Chapter 4: My Father’s Secret
For several seconds, I thought I had misunderstood her.
“A child?””
Mom’s fingers tightened around mine.
“Yes.””
Lauren stood near the front door, completely silent now.
I rose slowly.
“You’re telling me Dad had another child?””
“No.””
The answer came so quickly that it confused me even more.
“Then what are you saying?””
Mom looked toward the rain-streaked windows.
“Your father didn’t have another child. Your grandfather did.””
I stared at her.
“My grandfather?””
“Your father had a half-sister.””
I actually laughed once.
Not because it was funny.
Because my brain refused to accept it.
“Dad was an only child.””
“That’s what everyone believed.””
Mom reached into her purse again.
This time she removed a folded envelope.
It looked old.
Very old.
The edges were yellowed and soft.
“Your grandfather had a relationship before he married your grandmother. The woman became pregnant. Her name was Margaret Bell.””
I shook my head.
“Dad knew?””
“Not until he was fifty-eight.””
“How?””
“She contacted him.””
Mom’s voice softened.
“Margaret was dying. She didn’t want money. She only wanted your father to know he had a sister named Rebecca.””
I looked toward Lauren.
She was watching us carefully.
Too carefully.
“And the land?””
“Your grandfather originally owned it. Your father inherited it. But after learning about Rebecca, he felt part of it should have belonged to her.””
“Then why didn’t he give it to her?””
“He tried.””
Mom swallowed.
“Rebecca refused.””
“Why?””
“She said she had built her own life. She didn’t want property from a family that had never acknowledged her.””
That sounded final.
But clearly it wasn’t.
“Then what was Dad’s instruction?””
Mom unfolded the envelope.
“Rebecca had a daughter.””
I felt the room tilt.
“A daughter?””
“Her name is Hannah.””
Lauren suddenly said, “Tell him the rest.””
Mom looked at her.
I stepped between them.
“You don’t get to order her around anymore.””
Lauren laughed bitterly.
“You still don’t understand what she’s hiding.””
“Then explain it.””
“The land isn’t Evelyn’s to sell.””
Mom closed her eyes.
I turned back.
“Is that true?””
“Legally, the title is still in my name.””
“That wasn’t my question.””
She hesitated.
“Your father wrote that if the property was ever sold, half the proceeds should go to Hannah.””
I stared at the old envelope.
“So half of $1.8 million.””
“At least.””
“At least?””
Mom nodded.
“The developer increased the offer.””
“How much?””
“Two-point-six million.””
I sat down.
My father had been gone four years, yet suddenly his secrets were standing in my living room.
“Why didn’t you tell me?””
“I was going to.””
“When?””
“After I found Hannah.””
“You don’t know where she is?””
“I didn’t.””
Something in her wording caught me.
“Didn’t?””
Mom looked toward Lauren.
Lauren’s face tightened.
Mom whispered, “I found her three weeks ago.””
Exactly when Mom had moved into our house.
I stood.
“That’s why you’ve been making calls behind closed doors.””
Mom nodded.
“I wanted to be certain.””
“Certain of what?””
“That she was really Rebecca’s daughter.””
Lauren scoffed.
“Oh, she’s certain.””
I turned.
“How would you know?””
Lauren froze.
There it was again.
That flash of fear.
Mom spoke before she could.
“Because Lauren found Hannah before I did.””
The words landed harder than anything else that night.
I looked at my wife.
“What?””
Lauren shook her head.
“That’s not exactly—”
“You knew about Hannah?””
“Yes.””
“For how long?””
She hesitated.
“About five months.””
Five months.
Before the developer contacted Mom.
Before Mom’s apartment flooded.
Before the missing office key had supposedly disappeared.
“How did you even know to look for her?””
Lauren’s eyes dropped.
I knew the answer before she spoke.
“My office.””
She nodded.
“I found one of Thomas’s letters.””
“You didn’t find it. You searched for it.””
“I was looking for our tax documents.””
“In a locked cabinet?””
She said nothing.
I felt something inside me break.
Not the marriage.
Not yet.
Something more basic.
Trust.
“What did you do after you found Hannah?””
Lauren’s eyes filled with tears.
“I contacted her.””
Mom inhaled sharply.
I looked between them.
“And?””
Lauren whispered, “I made her an offer.””
My stomach turned.
“What kind of offer?””
“To sign away any claim she might have.””
Mom covered her mouth.
I stared at the woman I had slept beside for fourteen years.
“How much?””
“Michael—”
“How much did you offer my father’s niece to disappear?””
Lauren’s voice became barely audible.
“Fifty thousand.””
I couldn’t speak.
Half the land could be worth more than a million dollars.
And Lauren had tried to make Hannah vanish for fifty thousand.
“Did she accept?””
“No.””
“What did she say?””
Lauren looked away.
“She said she wanted to meet Evelyn.””
Mom’s shoulders trembled.
“That’s why Lauren wanted me gone.””
Lauren snapped, “That is not why!””
“Then why?””
“Because Hannah isn’t who she says she is!””
Mom stood.
“You have no proof.””
“I have more than you think.””
I stepped forward.
“What does that mean?””
Lauren looked at me for a long moment.
Then she opened her purse.
“I wasn’t trying to steal Evelyn’s money.””
She pulled out a sealed envelope.
“I was trying to stop your mother from giving $1.3 million to a stranger.””
She placed it on the coffee table.
My name was written across the front.
In handwriting I recognized immediately.
My father’s.
Mom gasped.
“Where did you get that?””
May you like
Lauren’s answer made my skin go cold.
“From Hannah.””
