Explained

Punk sat in the sitting room for a minute trying to process what he'd just heard before he got up and walked down the ward, opening up AJ's bedroom and walking in, closing the door behind him.

"Phil, please. I mean it." AJ said, pacing a little, "Get out of my room." She said.

"No." Punk said, "No, you're not dropping something like that on me and then walking away." He shook his head, "He's your father?" He asked in absolute disbelief.

"Not by choice." AJ said, "And not by my mom's choice either." She emphasised as he looked across at her.

"H-How… w-what…" He swallowed, not sure what to really say. What to ask. He was so taken back by it.

"She worked for him." AJ nodded, "Like you said. She was a maid. She got the job through a friend. It was her first job here in the states." She said as Punk listened, not daring to interrupt, "He always made passes at her. She thought it was just his nature. She barely spoke any English so she couldn't actually have much of a conversation with him." She shook her head, standing at the opposite side of the room from him.

"He raped her in one of the bedrooms." AJ said, "His wife was downstairs." She said.

"Oh my God." Punk ran his hand through his hair, feeling sick at the thought.

"She left the job right away and then she found out she was pregnant with me. God knows why she decided to have me but she did. And I was hers. Not his." AJ nodded, "She made sure I knew that when I was growing up." She said, "She worked so hard to keep us safe. She had three jobs at one point. We got evicted a lot. But she kept going. I never went without a meal or a new pair of shoes for school or birthday presents." She said, "She was a good mom." She nodded.

Never had she told anyone about this. Never had this come out of her mouth to anyone. But it was just pouring out. She couldn't stop it.

"But how… how did she die? Was it him? Why after fifteen years-"

"She never mentioned his name to me when I was growing up but it got to a point where I… I wanted to know who my dad was. I thought hey, what's the worst that can happen? He turns out to be a deadbeat a drunk." AJ shrugged, "I would have really preferred a deadbeat drunk dad." She nodded as Punk sighed.

"When I was fourteen, she sat me down and told me everything." AJ nodded, "I was… a little bit of a troublesome kid, I guess. I heard it and it just made me mad. Confused. So… I showed up at his house." She said as Punk raised his eyebrows.

"When you were fourteen?" He asked.

"Yeah." AJ nodded, "One of his butlers or whatever answered the door, and I asked if could speak to him." She said, "He came to the door and I told him that I was his daughter from the woman he raped fourteen years ago." She nodded, "His face dropped. He damn well knew what I was talking about. And I looked a lot like my mom." She said, "Door got slammed in my face."

"So he never knew you existed until then?" Punk asked.

"Yeah. Unless he knew and was hoping we'd just stay away. Maybe he figured my mom wouldn't tell me who my real father was." AJ shrugged.

"And then what?" Punk asked, trying to keep up.

"I told my mom that I went to his house and she flipped. Told me I should never have went there. That we don't need him and that we'd never get anything from him. He had a wife and a few kids and that was his family." AJ said, "Couple of months later, I come home from school and I find my mom dead in our living room." She nodded as Punk sighed.

"You called the cops?" He asked as AJ nodded.

"Yeah… Yeah, I called them and they asked me a few questions." AJ said, "Not enough as they should have, though." She said, "The body got moved out and I don't know I was just in shock. Disbelief. I went for a walk. As you do when you find your mom dead in your apartment." She shook her head, "I got kidnapped for three weeks." She nodded.

"What?!" Punk shook his head.

"When I was on my walk someone grabbed me into their car. Bag over my head. Tied my arms, you name it." She said, "I woke up in some loft with three guys in the room. I just started begging them not hurt me. I thought maybe they were the ones who hurt my mom." She said, "For some reason, the mayor didn't cross my mind. I know that's dumb but you just think cause he's in a public position that he'd never kill someone, you know? He might rape them but… no, he'd never kill someone, right?" AJ said as Punk listened.

"Did these guys work for him?" Punk asked.

"Yeah." AJ nodded, "Yeah, after a night of screaming he showed up and I… I realised that it was him who killed my mom." She said, "Maybe not him physically, but he made the call for it." She said, "He admitted it to my face." She said.

"He just sat down and told you?" Punk asked. It was hard to believe, especially at the hands of a public figure like AJ had said. It was beyond words.

