Chapter 10: The Secret Buried For Twenty-Seven Years
I stared at the birth certificate.
I read the name once.
Then again.
Because my mind refused to accept what my eyes were seeing.
*David Collins.*
Not as a witness.
Not as a business associate.
As the father.
My hands went cold.
“What is this?””
Miranda didn’t answer immediately.
She watched my face carefully.
“It’s connected to David.””
I looked at Ryan.
He looked just as confused.
“What does this have to do with us?””
Miranda pulled another file from the stack.
“The child listed on this certificate was born twenty-seven years ago.””
I swallowed.
“That’s before I was born.””
“Yes.””
“And?””
She looked at me.
“The mother listed on the document is your mother.””
The room went silent.
No.
My brain rejected it immediately.
My mother?
The woman who raised me?
The woman who sat beside my hospital bed when I broke my arm?
The woman who cried when I graduated?
I looked at the paper again.
The name was there.
Clear.
Impossible.
Ryan whispered:
“That can’t be real.””
Miranda nodded.
“That was my first reaction too.””
“Then why are you showing me?””
“Because I verified it.””
I felt like the air had disappeared.
“You’re saying David is…”
“Your half-brother’s biological father.””
I looked at Ryan.
His face had gone pale.
“No.””
The word came out quietly.
“No, that’s not possible.””
Miranda continued.
“Ryan, your parents’ marriage happened shortly after this child was born.””
I looked between them.
“So they hid this.””
“Yes.””
A strange feeling moved through me.
Not anger.
Not yet.
Just confusion.
My entire family history had changed in one afternoon.
“Why would this matter now?””
Miranda opened another folder.
“Because David’s involvement goes back further than we thought.””
She placed old financial records on the table.
“After Ryan was born, David quietly helped your father financially.””
I stared at the documents.
“He was paying them?””
“Not exactly.””
She pointed to the transfers.
“He was investing in your father’s company.””
I looked closer.
The dates.
The amounts.
Everything lined up.
“He’s been connected to my family for decades.””
“Yes.””
“And now he’s trying to take my house.””
Miranda nodded.
“That’s what we need to understand.””
Ryan stood up.
“I need to talk to Mom.””
I looked at him.
“Are you sure?””
He looked broken.
“I spent my entire life believing one version of my family.””
He shook his head.
“I need to know what’s real.””
We found my mother at her house.
She opened the door and froze when she saw us.
Ryan stepped inside first.
“Mom.””
She immediately started crying.
“I know why you’re here.””
That sentence made my stomach tighten.
“You know?””
She looked at me.
Then at Ryan.
“I knew this day would come.””
Ryan’s voice cracked.
“Tell me it’s not true.””
My mother closed her eyes.
That was enough.
Ryan stepped back.
“How could you?””
She cried harder.
“I was young.””
“No.””
His voice rose.
“You were a mother.””
The pain on his face was something I had never seen before.
Even with everything that happened, he was still her son.
She reached for him.
He stepped away.
“Was Dad always going to be my father?””
My mother whispered:
“Yes.””
“But David knew?””
“Yes.””
I stared at her.
“Then why did he help destroy me?””
She looked down.
“Because David thinks everything he did was for Ryan.””
I frowned.
“What?””
My mother wiped her tears.
“He always believed Ryan deserved more.””
Ryan looked confused.
“Why?””
She didn’t answer.
And that hesitation told me there was another secret.
“Mom.””
She looked at me.
“Tell us.””
Her hands shook.
“David believed your father stole his chance to raise Ryan.””
Silence.
“He spent years angry.””
Ryan whispered:
“So all of this…”
“Yes.””
My mother nodded.
“David wanted control.””
I looked away.
A lifetime of secrets.
A lifetime of people making choices without me.
Then my mother said something that changed everything.
“Jenna, there’s something you need to know about the house.””
I turned back.
“What?””
She hesitated.
“The house wasn’t chosen randomly.””
My stomach tightened.
“What does that mean?””
She looked terrified.
“David picked that property.””
I froze.
“Why?””
She whispered:
“Because he knew the previous owner.””
I waited.
May you like
Then she said:
“Your biological grandfather.””
