Chapter 7: The Night My Mother Came Back
My father read the hospital record three times.
Each time, his hands shook harder.
Vanessa stood beneath the school entrance canopy, her expensive heels clicking against the pavement as she backed away from us. For once, she had no clever explanation ready.
Dad lifted his eyes.
"You took my daughter to a hospital with her mother?""
Vanessa shook her head.
"Michael, you have to understand. I didn't know who the child was at first.""
"Her name is written right here!""
"That doesn't mean what you think it means.""
Margaret stepped forward.
"Then explain it.""
Vanessa looked around at the students gathering near the entrance.
"Not here.""
Dad's jaw tightened.
"You had seventeen years to explain it. You chose not to.""
I couldn't stop staring at the document.
The record listed the date as November 14, 2012. My third birthday had been in August. I remembered almost nothing from that age, only fragments of a yellow blanket, a woman's humming, and the smell of vanilla lotion.
I had always assumed those memories came from photographs.
What if they didn't?
"Vanessa," I whispered, "did you see my mother?""
She looked at me.
For a second, something resembling guilt crossed her face.
Then she shook her head.
"No.""
"Did you know she was alive?""
"No.""
"Did you take me away from her?""
"Emily, I was trying to protect you!""
The words exploded from her mouth before she could stop them.
Everyone went silent.
Dad stepped closer.
"Protect her from what?""
Vanessa pressed a hand against her chest.
"Catherine was in trouble. She had enemies. She was frightened and confused, and she kept making terrible decisions.""
Margaret's eyes flashed.
"My sister was trying to escape someone who wanted her money.""
"That's a lie!""
"Then why was Emily released into your custody?""
Vanessa's mouth opened.
Nothing came out.
Dad looked as though the ground had disappeared beneath him.
"You told me Catherine died in 2009," he said.
"You told me the police confirmed it. You held me while I buried an empty coffin, and you watched me raise my daughter believing her mother was gone.""
Vanessa began crying.
"I loved you.""
"That isn't an answer.""
"I was afraid you'd leave me!""
Dad stared at her.
"So you let me grieve a woman who might still have been alive?""
Vanessa wiped her cheeks angrily.
"You weren't supposed to find out like this.""
My stomach twisted.
"What does that mean?""
She looked at me, and her tears stopped.
"I did what I had to do.""
I had heard those words from her before, usually after she had taken something from me or humiliated me in front of Madison.
But this time, they sounded like a confession.
Margaret took the hospital record from Dad.
"We need the complete file. If Catherine was admitted in November 2012, the hospital should have a record of where she went afterward.""
Dad immediately pulled out his phone.
"I'll contact my attorney.""
Vanessa reached for his arm.
"Michael, don't.""
He stepped away.
"Don't touch me.""
She stared at him in disbelief.
For nine years, she had controlled every room she entered simply by making everyone else feel unreasonable.
Now nobody was listening.
Dad called his attorney, Daniel Brooks, and explained what we had discovered. Daniel agreed to meet us at the school and arrange for the hospital records to be obtained legally.
While Dad spoke, Margaret pulled me aside.
"There is something else I need to tell you," she whispered.
I looked at her.
"What?""
"When Catherine disappeared, she left a message for me. She said that if anything happened to her, I should look for a blue box.""
"What was inside it?""
"I don't know. She never told me. She said it contained proof of what someone had done.""
I thought of the attic in our house.
The boxes Vanessa had forbidden me to touch.
"Where would the box be?""
Margaret swallowed.
"Catherine said it was somewhere in the house where you grew up.""
Before I could answer, Madison appeared at the entrance.
Her champagne-colored gown was stained blue, and her mascara had run down her cheeks. She looked nothing like the girl who had laughed while destroying my dress.
"Mom," she said breathlessly.
"We need to go.""
Vanessa turned on her.
"Not now.""
"Mom, please.""
Madison looked at me, then at Dad.
"I know where the blue box is.""
Vanessa went completely still.
"Madison," she whispered.
My stepsister's eyes filled with tears.
"I'm sorry, Emily.""
Dad stepped toward her.
"Where is it?""
Madison swallowed.
"In the attic. Behind the old Christmas decorations.""
Vanessa grabbed her daughter's arm.
"You promised me!""
Madison pulled away.
"I was twelve when you made me promise!""
The words echoed across the entrance.
Dad stared at her.
"What did your mother tell you?""
Madison began to cry.
"She said Emily's mother was dangerous. She said if anyone found out Catherine was alive, our family would be destroyed.""
I couldn't breathe.
"Madison, did you know my mother was alive?""
She shook her head.
"Not until three years ago.""
Dad's expression hardened.
"Three years ago?""
Madison nodded.
"I found an old photograph in Mom's desk. It showed Catherine standing outside a house in Savannah. I asked who she was, and Mom told me never to mention her name again.""
Vanessa lunged toward her.
Madison flinched.
"Stop!"" Dad shouted.
Vanessa froze.
Then Madison whispered the sentence that made my father look as if he might collapse.
"Mom told me Catherine had called the house that night. She said she begged to speak to Emily.""
I grabbed the edge of the doorway.
"What happened?""
Madison looked at Vanessa.
"Mom hung up on her.""
May you like
Vanessa's face turned white.
And then Madison added, "But that wasn't the worst part. Before she hung up, I heard Catherine say she knew who had forged the adoption papers.""
