Jessica stood beneath the rising garage door.
Rainwater glistened on the shoulders of her coat.
For several seconds, she didn't look at me.
She looked at the documents.
Then the brass key.
Then Nathan.
“You promised.”
Nathan's expression hardened.
“I promised to help you.”
“You promised not to tell him.”
“I changed my mind.”
Jessica finally faced me.
“You don't understand.”
“Then explain.”
She took a step forward.
Maya raised a hand.
“Stay where you are.”
Jessica ignored her.
“Ethan, please.”
“Don't.”
The word stopped her.
I had said it to her hundreds of times during ordinary arguments.
Never like this.
She looked at me as if she had suddenly realized I was someone she no longer knew how to control.
“I want the truth,” I said.
“You'll hate me.”
“I already don't know who you are.”
Her eyes filled.
“That isn't fair.”
I pointed toward the documents.
“Neither was any of this.”
She looked down.
“I didn't know everything.”
“You knew enough.”
“Yes.”
The admission came quietly.
Maya stepped closer.
“Start at the beginning.”
Jessica looked at me.
“The first time I heard your name, I wasn't trying to meet you.”
“What were you doing?”
“Helping Nathan with his father's estate.”
She rubbed her hands together.
“We found old legal records.”
“About me.”
“Yes.”
“Why did Nathan's family have records about my adoption?”
“Because his father handled the paperwork.”
I stared at her.
“And you knew Caroline was alive?”
“Not at first.”
“When?”
“Before I met you.”
My chest tightened.
“How long before?”
“About three months.”
I remembered the fundraiser.
The first conversation.
The way she had looked at me.
“How did you find out?”
“Caroline's name appeared in a file.”
“What did it say?”
“That she had been searching for a child named Daniel.”
Jessica swallowed.
“And the birth date matched you.”
I laughed once.
“You knew before our first date.”
“Yes.”
“Then why did you date me?”
Her answer came immediately.
“Because I fell in love with you.”
I stared at her.
She stepped closer.
“I know how that sounds.”
“It sounds like a lie.”
“It isn't.”
“Then why did you interfere?”
She looked at Nathan.
He turned away.
Jessica lowered her voice.
“Because I was afraid.”
“Of Caroline?”
“No.”
She looked directly at me.
“Of losing you.”
“You didn't have me.”
“I did.”
“You had my trust.”
Her face crumpled.
“I know.”
I wanted anger.
Instead I felt exhaustion.
“How did the money start?”
Jessica sat on an overturned storage box.
“When Caroline first contacted me, I ignored her.”
“Why?”
“Because Nathan told me what was in the records.”
“What?”
“That your biological family had been trying to recover the documents.”
“Why?”
“Because the adoption wasn't clean.”
Maya interrupted.
“Define clean.”
Jessica looked at her.
“The consent wasn't properly obtained.”
Caroline closed her eyes.
“My mother was unconscious.”
“Yes.”
“And you knew that.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
Jessica looked at me.
“Because if you found out, you would go looking for her.”
“I did.”
“And I was terrified.”
“Of what?”
Jessica's voice dropped.
“That she would take you away.”
I stared at her.
“She had no intention of taking me away.”
“You don't know that.”
“She spent thirty-four years believing I was dead.”
Jessica shook her head.
“You think that doesn't matter? She could have spent the rest of your life wanting you. She could have demanded a relationship. She could have made you question everything.”
“She had the right.”
Jessica flinched.
“Yes.”
The garage went quiet.
Then she said, “I knew that.”
“Then why?”
“Because knowing something is wrong doesn't make you brave enough to do the right thing.”
It was the first honest sentence she had spoken.
I sat opposite her.
“What happened with the money?”
She looked at the floor.
“When Caroline offered money, I didn't plan to take it.”
“But you did.”
“Yes.”
“How did you convince yourself?”
“I told myself I was keeping it for you.”
“Fifty-eight thousand dollars?”
“I thought we'd use it to fix the house.”
“The house wasn't in danger.”
“I know.”
“And the surgery?”
“I made that up.”
Caroline's eyes filled.
Jessica looked at her.
“I was desperate.”
“You weren't desperate,” Caroline said.
“You were afraid.”
Jessica nodded.
“Yes.”
The word hung there.
Then I remembered the account.
“The savings.”
Jessica's face changed.
“That wasn't my idea.”
“Nathan?”
She looked toward him.
He didn't answer.
I stood.
“Where is the money?”
“Some of it is gone.”
“Where?”
Nathan finally spoke.
“Overseas account.”
Maya's eyes narrowed.
“Whose?”
“My father's old trust.”
I stared at him.
“Why would my money go into your father's trust?”
“It didn't.”
