Chapter 4
For half a second, nobody moved.
Then Michael sprinted toward his car.
“Michael!” Carol screamed.
I stood frozen.
Daniel burst through the front door.
“What happened?”
Michael’s engine roared.
Rebecca stepped into the driveway.
“Stop!”
He backed out so fast his tires jumped the curb.
Then he disappeared.
Carol turned on Rebecca.
“What have you done?”
Rebecca looked at her.
“What I should have done months ago.”
Carol grabbed her arm.
Rebecca yanked away.
“Don’t touch me.”
I had barely spoken.
My mind was stuck on the photograph.
He knows what we did.
I held the phone tighter.
“Who is this man?”
Rebecca took a breath.
“My father.”
Carol closed her eyes.
I looked at her.
“Not Michael’s father?”
“No.”
Rebecca’s voice shook.
“My biological father.”
I looked back at the picture.
“Why was Michael with him?”
Rebecca wiped her face.
“Because Michael found him before I did.”
I waited.
Rebecca continued.
“When I contacted Carol, I wanted medical history. That was all.”
Carol scoffed.
“That isn’t true.”
Rebecca ignored her.
“I have a genetic heart condition.”
My stomach tightened.
Emma’s condition involved her heart too.
I stepped closer.
“What kind?”
Rebecca told me.
The name hit me like cold water.
It was the same inherited abnormality Emma’s doctors had been investigating.
Rachel whispered, “Sarah?”
I couldn’t respond.
I looked at Carol.
“Did you know?”
Carol’s face changed.
“Know what?”
“That Rebecca has the same kind of condition Emma has.”
Rebecca looked shocked.
“Emma has it?”
Carol said quickly, “It’s not confirmed.”
I stared at her.
“You knew.”
“Sarah—”
“You knew?”
“Yes!”
Her voice cracked.
The word echoed through the driveway.
I felt sick.
“How long?”
Carol started crying again.
Rebecca turned toward her.
“You told me Michael was healthy.”
“He is.”
“That isn’t what she asked.”
I stepped toward Carol.
“How long have you known Rebecca’s heart condition might be related to Emma’s?”
Carol couldn’t look at me.
“Four months.”
Four months.
Four months of specialists.
Tests.
Hospital visits.
Doctors asking about family history.
And every time, Michael had told them there was nothing significant on his side.
I thought he didn’t know.
Now I realized he had lied.
“You let doctors work without information that could affect my daughter’s treatment.”
“We didn’t know for certain.”
“You knew enough to hide it.”
Carol shook her head.
“It wasn’t that simple.”
“Stop saying that.”
I didn’t realize I was shouting until Emma appeared behind the living room window.
Daniel immediately closed the curtain.
I lowered my voice.
“Why hide it?”
Rebecca answered.
“Because of my father.”
I looked at her.
She pointed to the photograph.
“His name is Thomas Bennett.”
“Who is he?”
“A retired cardiologist.”
That surprised me.
“He was Carol’s boyfriend when she was seventeen.”
Carol looked furious.
“Rebecca.”
“No. She deserves this.”
Rebecca faced me.
“Thomas didn’t know I existed until Michael contacted him.”
“Why did Michael contact him?”
“At first, supposedly for me.”
“Supposedly?”
Rebecca gave a bitter laugh.
“Michael told me he wanted to help reunite us. But when he found Thomas, he learned Thomas had money.”
I looked at the photograph.
“How much money?”
“A lot.”
Carol said, “That’s irrelevant.”
Rebecca snapped, “Everything is relevant now.”
Then she looked at me.
“Thomas owns several properties. He sold his medical practice years ago. He has no wife. No other children.”
I felt the answer coming before she said it.
“Michael thought he could get money from him.”
“Yes.”
My stomach sank.
“But Michael isn’t his son.”
“No.”
“So why would Thomas give Michael anything?”
“Because Michael told him he had helped raise me.”
I blinked.
“What?”
Rebecca laughed through tears.
“He created an entire story.”
Carol looked at the ground.
I slowly turned toward her.
“You knew.”
She didn’t answer.
“Of course you knew.”
Rebecca continued.
“Michael told Thomas that after I was adopted, Carol secretly stayed involved in my life. He said he grew up knowing me as his sister.”
“That never happened.”
“No.”
“He lied.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Thomas felt guilty.”
Rebecca’s mouth trembled.
“He believed he had abandoned me.”
I sat down on the porch step.
My legs suddenly couldn’t hold me.
Rebecca sat a few feet away.
“Thomas wanted to make things right. He offered to help me financially.”
“So why did Michael need to steal from us?”
