Chapter 6
Mom spent four hours at the police station.
Grandpa and I waited in the lobby.
I sat beside him swinging my legs.
Every few minutes, he checked the hallway.
“Is Mom in trouble?” I asked.
“No.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“Dad says she lies.”
Grandpa stopped looking at the hallway.
He turned toward me.
“Emily, adults can make serious mistakes.”
“Mom made one?”
“Yes.”
“What?”
“She should have told Daniel there was a chance he wasn’t your biological father.”
I stared at my shoes.
“So Dad was right.”
“About that? Yes.”
My chest hurt.
Grandpa gently lifted my chin.
“But someone being wrong does not give another person permission to hurt them.”
I didn’t answer.
He continued.
“Your mother lied because she was afraid. Daniel hit because he chose to hit.”
“Is lying worse than hitting?”
“No.”
“Is cheating worse?”
Grandpa sighed.
“People hurt each other in different ways. But violence is a line nobody gets to cross.”
I thought about that.
Then I asked, “Do I have two dads?”
Grandpa’s eyes softened.
“I think that is something you’ll decide for yourself one day.”
Before I could ask more, Mom came out.
Rebecca was beside her.
Detective Harris followed.
Mom looked exhausted.
But different.
Stronger.
Detective Harris crouched beside me.
“Hi, Emily.”
“Hi.”
“You did a brave thing calling your grandfather.”
I looked at Mom.
“Is Dad going to jail?”
The detective didn’t answer directly.
“That will be decided by a judge.”
Adults loved answers that weren’t answers.
We went home with Grandpa.
That evening, Rebecca received a call.
Daniel had been arrested again.
Not for hitting Mom.
For violating financial restrictions connected to the fraud investigation.
He had tried to transfer another forty thousand dollars from a business account after detectives contacted his bank.
Linda was furious.
She gave an interview to a local reporter the next morning.
Mom saw it online.
I wasn’t supposed to watch.
I did anyway.
Linda stood outside Carter Development headquarters.
“My son is the victim of an elaborate attempt by his estranged wife to destroy his reputation after years of deception.”
A reporter asked, “Did Daniel Carter strike his wife?”
Linda’s mouth tightened.
“That matter is disputed.”
I shouted at the screen.
“No, it isn’t!”
Mom entered and shut the laptop.
“Emily.”
“She’s lying!”
“I know.”
“Why can she lie on TV?”
“Because people can say things.”
“That’s stupid.”
Grandpa, standing behind Mom, said, “Finally something we agree on.”
Mom almost smiled.
Then the doorbell rang.
Everyone froze.
Grandpa checked the camera.
A man stood on the porch.
Dark hair.
Blue jacket.
He held nothing.
Mom looked at the screen.
Her face drained.
“Luke.”
I ran behind the couch.
Mom turned.
“Emily?”
“I don’t want to see him.”
She nodded immediately.
“You don’t have to.”
Grandpa opened the door and stepped outside.
We could hear low voices.
Then Grandpa came back.
“He says he won’t come inside unless you want him to.”
Mom looked at me.
“What do you want?”
I hugged my rabbit.
“I don’t know.”
“Then he stays outside.”
Mom walked onto the porch.
Through the window, I watched them.
Luke looked older than the college photograph.
There was a scar near his temple.
He kept his hands in his coat pockets.
Mom stood several feet away.
Neither moved.
Finally Luke said something.
Mom covered her mouth.
Then he handed her an envelope.
A few minutes later, she returned.
Luke left.
I watched his car disappear.
“What did he want?”
Mom sat beside me.
“He brought the original letter he received.”
“Did you hug him?”
Mom looked surprised.
“No.”
“Do you love him?”
“No.”
“You loved him before.”
Mom thought carefully.
“I cared about him.”
“More than Dad?”
“No.”
That answer confused me.
“You chose Dad.”
“Yes.”
“And Dad hurt you.”
“Yes.”
“So you chose wrong.”
Mom’s eyes filled.
“Maybe I did.”
I looked down.
“What if Luke is bad too?”
Mom didn’t answer quickly.
“That’s why we don’t rush.”
The next day, Rebecca arranged a DNA test between Luke and me.
Mom explained everything.
I hated it.
Not because it hurt.
It barely did.
I hated waiting.
Three days later, the results arrived.
Luke Bennett was my biological father.
99.99%.
Mom cried when she read it.
Grandpa squeezed my shoulder.
I felt nothing.
Then everything.
I ran to my room.
A few minutes later, there was a soft knock.
