(A.N. thank you for being so patient with my inconsistent upload schedule. I have internet for the next few hours so I'll be trying to upload as much as I can. I hope you're enjoying the story :) )

The next year, the siblings were all at Isabella's bridal shower, which was two months before she'd be getting married to William. Troy, Gabriella, Arabella, Aidan, Will, Will's parents, Molly and some of Isabella's other friends were in attendance. They had spent the time conversing and having morning tea but Isabella noticed that Molly was acting quite distant. "Molly, are you alright?" This got everyone's attention and Molly only nodded in response. "You've been kinda quiet."

"It's nothing Bella."

Isabella let it drop for now but observed her best friend from then on. What came to her attention was the dirty look her friend gave to her sister every time Arabella spoke. It came time for the maid of honour to give a speech, which Gabriella announced and Isabella heard Molly's scoff, noticing the way her 16 year old sister seemed to shrink around the girl. "Hold on Ari." She turned her attention to her best friend. "Molly what's your problem? Why are you acting like this towards Ari?"

"I just don't get why she gets to be the maid of honour. I've been your best friend since pre-school and she's just a kid."

Isabella glared at Molly. "Ari is my maid of honour because she is my sister. Your one of my bridesmaid and so is Skylar (Will's sister) like Aidan is one of his best men."

"So I've known you practically your whole life and she's not really your sister."

Tears filled Isabella's eyes. "I told you that in confidence, I trusted you with that and you're going to throw that in my face now?"

Arabella caught her sister's attention. "Bella, what is she talking about? What does she mean I'm not really your sister?"

Isabella hugged her sister, her heart breaking at the distress in the teen's voice. "Hold on Ari." She turned her attention to Molly. "Molly, I want you to leave and until you're ready to apologise to me and my sister, you're out of the wedding." Molly only huffed and walked out so Isabella turned her attention to the other guests, including her fiance and his family. "I'm sorry to cut this short but we have a family matter to discuss. We'll try and reschedule, thank you all so much for coming, we really appreciate it."

All the guests said their goodbyes until it was only William and his family left; he walked over to Bella. "Do you want me to stay?"

She smiled and shook her head. "I think this is something that we need to talk about in private." She kissed his cheek. "I'll see you at home, I love you."

"I love you too Bella."

With that, William and his family left, leaving the Boltons to talk. Troy started the conversation. "Alright guys, why don't you all sit down on the couch and we can talk this through."

All the kids sat down on the couch but Aidan spoke up. "Dad, what is she talking about? What did she mean that Ari wasn't really Bella's sister?"

Troy sighed and wrapped an arm around Gabriella's waist, pulling her into his side; he knew no matter how long had passed, it still hurt her and it hurt so much more knowing that they'd have to explain it to their two youngest children. "Look Bud, this is a hard subject. Ari knows a bit about it and Bella knows fully but I'm going to explain it all to you." He moved himself and his wife over to the other couch and sat them down, keeping her in his arms and he turned to look at her. "Do you want me to explain it Brie?" She nodded against his shoulder and he kissed her head. "Alright, you're both at an age to understand everything I'm about to tell you and honestly, we probably should have told you sooner. I don't really have a reason why we didn't but it's time you should know."

Arabella spoke up, the emotion clear in her voice. "Dad please, the suspense is killing me." Isabella hugged her sister closer to her, fully accepted by the teen.

He sighed. "Ok Ari, it's alright... Wow this is harder than I thought it would be. Ok, before your mom moved to Albuquerque, she lived in Minnesota. She was in a relationship with a bad guy when she was 13 and it turned abusive. He treated your mom terribly and when he turned 16, he - he raped her. She moved to Albuquerque after that to get away from him. Your mom fell pregnant with Bella because of that." Troy sighed. "Molly said that Ari wasn't really Bella's sister because technically I'm not her real dad. Ari, Aidan, as much as I hate to say it, Bella is technically your half sister."

Arabella only cried into her sister's chest but Aidan reacted differently to how anyone expected. He stood up and glared at his dad. "Why the hell didn't you tell us? Why didn't you tell us that Bella isn't fully our sister and that you're not really her dad. Why did you lie to us this whole time?"

"Bud, it's not like that. I've been Bella's dad since I was 16 and sometimes I forget that she's not genetically my daughter."

"I don't want your excuses, you lied to us, you -" He looked over at his mom; Gabriella had tears streaming down her face and he immediately felt guilty. "Mom, I - I'm sorry." He walked over to her and hugged her. "I didn't mean it, I'm sorry I made you cry."

Gabriella hugged her son, shaking her head. "It's not your fault Bud and I'm sorry we didn't tell you earlier. Bella was the only good thing to come from that part of my life and I hate even acknowledging that anything else happened in Minnesota. Bella and Ari always looked so much alike that it was so easy to pretend that she was really your dad's daughter."

"I'm sorry I yelled Mom, that was selfish, I didn't consider how hard it would've been to hear that." He turned his attention to Troy. "I'm sorry Dad."

Troy nodded. "It's fine Bud, it's tough information to process." He watched as his wife walked over to their two daughter and hugged them. "Ari, are you ok?"

She nodded. "W-we're still sisters right?" She looked at Isabella pleadingly, breaking the girl's heart.

Isabella hugged her tighter. "Of course we're still sisters Bubba. You've been my little sister since the day I found out Mom was pregnant. Regardless of genetics, and this goes for both of you, I'm still your sister. That guy who hurt mom is not my father and never has the right to call himself that. We have the same dad and he's the one who's been there for all of us for all these years." She gestured for Troy and Aidan to join the hug – which they obliged – and she kissed her brother's forehead. "I love you guys so much."

"We love you too Bella."