Chapter 6
Nobody moved.
The only sound was a piece of broken glass spinning on the tile.
Emily stared at her mother.
“What did he say?”
Sarah looked like she had stopped breathing.
Michael’s voice came through Jason’s phone.
“Sarah?”
I grabbed the phone.
“What game are you playing?”
“No game.”
“You are her biological father.”
Michael laughed softly.
“Am I?”
Emily backed away from the table.
“No.”
Sarah whispered her name.
“Emily.”
“No.”
“Please.”
Emily looked at her mother with horror.
“Tell me he’s lying.”
Sarah opened her mouth.
Nothing came out.
That silence changed the room.
It changed all of us.
Emily shook her head.
“Mom.”
Sarah began to cry.
Michael said, “Now you understand why she was so desperate to keep me gone.”
I ended the call.
Emily immediately screamed, “Why did you hang up?”
“Because he’s using this.”
“I don’t care!”
She grabbed the phone from my hand and called him back.
No answer.
Again.
No answer.
“Michael!”
She threw the phone onto the couch.
Sarah stepped forward.
Emily moved away.
“Don’t touch me.”
“Please let me explain.”
“That’s all anyone does in this family. Explain after getting caught.”
Her words landed on all of us.
Sarah closed her eyes.
“I didn’t know for sure.”
“What does that mean?”
“Before I married Michael…”
She stopped.
Emily looked sick.
“Before?”
“I was seeing someone else.”
I sat down slowly.
I had never heard this story.
“Who?”
Sarah wiped her face.
“His name was Daniel Cole.”
Emily repeated it.
“Daniel.”
“Yes.”
“Is he my father?”
“I don’t know.”
“You don’t know?”
“I found out I was pregnant after Michael and I had gotten back together.”
“You told me my whole life that Michael was my father.”
“I believed he probably was.”
“Probably?”
Emily’s voice broke.
Jason tried to move toward her.
She held up a hand.
“No. Just… nobody touch me.”
Sarah continued.
“Michael knew there was a possibility.”
That explained too much.
The bitterness.
The money.
The letter.
Maybe even why Michael could walk away.
“Did you ever test?” I asked.
“No.”
“Why not?”
Sarah looked at me.
“Because Michael said it didn’t matter.”
I laughed without humor.
“The man who is currently announcing it to everyone said it didn’t matter?”
“At the time.”
“What changed?”
Sarah looked down.
“He became suspicious when Emily was around three.”
“Why?”
“She didn’t look like his family.”
Emily stared.
“So he left because he thought I wasn’t his?”
“No.”
Sarah’s answer came too quickly.
“Then why?”
“We were already falling apart.”
“Did he ever ask for a DNA test?”
“Yes.”
The room went silent again.
“And?”
“I refused.”
Emily looked as if she had been slapped.
“You refused?”
“You were four.”
“That doesn’t answer why.”
“I was terrified.”
“Of what?”
“Of losing you.”
“To who?”
“Michael. Daniel. Anyone.”
Emily laughed bitterly.
“You were afraid of everyone except yourself.”
Sarah broke.
She bent forward, sobbing.
I had never seen Emily look at her mother that way.
Not anger.
Betrayal.
Something colder.
“Where is Daniel?”
“I don’t know.”
“When was the last time you saw him?”
“Twenty-five years ago.”
“Does he know I exist?”
“No.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
Emily grabbed her purse.
“Where are you going?” Jason asked.
“Anywhere else.”
“I’m coming.”
“No.”
“Emily.”
“I need to be alone.”
She walked out.
Jason looked at me.
“Follow her.”
“She said—”
“Not close enough that she sees you. Just make sure she’s safe.”
He nodded and left.
Sarah sat on the floor near the broken glass.
I grabbed a broom.
She looked up.
“Don’t.”
“What?”
“Don’t clean it like everything is normal.”
“I don’t want someone cutting their foot.”
That made her cry harder.
I swept in silence.
Afterward, I sat across from her.
“Does Michael know Daniel’s full name?”
“Yes.”
“Did you tell him?”
“He knew Daniel.”
“How?”
“They worked together.”
I stared.
“Of course they did.”
“David.”
“What else?”
“What do you mean?”
“What else haven’t you told me?”
“Nothing.”
I shook my head.
“You no longer get to say that and expect me to believe it.”
She closed her eyes.
“I understand.”
“No, you don’t.”
“I do.”
“For nineteen years, I thought we had the kind of marriage where the ugly things were behind us because we had told each other the ugly things.”
“I was ashamed.”
“So you let me build a family on incomplete information.”
“You loved Emily.”
“I still love Emily.”
“Then what difference would her biology have made?”