“Emily?”
Mom.
“Come in.”
She sat on my bed.
I whispered, “Does Dad know?”
“Daniel?”
I hated that she called him Daniel now.
“Yes.”
“His lawyer received a copy.”
“What did he say?”
Mom hesitated.
“Tell me.”
“He withdrew his claim that he is your biological father.”
My eyes burned.
“But he knew that already.”
“Yes.”
“Does he still want custody?”
Mom looked confused.
“He does.”
“Why?”
“That’s something I’m trying to understand.”
It made no sense.
If Dad didn’t want to be my dad, why did he want me?
That answer came the next morning.
Rebecca called.
“Daniel has amended his petition.”
Mom put the phone on speaker.
Grandpa came into the kitchen.
“What now?”
Rebecca sounded angry.
“He’s seeking custody under psychological parent status.”
Mom stared.
“He rejected her.”
“Publicly, yes. Legally, his attorney is arguing he raised Emily from birth and that removing him would cause emotional harm.”
Grandpa laughed.
“After telling her to her face she isn’t his?”
“I know.”
Mom asked, “What does he actually want?”
Rebecca paused.
“I think Emily is leverage.”
My stomach twisted.
“Leverage for what?”
Nobody had realized I was listening from the hallway.
Mom turned.
“Sweetheart.”
I walked in.
“What does that mean?”
Rebecca spoke gently through the phone.
“It means your dad may be using the custody case to pressure your mom.”
“Pressure her to do what?”
Mom looked at Grandpa.
Grandpa looked furious.
Rebecca answered.
“Drop some of the financial claims.”
I finally understood.
Dad didn’t want me.
He wanted to trade me.
I ran upstairs and slammed my door.
That afternoon, Luke called Mom.
I heard his name.
I crept closer.
“He wants what?” Mom asked.
Luke’s voice was loud enough for me to hear.
“I want to petition for parental rights.”
Mom turned away.
“No.”
“Sarah.”
“No.”
“He’s using Emily.”
“I know.”
“Then let me help.”
“You met her once through a window.”
“I’m her biological father.”
“And that doesn’t make you her dad.”
Luke went silent.
Mom continued.
“She has had enough men deciding what should happen to her.”
I backed away from the doorway.
For the first time all week, Mom said something that made me feel safe.
Then Luke surprised both of us.
“You’re right.”
Mom said nothing.
“I’m sorry.”
He took a breath.
“I won’t file anything without talking to you.”
Mom’s shoulders relaxed.
“Thank you.”
“But I have information about Daniel.”
She stiffened again.
“What information?”
“When he called me, he said something strange.”
“What?”
“He said if I cooperated, he would make sure I got access to Emily.”
Grandpa came closer.
“Cooperated how?”
Luke replied, “He wanted me to sign a statement.”
Mom’s eyes narrowed.
“What statement?”
“That you knowingly hid Emily from me and had threatened me seven years ago.”
Mom whispered, “But that isn’t true.”
“I know.”
“Did you sign it?”
“No.”
Grandpa said, “Do you still have it?”
“Yes.”
“Send it.”
Luke did.
Rebecca received it ten minutes later.
At the bottom of the statement was a space for Luke’s signature.
Above it was another line.
Prepared by: Melissa Grant.
Mom stared at the name.
“The woman from Phoenix.”
Rebecca called immediately.
“This is bigger than an affair.”
Mom whispered, “What do you mean?”
“Melissa isn’t a lawyer. Why is she preparing witness statements for Daniel’s custody case?”
Grandpa asked, “Can we prove she helped with the fraud?”
“Maybe.”
The answer arrived that night.
Detective Harris called.
They had searched Daniel’s office at Carter Development.
They found nothing.
But they searched Melissa’s office too.
There, inside a locked cabinet, investigators found copies of Mom’s signature.
Dozens of them.
Practice sheets.
Loan documents.
Medical forms.
And one page that made Detective Harris go silent.
Mom asked, “What page?”
“It’s titled relocation timeline.”
Mom gripped the phone.
“Relocation where?”
“Phoenix.”
“When?”
“Two months from now.”
Mom closed her eyes.
Detective Harris continued.
“There are three names listed.”
Daniel Carter.
Melissa Grant.
Emily Carter.
Mom dropped the phone.
Grandpa caught it.
“What did you say?”
The detective repeated it.
Dad hadn’t been planning to win custody just to pressure Mom.
He had planned to take me to Phoenix.
With Melissa.
May you like
Without Mom.
And he had been preparing it for months.
