Chapter 9
Daniel stopped the recording.
No one moved.
Michael stared at the computer.
Officer Collins looked away, giving them a privacy neither man truly had.
Daniel’s fingers hovered above the keyboard.
“What did she mean?”
Michael’s face had gone pale.
“You didn’t know?”
Daniel turned.
“Know what?”
Michael stood.
“Daniel.”
“What?”
Michael rubbed his forehead.
“I thought Rachel told you.”
“Told me what?”
Michael said nothing.
Daniel’s voice rose.
“Told me what?”
Officer Collins stepped toward the door.
“I’ll give you two a minute.”
He left.
Daniel stared at Michael.
Michael finally spoke.
“Before you and Rachel got married, you broke up.”
Daniel frowned.
“For six months.”
“Yes.”
“I know.”
“She dated someone.”
Daniel’s stomach tightened.
“I know that too.”
“Do you know who?”
“No.”
“His name was Thomas Reed.”
Daniel shook his head.
“Why does that matter?”
Michael looked toward the computer.
Daniel’s face changed.
“No.”
Michael did not answer.
“No.”
“Daniel—”
“Ethan is my son.”
“I didn’t say he wasn’t.”
“You’re about to.”
Michael sat down.
“Rachel found out she was pregnant shortly after you got back together.”
Daniel’s breathing became shallow.
“She told me Ethan was mine.”
“She believed he was.”
“Believed?”
“The dates were close.”
Daniel stood so quickly the chair fell backward.
“No.”
“She planned to tell you.”
“When?”
“Before the wedding.”
Daniel laughed.
A broken, disbelieving sound.
“We got married before Ethan was born.”
“I know.”
“So she had months.”
“She was terrified.”
“Of me?”
“Of losing you.”
Daniel paced.
“No. No, she wouldn’t hide that.”
Michael watched him.
“You’re angry at a dead woman who never got a chance to explain.”
Daniel stopped.
The words hit him.
He looked at the computer.
Rachel’s unfinished confession waited on the screen.
Daniel pressed play.
Her voice returned.
“I know this will hurt you.”
Daniel shut his eyes.
“But I need you to understand why I waited.”
A long breath.
“When I found out I was pregnant, the doctor gave me a date range. I had been with Thomas once, two weeks before you and I reconciled.”
Daniel gripped the desk.
“I told myself Ethan had to be yours.”
Rachel sniffled.
“Then he was born.”
A pause.
“And he looked like you.”
Daniel almost laughed through his tears.
Ethan did look like him.
Same brown hair.
Same expressions.
Same crooked smile.
Rachel continued.
“I convinced myself biology didn’t matter.”
Daniel whispered, “It doesn’t.”
Michael looked at him.
Rachel’s recording continued.
“When Ethan was four, Thomas contacted me.”
Daniel’s eyes opened.
“He said he had gotten married. He said he needed to know.”
Daniel’s jaw tightened.
“I refused.”
Then Rachel began crying on the recording.
“I should have told you. I know that. But you love Ethan more than anything in this world, and Ethan loves you.”
Daniel’s vision blurred.
“I was afraid a test would destroy all of us.”
A pause.
“So I never took one.”
Daniel stared at the floor.
Rachel had not known.
Neither did he.
The recording continued.
“If Ethan is yours, I stole your right to know for years.”
Rachel’s voice broke.
“If he isn’t yours, I still believe you are his father.”
Daniel pressed his fist against his mouth.
“You were there when he took his first steps.”
“You taught him to ride a bike.”
“You stayed beside him when he had pneumonia.”
“You are the man he calls Daddy.”
Daniel cried silently.
“And whatever blood says, that is the truth.”
The recording ended.
Daniel did not move.
Michael approached.
“I’m sorry.”
Daniel wiped his face.
“Did Thomas ever contact her again?”
“I don’t know.”
“Do you know where he is?”
“No.”
Daniel looked at Michael.
“Did Vanessa know?”
Michael froze.
That was answer enough.
“Did she?”
“I don’t know.”
“Michael.”
“Rachel wrote everything down. If Vanessa got access to any of it…”
Daniel’s heart sank.
The black box.
Rachel’s letters.
Her private papers.
Vanessa had been collecting them.
Vanessa may have known.
Daniel grabbed his phone.
The anonymous threat suddenly made sense.
Now everyone is going to know what you did to Rachel.
Maybe Vanessa planned to reveal more than intercepted letters.