“None.”
“Exactly.”
“No, Sarah.”
I leaned forward.
“That is not your defense. You don’t get credit because I would have loved her anyway. You took away my chance to choose honesty.”
She covered her face.
“I know.”
For the first time, she sounded like she did.
My attorney called.
I told Angela what had happened.
She went quiet.
“That changes the motive.”
“How?”
“If Michael may not be Emily’s biological father, his declaration was knowingly questionable.”
“So?”
“So why force her to sign it?”
I had no answer.
“Could he be trying to establish paternity for inheritance?”
“Possibly. Or challenge it. Depends what he wants.”
“He claims he’s dying.”
“Have you independently verified that?”
“Sarah saw medical records.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
I paused.
“No.”
“Verify it.”
The thought made my skin crawl.
“You think he could be lying about cancer?”
“I think you have a man who has lied about documents, concealed motives, and pressured your daughter into signing legal paperwork.”
She was right.
“Also,” Angela said, “find Daniel Cole.”
“Why?”
“Because if paternity is central to whatever Michael is doing, the fastest way to remove uncertainty is a DNA test.”
That evening, Jason called.
“I found Emily.”
“Is she okay?”
“She’s sitting at a park.”
“Alone?”
“I’m across the street.”
“Good.”
“She’s been there almost two hours.”
I looked at the clock.
“Has Michael contacted her?”
“No.”
“Stay there.”
“I will.”
Then Jason hesitated.
“David?”
“What?”
“I think I know who Daniel Cole is.”
I stood.
“How?”
“Emily searched his name.”
“Of course she did.”
“There are a lot of Daniel Coles.”
“Then how do you know?”
“Because one of them worked for the same construction company Michael did twenty-five years ago.”
My heart sped up.
“Where is he?”
“Ohio.”
We lived in Pennsylvania.
“Anything else?”
“He owns a hardware store.”
“Married?”
“Widowed.”
“Children?”
Jason paused.
“One son.”
I stared out the window.
“Send me his information.”
He did.
Daniel Cole.
Sixty-one.
Gray hair.
Kind face.
Completely ordinary.
I hated him immediately for being a possibility.
Then I hated myself for hating him.
He knew nothing.
Maybe.
I called Angela.
She told me not to contact him until she had done a basic background check.
At midnight, Emily came home.
Jason walked her to the door.
Sarah had gone upstairs hours earlier.
Emily found me sitting in the dark living room.
“You waited up.”
“Yes.”
She sat at the opposite end of the couch.
For a while, neither of us spoke.
Then she said, “Jason found Daniel.”
“I know.”
She looked at me.
“Of course you know.”
“Are you going to contact him?”
“I don’t know.”
“You don’t have to decide tonight.”
“I don’t know anything anymore.”
I looked at her.
“You know some things.”
“Like what?”
“You know Jason loves you.”
She stared down.
“You know your mother loves you, even though she handled this terribly.”
Her jaw tightened.
“And?”
“You know I love you.”
Her eyes filled.
“Do I?”
That hurt.
“Yes.”
“What if Michael isn’t my father?”
“Doesn’t change anything.”
“What if Daniel is?”
“Doesn’t change anything.”
“What if neither of them are?”
“Emily.”
I moved closer.
“You could tell me tomorrow that you were dropped here by aliens and I’d ask whether they were coming to the wedding.”
A laugh escaped her before she could stop it.
Then she cried.
I held her.
After a minute, she whispered, “I don’t deserve you.”
“Don’t say that.”
“I hurt you.”
“Yes.”
“I’m sorry.”
“I know.”
She pulled back.
“I changed the ceremony program.”
My heart skipped.
“To what?”
“No fathers listed.”
I tried not to react.
She noticed anyway.
“I don’t know what I’m doing yet.”
“That’s okay.”
She studied my face.
“You mean that?”
“Yes.”
“I thought you’d be angry.”
“I am angry.”
She almost smiled.
“At everyone.”
“That sounds more like you.”
Then her phone buzzed.
Michael.
A text.
She opened it.
Her face changed.
“What?”
She handed me the phone.
It read:
If you want the truth about Daniel, meet me tomorrow at 10.
Come alone.
And don’t bring David.
Because David already knows more than he’s told you.
Emily slowly turned toward me.
Her eyes were full of suspicion.
“Dad?”
I stared at the message.
For the first time since this nightmare began, I was completely confused.
“I have no idea what he means.”
Emily searched my face.
Then another message arrived.
A photograph.
Old.
Faded.
Four adults at a barbecue.
Sarah.
Michael.
Daniel.
And me.
May you like
Twenty-five years younger.
Standing in the background.