Rebecca stared at the pavement.
“Because Thomas started asking questions.”
“What questions?”
“About Emma.”
I looked up.
Rebecca nodded slowly.
“Michael mentioned his daughter had a heart problem. Thomas asked for her diagnosis. When Michael told him, Thomas immediately became suspicious.”
My heartbeat quickened.
“Because it matched yours.”
“Yes.”
“Then what?”
“Thomas wanted genetic testing.”
Carol whispered, “That’s where everything went wrong.”
I looked at her.
“No. I think everything went wrong long before that.”
Rebecca continued.
“Thomas said if I was really his daughter and if Emma had the same inherited condition, there might be important information the doctors needed.”
“Exactly.”
“He asked Michael to tell you.”
I closed my eyes.
Michael knew.
A retired cardiologist had directly told him that his daughter’s doctors needed this information.
And he still kept it from me.
“Why didn’t he?”
Rebecca looked at Carol.
Carol stayed silent.
I said, “Tell me.”
“Because Michael had already lied about our childhood.”
I frowned.
“How would telling me expose that?”
“Thomas wanted to meet the whole family.”
My skin prickled.
“And Michael couldn’t risk everyone talking.”
“Yes.”
I stared at Rebecca.
“And the money?”
She pulled up another message.
“This is why I came.”
She handed me the phone.
The texts were between Rebecca and Michael.
Michael: Thomas is suspicious.
Rebecca: Suspicious of what?
Michael: Everything.
Rebecca: Then tell him the truth.
Michael: You don’t understand what that would cost.
Rebecca: I don’t care about his money.
Michael: Easy for you to say.
My jaw tightened.
More messages.
Rebecca: Stop asking him for money.
Michael: You needed the lawyer.
Rebecca: I never asked YOU for money.
Michael: I’m fixing this.
Rebecca: How?
Michael: Just trust me.
Then a photograph of a signed document.
I zoomed in.
It looked like a loan agreement.
Ten thousand dollars.
Borrower: Michael Carter.
Lender: Thomas Bennett.
I frowned.
“This says Thomas loaned Michael ten thousand dollars.”
Rebecca nodded.
“Three weeks ago.”
My head spun.
“But Michael stole another ten thousand from my drawer today.”
“Yes.”
“So where is Thomas’s ten thousand?”
Rebecca looked at me.
“That’s the money I think you need to ask Carol about.”
We all turned.
Carol went white.
Rachel stepped onto the porch.
“Carol?”
Carol grabbed her purse.
“I’m leaving.”
I stood.
“No.”
She backed away.
“You can’t keep me here.”
“No. But before you go, you’re going to answer one question.”
She shook her head.
I lifted Rebecca’s phone.
“Where is Thomas Bennett’s money?”
Carol said nothing.
Then my phone buzzed.
A message from Michael.
Do not trust Rebecca.
Another.
Mom had nothing to do with this.
Then another.
I made a mistake. I’m fixing it. Please don’t call Thomas.
I looked at Rebecca.
“Give me Thomas’s number.”
Carol rushed toward us.
“No!”
Daniel stepped between us.
She stopped.
I held out my hand.
Rebecca unlocked her phone.
Carol’s voice rose.
“Sarah, you have no idea what you’re doing.”
“I know exactly what I’m doing.”
“You could ruin everything.”
“It’s already ruined.”
Rebecca gave me the number.
I saved it.
Then called.
One ring.
Two.
Three.
An older man answered.
“Hello?”
I swallowed.
“Is this Thomas Bennett?”
“Yes.”
“My name is Sarah Carter.”
Silence.
Then:
“Michael’s wife?”
“Yes.”
His voice changed.
“Is Emma all right?”
I looked at Rebecca.
Then at Carol.
“He told you about Emma?”
“Yes. Is she all right?”
“She’s safe.”
“Thank God.”
I took a breath.
“Mr. Bennett, I need to ask you something.”
“Of course.”
“Did you give my husband ten thousand dollars?”
Another silence.
“Yes.”
“What was it for?”
“A genetic testing program and medical expenses for your daughter.”
I stopped breathing.
Everyone watched my face.
I whispered, “What?”
Thomas sounded confused.
“Michael told me your insurance refused to cover advanced testing. I loaned him ten thousand to begin the process immediately.”
My knees nearly gave out.
That money had been meant for Emma.
Another ten thousand dollars.
Not for Rebecca.
Not for custody.
For my child.
And Michael had taken that too.
“Mr. Bennett.”
My voice shook.
“Emma never received that money.”
There was a long silence.
May you like
Then his voice became cold.
“Where is Michael?”