Maybe she planned to destroy Daniel’s relationship with Ethan.
He called the hospital.
Linda answered.
“Is Ethan okay?”
“Yes.”
“Is Vanessa there?”
“No.”
“Do not let anyone near him.”
Her tone sharpened.
“What happened?”
“I found more information. Personal information about Ethan.”
“What kind?”
Daniel hesitated.
“His biological paternity may be uncertain.”
Silence.
“That needs to stay private.”
“I agree.”
“I think Vanessa knows.”
“Why does that matter right now?”
“Because she has spent years telling Ethan I would abandon him.”
Linda understood immediately.
“Oh.”
Daniel’s voice cracked.
“If she tells him this before I do…”
“You’re his father.”
“I know.”
“Then remember that.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
“I do.”
When Daniel returned to the hospital, it was after midnight.
Ethan was awake.
Linda was sitting nearby.
Sophie slept.
Daniel entered.
Ethan smiled weakly.
“Dad.”
Daniel walked straight to him.
He hugged him.
Longer than usual.
Ethan laughed nervously.
“Why are you hugging me like that?”
Daniel pulled back.
“Because I love you.”
“I know.”
“No.”
Daniel took his shoulders gently.
“I need you to really know.”
Ethan frowned.
“Okay.”
“Nothing Vanessa says can change that.”
Ethan’s smile disappeared.
“Did she say something?”
“Not yet.”
“Is she coming?”
“No.”
Daniel hoped that was true.
Ethan studied his face.
“Did I do something?”
“No.”
“Then why are you crying?”
Daniel wiped his cheek.
“I found something from Mom.”
Ethan sat straighter.
“What?”
“A recording.”
“What did she say?”
Daniel hesitated.
He could not unload Rachel’s secret onto an exhausted eight-year-old in a hospital bed.
Not tonight.
“She said she loved you.”
Ethan’s face softened.
“And she said something else.”
“What?”
“That I’m your dad.”
Ethan looked confused.
“You are my dad.”
Daniel smiled through tears.
“Exactly.”
Ethan leaned against him.
For one minute, everything was quiet.
Then Daniel’s phone buzzed.
A news alert.
He almost ignored it.
Until he saw his own name.
MERCER INDUSTRIES CEO FAMILY SCANDAL EMERGES.
Daniel stared.
He opened the article.
An anonymous source claimed Daniel Mercer had emotionally abandoned his first wife during her terminal illness.
It claimed Rachel had repeatedly begged him for help.
It claimed Daniel refused contact.
There were screenshots of Rachel’s letters.
Photographs.
Private words.
The evidence Vanessa had taken from the house.
Someone had leaked it.
Daniel’s stomach turned.
Linda read over his shoulder.
“This just went public?”
“Yes.”
More notifications appeared.
Calls.
Messages.
Board members.
Investors.
Reporters.
Then a second article appeared.
This one was worse.
CEO’S LATE WIFE QUESTIONED PATERNITY OF HIS SON, PRIVATE AUDIO REVEALS.
Daniel stopped breathing.
“No.”
Ethan looked up.
“What?”
Daniel locked the phone screen.
“Nothing.”
But it was too late.
A television mounted in the corner of the hospital room was on mute.
Breaking-news captions crawled across the bottom.
A photo of Daniel appeared.
Then Rachel.
Then Ethan.
Daniel rushed for the remote.
Ethan saw his own picture.
“Dad?”
Daniel turned off the television.
Ethan stared at him.
“Why was I on TV?”
Daniel could not answer fast enough.
His phone rang.
Michael.
Daniel stepped into the hallway.
“What?”
Michael sounded furious.
“The flash drive.”
“What about it?”
“Somebody already had copies.”
“Vanessa.”
“Maybe.”
Daniel pressed his forehead against the wall.
Then Michael said, “There’s more.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
“What now?”
“The media didn’t get everything.”
“What does that mean?”
“They only released part of Rachel’s recording.”
Daniel opened his eyes.
“Which part?”
“The paternity part.”
“What did they cut?”
Michael’s voice became quiet.
“The last recording in the Ethan folder.”
Daniel’s heart pounded.
“What is it?”
“I just listened.”
Silence.
“Michael.”
“Rachel found Thomas before she died.”
Daniel stopped breathing.
“And?”
“She got the DNA test.”
Daniel’s knees almost gave out.
“What did it say?”
May you like
Michael answered.
“Ethan is yours.”