He looked at Jessica.
“She moved it there temporarily.”
Jessica snapped, “You told me it was safe.”
“I told you nothing.”
“You gave me the account details.”
“Because I wanted to know how far you'd go.”
I looked between them.
“You've both been using me.”
Nathan's jaw tightened.
“Jessica was going to leave.”
I looked at her.
“Leave?”
“She was going to take you with her.”
Jessica shook her head.
“I never planned to leave Ethan.”
“You packed.”
“That was because I thought he would never forgive me.”
Nathan laughed.
“You were going to disappear.”
Jessica's face hardened.
“I was going to give him a choice.”
“What choice?”
“Me or her.”
I stared at her.
“You had no right to make that choice for me.”
“I know.”
That answer hurt more than another lie would have.
Maya picked up the brass key.
“Enough.”
She looked at Nathan.
“Where is the safe deposit box?”
“First National.”
“Branch?”
“Downtown.”
“Whose name?”
“Margaret Sharma.”
Caroline stood.
“My mother's?”
“Yes.”
“How do we access it?”
Nathan looked at the key.
“You'll need proof of inheritance.”
“I am her daughter.”
“That may not be enough.”
“Why?”
“Because the box was sealed after her death.”
Maya looked at me.
“Then we'll need legal access.”
I reached for the documents.
Jessica stood.
“Ethan.”
I didn't turn.
“I need to tell you one more thing.”
I stopped.
“What?”
“The letter you found from your father wasn't the first one.”
I turned.
“What do you mean?”
“Arthur wrote another letter.”
“Where is it?”
“I destroyed it.”
Caroline gasped.
“What did it say?”
Jessica's eyes filled.
“It said he knew your mother had been kept from you.”
I stared at her.
“Then why would he write that he didn't know?”
“Because he was protecting you.”
“From what?”
“From the people who controlled the original records.”
Nathan looked away.
Jessica whispered, “They threatened him.”
“Who?”
“My father.”
Her answer came slowly.
“He told Arthur that if he challenged the adoption, the police would investigate the money.”
“What money?”
“The payment.”
I looked at the document.
“Two hundred thousand.”
Jessica nodded.
“Arthur didn't steal you.”
Caroline's voice shook.
“He thought he was saving him.”
“Yes.”
I closed my eyes.
For the first time, I understood why Dad had looked ashamed.
He had spent thirty-four years believing his mistake had cost Caroline her son.
But he had not created the lie.
He had been trapped inside it.
My phone rang.
The hospital.
I answered.
“Mr. Hayes, your father is asking for you.”
“I’m coming.”
I turned toward the garage door.
Jessica stepped into my path.
“Please don't leave like this.”
“I have to see him.”
“He may tell you things that aren't true.”
I looked at her.
“Why?”
“Because he is frightened.”
“Or because you are.”
She moved aside.
I walked past her.
Caroline followed.
Maya remained behind for a moment.
I heard her say, “Do not leave town.”
Nathan answered, “I wasn't planning to.”
At the hospital, Dad was awake.
His eyes found me immediately.
“You found it.”
“The cabinet.”
He closed his eyes.
“I'm sorry.”
“You don't have to apologize yet.”
He looked toward Caroline.
She stood beside my chair.
“She's here.”
He nodded.
Caroline approached.
Arthur's eyes filled.
“I should have found you.”
“You were lied to.”
“I should have tried harder.”
She reached for his hand.
“You raised him.”
He looked at me.
“I loved him.”
Caroline smiled through tears.
“I know.”
The three of us sat in silence.
Then Dad whispered, “The box.”
I leaned forward.
“The safe deposit box?”
“Yes.”
“What's inside?”
His eyes moved to Caroline.
“Your mother's confession.”
Caroline stopped breathing.
“She wrote it?”
“She knew she had done wrong.”
“What does it say?”
Dad looked at me.
“It explains why you were taken.”
“Why?”
His voice was almost gone.
“Because your mother was going to expose the man who paid for the adoption.”
I froze.
“Who?”
Dad closed his eyes.
Before he could answer, the heart monitor began alarming.
Nurses rushed into the room.
“Sir, step back.”
I moved.
Caroline grabbed my arm.
Dad's eyes opened once more.
He looked directly at me.
Then he whispered a name.
“Samuel.”
The alarm became louder.
And I realized I had heard that name before.
It belonged to Jessica's father.
Click Here to continue read next: PART7: My Father Named the Man Behind the Adoption, and the Safe Deposit Box Held Evidence That Could Finally Prove Who Had Stolen My Childhood
My Father Came Asking for Money, but the Question My Wife Asked Him Made Me Realize Something Was Terribly Wrong
Part 6 of 16
