An Old Flame

My hands opened and fisted on my sides. A child. I could have been a father. Fuck. Our lives could have been so much different if I had known.

I took another step back and ran my fingers through my hair. My mother… She was the one responsible for everything. She was the main reason Estelle miscarried.

“I would have protected you... both of you,” I strained through my teeth, locking my eyes on Estelle. “I would have found a way to keep you both safe despite my mother's sick attempts to separate us.”

Anger seethed through every pore of my skin, emphasizing the dull ache in my chest—an odd sense of loss.

More tears streamed down Estelle's cheeks. “You... you don't understand. I was so scared back then… I was a pregnant minor, and I couldn't even imagine what would have happened if my father had found out about it… It was enough that your mother was against it. She was going to get me expelled and make the rumors spread. How could I possibly live in Flower Hills after that? Besides, where