A Second Chance at Forever (Eleanor and Bernard) novel Chapter 886

After warning her, Bernard didn't waste time beating around the bush with Donna. He cut to the chase: "I'm here for two things. If you play it straight with me, I won't interfere with your brother's plea for a reduced sentence. But if you play coy, I'll slap more charges on him, maybe enough to get him the death penalty."

Donna's brother had tried to drown him in a swimming pool when he was five, and Bernard was not about to let bygones be bygones. Now he could use her brother as leverage to squeeze the truth out of Donna, which was a fair deal in his books.

Donna didn't have much of a soft spot, but her little brother, who had always been at her beck and call,was her Achilles heel. So she took the bait: "What do you want to know?"

Bernard asked coldly, "First off, did you start the fire that killed my father?"

Hearing that, Donna caught on quick: "So, you've figured out who your birth mother is?"

Eleanor, hearing this, shot Donna a surprised look, then turned to Bernard.

No wonder Donna had always treated him so harshly; she wasn't his birth mother after all.

And it all made sense why Bernard had come to visit Donna in prison right after his chat with Blake.

Eleanor got the drift, but if Donna wasn't his mother, then who was?

Bernard didn't spill any beans about his mother to Eleanor; he just demanded, "Answer me, did you or didn't you?"