Chapter 5
The police couldn’t immediately identify whoever sent the message.
The account had been created that morning.
No name.
No photograph.
Nothing.
Dad changed every password we had.
My school temporarily disabled my email.
He also stopped letting Lily and me play in the front yard.
I hated that most.
Our house had always felt safe when Dad was home.
Now even with him there, the curtains stayed closed.
Rachel told Dad not to read comments online.
He read them anyway.
I knew because he barely slept.
One night I came downstairs for water and found him at the kitchen table staring at his laptop.
He quickly shut it.
“You okay?”
I nodded.
“You?”
He smiled.
“Of course.”
That was a lie.
I climbed onto the chair across from him.
“People think you’re bad?”
Dad looked surprised.
“Some people believe Amanda.”
“Because she’s Lily’s mom?”
“Partly.”
“Do they think I’m lying?”
Dad took a long breath.
“Some people don’t know what happened.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
He looked at me for several seconds.
“Some people are saying things they shouldn’t.”
I looked down.
Dad reached across the table.
“Listen to me. The truth does not become less true because strangers don’t believe it.”
That sounded like something Rachel had told him.
I still wanted to believe it.
The next morning, Dad received a call from his biggest client.
I heard only his side.
“Yes, I understand.”
Pause.
“No, there have been no charges against me.”
Another pause.
“I understand.”
He hung up.
Rachel, who was sitting at the counter, already knew.
“They suspended the contract?”
Dad nodded.
My stomach hurt.
“Because of me?”
Dad immediately turned.
“No.”
“Amanda’s talking because of me.”
“No, Ethan.”
“If I didn’t show the camera—”
Dad crossed the kitchen.
He crouched in front of me.
“Do not finish that sentence.”
I swallowed.
“The camera didn’t cause any of this. Amanda’s choices caused it.”
He pressed his forehead against mine.
“If my company disappears tomorrow, I will still be grateful you pressed that button.”
I believed him that time.
Maybe because his voice shook.
Later that day, Lily had her first supervised visit with Amanda.
A social worker picked her up.
Lily stood at the door wearing her purple backpack.
She looked terrified.
“Do I have to go?”
Dad knelt.
“No.”
The social worker nodded.
“That’s true. You can change your mind.”
Lily looked at me.
I didn’t know what she wanted from me.
So I asked, “Do you want me to wait here?”
Her eyes filled.
“Yes.”
“I’ll wait.”
She hugged me.
Then she whispered, “What if Mom says I’m bad?”
“You’re not.”
“What if she says I betrayed her?”
“You didn’t.”
“What if she says you aren’t my brother?”
I hugged her tighter.
“She can say it a million times.”
Lily pulled back.
“You’ll still be my brother?”
“Yeah.”
“Forever?”
“Forever.”
She left.
I sat by the window for almost the entire visit.
She returned ninety minutes later.
The moment she stepped inside, I knew something had happened.
Her face was stiff.
Dad crouched.
“Hey, sweetheart.”
Lily walked past him.
She walked directly to me.
Then she handed me a folded piece of paper.
“Mom told me not to show Daddy.”
Dad froze.
I opened it.
There were only two sentences.
LILY, YOU KNOW WHO YOUR REAL FAMILY IS.
DON’T LET ETHAN TAKE ANOTHER FATHER AWAY FROM YOU.
I read it twice.
I didn’t understand the second sentence.
Dad did.
His face drained of color.
“Another father?”
Lily started crying.
“I don’t know.”
The social worker stepped forward.
“She slipped that into Lily’s backpack while I was documenting something with the supervisor.”
Rachel arrived twenty minutes later.
She photographed the note.
Then she asked Lily if Amanda had said anything else.
Lily nodded.
“She said Daddy stole me from my real dad.”
Dad looked sick.
Rachel’s eyes narrowed.
“Daniel?”
He stood.
“Not here.”
They went into the office.
This time I didn’t listen from the stairs.
I didn’t need to.
Lily climbed onto the couch beside me.
“Who’s my real dad?”
I thought about what Dad always told us.
Real family was the people who stayed.
But I knew that wasn’t the answer she wanted.
“I don’t know.”
“Mom said his name was Ryan.”
That name meant nothing to me.
“She said Daddy ruined his life.”
I looked toward Dad’s office.
The door was closed.
“You should ask Dad.”
“What if it’s true?”
“Dad doesn’t lie.”
“How do you know?”
I had no answer.
Dad had hidden the camera plan from Amanda.
He had hidden that he was coming home early.
Adults could call those things protection.
To a child, secrets still looked like secrets.
Dad came out fifteen minutes later.
His eyes were red.
He sat in front of Lily.
“There’s something I should have explained when you were older.”
Lily gripped my hand.
“Is Ryan my dad?”
Dad nodded slowly.
“Ryan Carter was your biological father.”
“Where is he?”
Dad swallowed.
“He died when you were two.”
Lily stared.
“How?”
“A car accident.”
“Did you know him?”
“Yes.”
“Did you steal me?”
Dad looked like the question physically hurt.
“No.”
“Mom said—”
“I know what your mom said.”
He took a breath.
“I met Amanda a year after Ryan died. I married her later. When you were four, I asked if I could adopt you. Amanda agreed. A judge agreed. Your grandparents agreed.”
Lily looked confused.
“Ryan’s mom and dad?”
“Yes.”
“Do I know them?”
Dad’s silence answered before his mouth did.
Rachel stepped closer.
“That’s the problem.”
Lily’s eyes widened.
“What problem?”
Dad rubbed his face.
“Amanda told me Ryan’s parents wanted no contact.”
“And?”
“I believed her.”
Rachel put a document on the table.
“Ryan’s parents never said that.”
Dad stared at it.
“They’ve been sending birthday cards for four years.”
Lily whispered, “Where?”
Rachel looked at Dad.
“They were returned.”
I suddenly understood why Rachel looked angry.
Someone had been sending those cards back.
Someone had made Lily believe an entire part of her family didn’t want her.
Dad whispered Amanda’s name.
But Rachel had more.
She turned another page.
“And Daniel?”
Dad looked up.
Rachel’s voice lowered.
“Ryan’s parents kept copies.”
“Of the cards?”
“Of everything.”
She slid an envelope toward him.
“One of those letters says Amanda demanded twenty-five thousand dollars if they wanted visitation.”
The room went completely silent.
Lily stared at her.
“My mom wanted money for me?”
Rachel didn’t answer.
She didn’t have to.
May you like
Amanda’s story was beginning to fall apart.
And behind every lie we uncovered, there seemed to be another one waiting.
