Chapter 4: The Father Outside My Window
For a moment, I forgot how to breathe.
My father was sitting in a black sedan outside my house.
The same father whose funeral I had attended three years earlier. The same man whose ashes I had scattered beside my mother's grave.
He looked older, thinner, but unmistakably alive.
And he was smiling.
"Mark?"" Vanessa whispered.
I slowly lowered the phone.
"He's outside.""
Michael tried to stand, but his legs gave way.
"Don't let him in.""
I looked at my brother.
"How can he be alive?""
Michael grabbed the edge of the mattress.
"Because the man you buried wasn't your father either.""
I turned toward him.
"What?""
Before he could answer, my phone rang again.
I put it on speaker.
My father's voice filled the room.
"Son, I know you're confused. That's understandable. But I need you to bring Michael outside.""
"Why?""
"Because this family has suffered enough.""
I laughed bitterly.
"You locked your own son behind a wall.""
There was a brief silence.
Then he replied calmly.
"I kept him alive.""
"YOU MADE EVERYONE BELIEVE HE WAS DEAD!""
"Because there were people looking for him.""
"Who?""
My father sighed.
"People your mother trusted. People who destroyed this family.""
I looked at Vanessa.
She was shaking her head.
"Don't believe him, Mark.""
My father heard her.
"Vanessa, I see you're still playing the devoted wife. How touching.""
I tightened my grip on the phone.
"Stay away from my family.""
"Your family?"" he repeated.
"You don't even know which child belongs to you.""
I felt my stomach turn.
"Get out of your car.""
"Come outside and talk to me.""
"No.""
His voice became colder.
"Then perhaps I should come inside.""
The call ended.
I immediately locked the front door and checked the windows.
Michael dragged himself toward the hallway.
"Mark, we have to get the evidence.""
"What evidence?""
"The original ledger. Your father has it.""
"Where?""
"In his office. Behind the false bottom of the desk.""
Vanessa interrupted.
"No. We can't go there.""
I turned toward her.
"Why?""
"Because that's exactly where he wants you to go.""
Michael shook his head.
"He doesn't know I copied the pages.""
Vanessa looked at him sharply.
"You did what?""
Michael reached into the lining of his shirt and pulled out a tiny plastic sleeve.
Inside were three folded sheets.
"Your father thought I was too weak to remember anything.""
He handed them to me.
The first page contained hospital records.
The second contained financial transactions.
The third was a handwritten list of names.
One name appeared repeatedly.
Richard Hale.
Another name was unfamiliar.
Evelyn Cross.
I looked at Vanessa.
"Who is Evelyn Cross?""
Her face turned white.
"My mother.""
I stared at her.
"Your mother worked for mine?""
"Yes.""
"And she helped with the birth?""
Vanessa nodded slowly.
"She was the nurse who assisted during the delivery.""
I looked down at the papers.
"Why didn't you tell me?""
"Because my mother disappeared after your mother died. I spent years trying to find her.""
Michael suddenly spoke.
"She didn't disappear.""
Vanessa looked at him.
"Don't.""
"Your father showed me a photograph of her.""
"Michael, stop!""
"He told me she was the reason your mother died.""
Vanessa covered her ears.
I stepped toward her.
"Is your mother alive?""
She slowly nodded.
"She called me three weeks ago.""
"Where is she?""
"I don't know. She said she was hiding.""
I felt anger rising in my chest.
"Three weeks ago? And you said nothing?""
"She told me someone was watching Lily. She said I had to keep Michael hidden until she could find the original hospital records.""
I stared at her.
"So you knew he was alive all this time?""
Vanessa started crying.
"I knew for eight months.""
The confession hit harder than I expected.
Eight months.
Eight months of sitting beside me at dinner. Eight months of kissing me goodbye. Eight months of watching our daughter sneak food upstairs while pretending nothing was wrong.
I turned away.
Then Lily appeared at the top of the stairs.
"Daddy?""
I immediately walked toward her.
"What are you doing up here, sweetheart?""
She held a small stuffed rabbit.
"Grandpa called me yesterday.""
My blood ran cold.
"What did he say?""
Lily looked toward the window.
"He told me he was coming to take me somewhere special.""
Vanessa rushed toward her.
"Lily, what did you tell him?""
"Nothing, Mommy. He asked me to keep a secret.""
I knelt in front of my daughter.
"What secret?""
She reached into the pocket of her pajamas and pulled out a small silver bracelet.
The same bracelet I had seen in the photograph.
I stared at it.
"Where did you get this?""
"Grandpa gave it to me.""
Michael suddenly whispered something.
"That's impossible.""
I looked at him.
"What?""
He pointed at the bracelet.
"That belonged to the other baby.""
Before I could ask another question, headlights flashed across the front wall.
The black sedan was moving.
But it wasn't leaving.
It was turning into our driveway.
Then someone knocked three times.
May you like
A man's voice came through the door.
"Mark, open up. Your daughter deserves to know who her real mother is.""