"Yeah. He told me that he and my mom had an affair which is bullshit. I trust my mom. She would never lie to me." AJ said, "He fed me bullshit that they had an affair and that he couldn't risk that sort of publicity getting leaked, so he had her killed. Like it was just a natural thing to do." AJ shook her head, "He said he couldn't afford to be hit by lawsuits and courts. That this was best for everyone involved." She said, still remembering it all painfully like it was yesterday, "My own mother." AJ shook her head tearfully.

"But… she could have exposed him any time." Punk shook his head.

"I was her proof that he didn't know she had." AJ nodded, "When I showed up, he realised that this was a little more than just a crazy woman claiming he raped her. It wouldn't take much to get a paternity test and then how would he deny that?" She questioned, "So… instead he killed her." AJ shook her head.

"Oh my God, April." Punk shook his head, not believing it. It was horrifying. Terrifying that a powerful person had done something like this.

"He kept me there for three weeks and told me that if I ever spoke to anyone, the press, cops or lawyers that he'd find out and that I'd be dead, just like my mom." AJ nodded, "When I was let go… no one seemed to have even noticed I was gone. My mom's case was already dying out. No one was talking about it." She shook her head, "I didn't have any other family. Believe it or not, I had no friends at school." She shrugged, "And when I went back to our apartment, someone else was already living in it." She nodded as Punk shook his head.

He couldn't quite digest the kind of experience she'd had. It was horrifying from start to finish.

"Where'd you go?" Punk shook his head.

"I went to a youth hostel. I stayed there until I was sixteen off and on. I lived in trauma for the most part. I couldn't believe what had happened." She said, "I got kicked out of the hostel eventually cause they don't let you stay long-term. So I was on the streets. I uh… I slept with a few guys for money. Started doing some stupid stuff. Got carried away between these moments of highs and lows. It was like a rollercoaster. Feeling invincible and then I'm eating a whole tub of pills trying to kill myself." She said as he looked across at her.

"Second attempt at killing myself was when I ended up in here. I don't remember much of it but apparently I was in a bad way." She shrugged, "I knew my mom was bipolar so I guess it was dumb of me to never question it. I just thought I was grieving or just miserable with how little I had to live for." She said.

"And your mom was medicated?" Punk asked.

"Yeah. Yeah well she first started having symptoms after she had me. She thought it was the trauma but she wound being diagnosed bipolar, and she had meds that worked. I can count on one hand the amount of times she had a breakdown." AJ nodded, "She had her down days of course but… she got the right treatment."

"And so the mayor just thinks you're out there living in silence? That he's scared you away?" Punk questioned.

"I don't know if he knows I'm in here but yeah, I think he buried his evidence when he… killed my mom. And if I tell anyone… I'm dead just like her. You-You should never have started looking into it. It's why I don't talk about it with anyone. I'm the reason my mom's dead and I… I don't wanna be responsible for anyone else getting hurt-"

"Hey, you are not the reason she's dead." Punk walked over to her as she shook her head.

"I am. I shouldn't have gone to him. I thought I was being a little rebel kid and I thought… I thought me and my mom could take him down. I wanted him to pay… instead he killed my mom." She cried as Punk shook his head.

"You are not responsible for any of this." Punk made clear, "He's gonna pay. He's gonna pay for what he did to your mom and to you." He said. It was beyond anything he'd expected. He still couldn't quite believe it.

"No… no, there's no point." AJ said with frustration, "He's got way too much power and I've spent eight years in this place. No one would ever take me seriously-"

"I take you seriously." Punk looked in her eyes, cupping her face as he watched the tears run down her cheeks.

"It's all my fault." AJ cried.

"No…" Punk sighed, wrapping his arms around her tightly as she hugged into him desperately, "No, this isn't your fault." Punk shook his head, listening to her sob into his chest as he caressed the back of her head softly, "I think he knows you're in here, April." Punk sighed to himself with dread as she looked up at him.

"What?" She shook her head.

"I think he knows you're in here, and he's doing everything he can to keep you in here." Punk said, "I saw him the other day shaking hands with Steve outside this place. Looked like they were buddy's."

"He was here?" AJ shook her head, backing up a little.

"Hey, it's ok." Punk said, taking her hand, "I'm never gonna let him hurt you." He said, "And we are gonna get him. For everything." He said as AJ hugged into him tightly. Until now, she'd never had any form of protection. Only herself. She'd lived in fear for the past ten years. Fear of speaking. She figured she'd finally let it all out because she felt like she had the protection to do so. She had him.