Chapter 3 - WHAT RICHARD HAD HIDDEN
That night, I didn't sleep.
Samuel slept in the nursery I had prepared for Ethan when he was a child.
The room still contained a faded blue airplane painted on the wall.
I sat beside the crib until sunrise.
Ethan remained downstairs, checking the locks every hour.
At seven in the morning, I heard the garage door open.
My blood froze.
Richard was home.
"Ethan."
My son appeared at the bottom of the stairs.
"I know."
The front door opened.
Richard walked inside.
He removed his coat.
Then he saw Ethan.
For several seconds, neither man moved.
Richard's face changed.
Not surprise.
Fear.
"What are you doing here?"
Ethan stepped forward.
"I came home."
Richard looked at me.
"You let him in?"
"He's my son."
"You had no right."
I laughed bitterly.
"No right?"
Richard's eyes narrowed.
"Where is the baby?"
Ethan's expression hardened.
"You already know."
That sentence silenced the room.
Richard's gaze shifted toward the staircase.
"Give me the child."
I stepped between them.
"No."
Richard stared at me.
"You don't understand what you're involved in."
"Then explain it."
He said nothing.
Ethan pulled out the photograph of Vanessa.
Richard's face went pale.
"Where did you get that?"
"So you remember her."
Richard lunged forward.
Ethan stepped back.
"Don't touch him."
Richard stopped.
For the first time in twenty-three years, I saw something in my husband's eyes that terrified me.
Not anger.
Panic.
"Listen to me," Richard said.
"I've listened for twenty-three years."
Ethan raised the memory card.
"Now you listen."
Richard's face hardened.
"You have no idea what you've found."
"Then tell us."
Richard looked at me.
"Your son is being manipulated."
I shook my head.
"No."
"Margaret—"
"Don't call me that like nothing happened."
He stared at me.
I had never spoken to him that way.
Ethan walked into the kitchen.
"Mom, we need to leave."
Richard blocked the hallway.
"You're not taking that baby anywhere."
"Why?"
"Because he's not yours."
Ethan smiled coldly.
"I never said he was."
Richard froze.
Ethan held up a document.
"DNA test."
I stared at the paper.
"Samuel is Vanessa's son."
Richard looked relieved.
Then Ethan said:
"And he's also yours."
The silence was deafening.
I looked at Richard.
He couldn't speak.
"That's impossible."
Ethan shook his head.
"Vanessa told me before she died."
Richard stumbled backward.
"You don't understand."
"Then explain."
Richard sank into a chair.
His hands covered his face.
And for the first time, my husband looked old.
He finally whispered:
"I didn't know she was pregnant."
I stared at him.
"How long?"
Richard didn't answer.
"How long were you seeing her?"
He looked up.
"Two years."
Something inside me broke.
Twenty-three years.
Twenty-three years of marriage.
And there had been another woman.
"Did you love her?"
"No."
His answer came too quickly.
I almost laughed.
"You don't even understand how cruel that sounds."
He lowered his head.
Ethan placed the folder on the table.
"She discovered you were moving company money."
Richard looked at him.
"I was going to return it."
"Eight million dollars?"
"I was protecting the company."
"You were stealing."
"I made mistakes."
I looked at the man I had married.
"Why did you throw Ethan out?"
Richard stared at me.
"I needed him away from the house."
"Why?"
"Because Vanessa had left evidence."
My heart sank.
"You were afraid he'd find it."
Richard nodded.
"He was asking too many questions."
Ethan looked at me.
"And you believed him when he said I needed to become a man."
I couldn't answer.
Richard whispered:
"I thought if he hated me, he'd leave."
Ethan's eyes filled with tears.
"You destroyed your own family to protect yourself."
Suddenly, headlights appeared through the windows.
Two black vehicles stopped outside.
Richard stood.
"They're here."
I looked at him.
"Who?"
His face turned white.
"The people I owe."
A loud crash came from the front door.
Someone had kicked it open.
Ethan grabbed the baby.
Richard pulled me behind him.
For one strange second, we stood together as a family.
Then the lights went out.
May you like
And someone shouted from inside the house:
"WHERE'S THE SUITCASE?"
