9 May, Matthew's Villa, City K

Lexi sat up and looked at Matthew.?He had finally put the pieces together and knew the truth about Dominic.?Hanging her head, she said "Why.?You abandoned me for your career choice."

Sick of having this conversation across from her Matthew moved quickly and pushed Chester aside.?He took the hint and moved across and sat beside Phillip.?As he sat down, while he was furious, as gently as he could Matthew, turned Lexi's head so she was looking at him.

As he stared into the eyes of the only woman he had loved, he could see conflicting emotions running through her eyes.?Which did he believe, the sadness, the guilt, the fear, the horror, concern, and even the love for him that he could see.?She had betrayed him and their commitments and not only made him miss out on being there for her during her pregnancy, but Dominic's life until their marriage.?And even then, she still wanted him to be his stepfather, rather than what he was, his father.

Taking a number of breaths to calm himself down Matthew eventually asked "Why Lexi, why??You know I would have come back in a heartbeat for you."

Before Lexi could even open her mouth, Andrew spat out "B*stard.?You abused your friendship with us, slept with her and abandoned her when she was pregnant with your child.?You are just lucky I did not find out about this to now, otherwise I would have hunted you down for hurting her."

Matthew looked up and spat "Shut up Andrew.?This is nothing to do with you, it is between Lexi and I."

"Your choices caused months of hell for Lexi and had her breakdown after what that b*stard Richard put her through.?You and only you are to blame for that."

Lexi, quietly said "Enough, enough I do not need this.."

Matthew could see that Lexi was at breaking point but needed to have the full truth if he was ever going to understand this mess.?Chester seemed more logical to deal with, so he turned and said "Tell me what happened?"

"I knew Lexi was downhearted after you left, and despite the horror that was my engagement and first marriage, I was regularly at home because I was concerned about her.?It was obvious when you were there that summer that the two of you had a relationship and I wanted to help her deal with you being away for the time you intended to be away.?In the weeks after you left our parents dragged Richard to the house for dinner after dinner.?They intended to arrange a marriage between Lexi and him, but she was horrified at that.?About six weeks after you left, I had noticed Lexi was not well.?What I now know is that she was dragged to the doctors, and her pregnancy confirmed.?As of her age when she fell pregnant they could not force her to have an abortion but as of her age they arranged her marriage to Richard and signed the marriage registration on her behalf.?I just assumed that she had gotten drunk and they fell into bed and marriage was needed due to her pregnancy.?I think you know what happened during the marriage, and after Richard's death as she was so close to a breakdown, I arranged for her to go overseas for a while and took Dominic in.?I flew her back every two to three weeks to spend a long weekend with him, and as he got older flew with him to her location.?It was when Dominic was about six months old, that I stumbled on a photo album with baby photos of you and Andrew, Matthew.?Dominic was a spitting image of you, and I asked Lexi for the truth.?She swore me to keep the secret, as she had been through hell to ensure she could keep Dominic and did not want to ruin your career."

"And, before you have a go at me baby brother, I figured it out when Dominic was about nine months old.?I spotted Chester with him, took one look and when home to look at the family albums.?I knew at a glance whose son Dominic was, but I said nothing as Lexi had made her choice and I wanted to respect that."

Matthew looked around the room.?Here was his wife, brother, and two brothers-in-law who kept this secret from him.?Leaving his son vulnerable.?He wanted to scream.?He had lost out on so much and yet no one seemed to care about him.

"Why now?"

"Now."?Lexi pushed his chest and started to hammer on it with fists.?"Dominic is sick, and all you can do is ask why.?Have you no conscious?"

"Conscious, Lexi, your unilateral choices robbed Dominic and I of years together, caused you so much hard and forced a fight that is not necessary.?You are the problem and are selfish to no end."

"Selfish.?That is you Matthew Rong.?You made career choices and left me with no opportunity to contact you when there was a problem.."

"Hold it Lexi," said Matthew holding up a hand "You supported my choices, and yes I was limited on contact I could have, you knew the procedure to follow for emergency contact, yet you did not do that.?One call, and I would have been here for you.."

"And ruined your dreams of a career in special forces Matthew, you would never have forgiven me for that.."

"And you expect me to accept that.?Lexi, you knew that if I were needed, I would come back.?The Military had you as my next of kin and all you had to say was family emergency and they would have got me back here as quickly as could be arranged."

Phillip, said "Special Forces?"

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