod.

"After everything that has happened, 18 seems like a cakewalk," I say confidently.

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This chapter is kind of a relief chapter as to what's happened. There was an affair, some child out of wedlock, and that child nearly killed our MCs. Yep, it's time to relieve you guys. And plus, it's time to kind of explain everything and see the reactions of others. How do you guys think Victoria will react to the fact that Roman's her half sibling? Let me know in the comments.

Hey everyone! What's up? Hope life's good for you guys. Also, another thank you to RavensOfOld for making more covers for me! She's spoiling me so much, and I can't be any more grateful.

I also recommend checking out her new book, The Red Ribbon. It's quickly become one of my favorite books on Wattpad. And side note, I think you'll love the characters. Especially a certain few.

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

Please vote/comment/share/message/follow if you like my work! See you all next Sunday with a new chapter of I Never Imagined! Have a great week!

Love you guys,

Shree