Chapter 7: The Secret Behind Mia's Father
For several seconds, nobody moved.
Mia stood beside her suitcase, her face drained of color. Vanessa clutched her phone so tightly that her knuckles turned white.
And my father stared at his wife.
"Her real father?"" David repeated.
Vanessa shook her head immediately.
"Mia is upset. She's confused. She doesn't know what she's saying.""
Mia let out a broken laugh.
"I'm seventeen, Mom. You can't keep telling everyone I'm confused whenever I say something you don't want them to hear.""
"Go upstairs.""
"No!""
The shout startled all of us.
Mia wiped her cheeks with the heel of her hand.
"You told me Dad would never find out. You said we could finally have everything we wanted once Aaliyah was out of the way.""
I looked at her.
"Out of the way?""
Mia turned toward me, her eyes filled with shame.
"Mom said that if you went to Westbridge, Dad would spend all his money on you. She said I'd be left with nothing.""
Dad took a slow breath.
"Vanessa, I want an answer. Who is Mia's father?""
Vanessa looked at him as though he had betrayed her by asking.
"You knew I had a daughter when you married me.""
"That isn't what I asked.""
She lowered her eyes.
"Mia's biological father died when she was little.""
"That's what you've always told me.""
"Because it's true.""
Mia shook her head.
"No, it isn't.""
Vanessa spun around.
"Enough!""
Mia stepped backward, knocking her suitcase against the wall.
"You told me he abandoned us. You told me he wanted nothing to do with me. But last Christmas, I found his picture in your desk drawer.""
My father went completely still.
"What picture?""
Mia looked at him.
"It was a photograph of Mom with a man outside a hotel. There was a note on the back. It said, 'For Vanessa, until we can be together again.''"
Vanessa's lips parted.
"Mia, you went through my private things?""
"You were lying to everyone!""
Dad sat down slowly on the bottom step.
He looked older than he had that morning.
"How long have you known this?""
Mia shook her head.
"I don't know who he is. I only know Mom gets strange whenever someone mentions him. And she started receiving calls from the Eleanor Foundation months before you married her.""
Vanessa finally snapped.
"Because he was helping me!""
The admission came out before she could stop herself.
Dad raised his head.
"He?""
Vanessa closed her eyes.
Mia whispered, "You said he was going to give me the future I deserved.""
I stared at Vanessa.
"Is Mia's father connected to the foundation?""
She didn't answer.
Dad rose from the stairs.
"Vanessa, I've spent two years believing I knew everything important about our family. I married you because I wanted us to build a life together. I trusted you with my daughter.""
His voice cracked on the last word.
"And you used that trust to hide her future from her.""
Vanessa began crying again.
"David, you have to understand. I was desperate.""
"For what?""
"For Mia!""
She pointed at her daughter.
"Do you know what it's like to raise a child alone? To watch everyone else have opportunities while you struggle to pay rent? When I met you, I thought I finally had a chance to give Mia a stable life.""
"You had that chance.""
"Not the life I wanted!""
The room went silent.
Vanessa seemed to realize what she had said.
Dad stared at her.
"So this was never enough for you.""
She wiped her face.
"I loved you.""
"Did you?""
"Of course I did!""
"Then why did you lie to me about Mia's father?""
Vanessa looked at her daughter.
"Because he wasn't supposed to come back into our lives.""
Mia's expression crumpled.
"You told me he was dead.""
Vanessa reached for her.
Mia pulled away.
"Don't touch me.""
For the first time, I felt something other than anger toward my stepsister.
She had destroyed my dress. She had laughed at my pain. She had helped her mother conceal my acceptance letter.
But she was also a seventeen-year-old girl discovering that her mother had lied about the most fundamental part of her life.
I knew what it felt like to lose the ground beneath your feet.
Dad's phone vibrated.
The university representative had sent another email.
He opened it, read the message, and frowned.
"What is it?"" I asked.
"The foundation wants to move tomorrow's meeting to this evening.""
Vanessa's head snapped up.
"No.""
Dad looked at her.
"What do you mean, no?""
"You shouldn't meet with them without me.""
"Why?""
"Because you don't understand the arrangement.""
"What arrangement?""
She looked at the phone, then at Mia.
Finally, she whispered, "The foundation didn't simply offer scholarships. They established an education trust for Mia years ago.""
Dad frowned.
"Then why was Aaliyah awarded the scholarship?""
"Because the trust's administrator changed the beneficiary.""
"Who did that?""
Vanessa didn't respond.
Dad's voice hardened.
"Who changed it?""
She stared at the floor.
"Mia's father.""
The silence that followed was absolute.
Dad slowly lowered his phone.
"If Mia's father is alive, and he's connected to the foundation, then why have you spent two years telling me he was dead?""
Vanessa began shaking.
"Because he made me promise never to tell anyone.""
"Why?""
She looked directly at him.
"Because the man you think you've never met is someone you know very well.""
Dad's face went pale.
"Who?""
Vanessa swallowed.
Then she spoke a name I recognized from the photographs in Dad's study, from the business cards in his desk, and from the stories he'd told about the friend who had helped him start his construction company.
"Richard Coleman.""
Dad staggered backward.
Richard Coleman wasn't a stranger.
He was Dad's former business partner.
The man who had disappeared from our lives shortly before Vanessa entered them.
And the man Dad had always blamed for nearly bankrupting his company.
Dad stared at Vanessa.
"You're telling me Richard is Mia's father?""
She nodded.
"And you're telling me he established a trust for her?""
Another nod.
Dad looked at Mia, then at me.
Finally, he turned back to his wife.
"Then why did Richard contact the foundation about Aaliyah's scholarship?""
Vanessa's lips trembled.
"Because he knows what I did.""
Before Dad could ask another question, the phone in Vanessa's hand lit up again.
This time, she answered.
A man's voice came through the speaker.
"Vanessa, I understand David has discovered the letters.""
She went rigid.
Dad stepped forward.
"Richard?""
A pause.
Then the voice answered.
"Hello, David.""
My father closed his eyes.
Richard continued.
May you like
"There's something you need to know about the woman you married.""
And then he said, "She didn't just hide Aaliyah's acceptance letter. She used your name to obtain money from the foundation.""
