Chapter 3: My Mother’s Secret
I called my mother from Diane’s driveway.
She answered on the second ring.
“Hi, sweetheart.””
“Who is Ethan Cole?””
Silence.
Not confusion.
Silence.
I closed my eyes.
“Mom?””
“Where did you hear that name?””
My fingers tightened around the phone.
Behind me, Jason stood near the garage. Diane had gone inside. Melissa remained with Lily.
“So you know him.””
“Sarah, where are you?””
“Answer me.””
My mother exhaled slowly.
“Not over the phone.””
“Seven years ago, you told me you couldn't get to Phoenix because your flight was canceled.””
“I know.””
“I’m looking at a photograph of you standing in my hospital room.””
Another silence.
“You were there.””
“Yes.””
The single word nearly hurt more than another lie.
“And Ethan was there.””
“Yes.””
“Who is he?””
My mother’s voice changed.
“Come to my house.””
“You live forty minutes away.””
“Then drive forty minutes.””
“Mom—”
“Do not discuss Ethan with Diane.””
I looked toward the house.
“Why?””
“Because Diane doesn’t know the whole story.””
My pulse quickened.
“What whole story?””
“Come alone.””
She disconnected.
I stared at the screen.
Jason stepped closer.
“What did she say?””
“That she knows Ethan.””
His face tightened.
“What else?””
“She wants me to come over.””
“I’m coming.””
“No.””
“Sarah.””
“You secretly tested our daughter. You lied about her birth. Your mother attacked her. I’m not getting into a car with you right now.””
His face crumpled.
“I didn't know Mom would ever touch Lily.””
“But you knew she treated her differently.””
He didn't answer quickly enough.
That was answer enough.
“How long?””
“Sarah—”
“How long has Diane been treating Lily like she doesn't belong?””
Jason looked toward the kitchen window.
“A while.””
I laughed once.
It sounded broken.
“A while.””
“She made comments.””
“And you said nothing?””
“I told her to stop.””
“Did you tell me?””
“No.””
“Did you stop bringing Lily here?””
“No.””
“Then you didn't protect her.””
Jason’s eyes reddened.
“I thought I could manage it.””
“You managed me. You managed what I knew.””
I walked inside.
Lily sat on the counter while Melissa put a bandage over her knee.
“Mommy.””
I opened my arms.
She came straight into them.
“Are we going home?””
“Yes.””
I lifted her.
Then Diane appeared in the doorway.
“Running away won't change what happened.””
I stopped.
“Stay away from my daughter.””
“She asked the question.””
“She’s seven.””
“She deserved to know.””
“Know what? A lie?””
Diane’s nostrils flared.
“That DNA test doesn't explain why Ethan Cole appeared at the hospital before Jason even knew you were in labor.””
I froze.
Jason entered behind me.
“Enough.””
“No,” Diane said.
“You spent seven years making me the villain because you were too weak to demand the truth.””
“You assaulted my child,” I said.
“And I shouldn't have touched her.””
The admission surprised everyone.
But Diane wasn't finished.
“I lost my temper. I was wrong about that.””
She pointed at the photograph in my hand.
“But ask your mother why she brought Ethan into that hospital.””
“I intend to.””
“And ask her why Ethan signed that paper.””
Jason shook his head.
“He didn't sign it voluntarily.””
I turned.
“What does that mean?””
Jason looked at Melissa.
Melissa went pale.
“Jason…”
“Tell me.””
He swallowed.
“When I arrived, your mother was arguing with Ethan. Security had already been called.””
“Why?””
“Because Ethan wanted to leave with Lily.””
The room tilted.
I tightened my arms around my daughter.
“What?””
“He kept saying she wasn't safe.””
Lily looked between us.
“Mommy?””
I forced my voice steady.
“Everything’s okay.””
But nothing was okay.
I carried Lily outside.
Jason followed us to the car.
“Sarah, please don't go there without me.””
I buckled Lily into her booster seat.
“Why are you suddenly afraid of me talking to my own mother?””
“Because there are things I never understood either.””
I shut Lily’s door.
“Then maybe you should have spent the last seven years trying to understand them instead of lying to me.””
I climbed behind the wheel.
Jason caught the door before I could close it.
“There’s something else.””
I stared at him.
“What?””
He glanced toward Lily, then lowered his voice.
“Ethan disappeared three days after Lily was born.””
My anger faltered.
“Disappeared?””
“Nobody could find him.””
“Police?””
“Your mother begged me not to contact them.””
“Why would she do that?””
“I don't know.””
I pulled the door from his hand.
Forty minutes later, I parked outside my mother’s small stucco house in Scottsdale.
She was already standing at the front door.
Lily ran into her arms.
“Grandma!””
My mother hugged her tightly.
Too tightly.
Her eyes remained fixed on me.
“Come inside.””
Once Lily was settled in the living room with cartoons, Mom led me to her bedroom.
She locked the door.
Then she opened the closet.
Behind a stack of blankets sat a small metal box.
She carried it to the bed.
“What is that?””
“Something I should have given you years ago.””
She opened it.
Inside were photographs, hospital documents, and a sealed plastic evidence bag containing an old flip phone.
But beneath them was a birth certificate.
Not Lily’s.
Mine.
My mother handed it to me.
“I need you to understand something before you read that.””
My heartbeat thundered in my ears.
“What?””
“Ethan wasn't your boyfriend.””
“I know that.””
“He wasn't Lily’s father either.””
“Then who was he?””
Tears filled my mother’s eyes.
She pointed toward the birth certificate in my hands.
“Read the father’s name.””
I looked down.
My eyes found the line.
Father.
And beneath it was a name I had never seen in my life.
Ethan Cole.
I looked up.
My mother was crying now.
“Ethan wasn't trying to take Lily because he thought she was his daughter, Sarah.””
May you like
Her voice trembled.
“He was trying to take you both because he believed someone in Jason’s family was going to kill you.””
