I couldn't speak.
Caroline took the phone from my hand.
“What did you say?”
Jessica repeated it.
“My father is alive.”
Caroline's face drained of color.
“That isn't possible.”
“He disappeared years ago.”
Rachel stepped closer.
“Jessica, where is he?”
A pause.
“I don't know exactly.”
“You just said he's alive.”
“I know he is.”
“How?”
“Because he contacted me.”
I took the phone back.
“When?”
“Three weeks ago.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because I knew you'd go after him.”
“You mean you'd lose control of the situation.”
“I mean he'd hurt you.”
I looked at the cassette.
“You've known about this your entire life.”
Jessica began crying.
“Yes.”
“You knew Caroline was alive.”
“Yes.”
“You knew I was adopted.”
“Yes.”
“You knew my father had been lied to.”
“Yes.”
“And you still married me.”
“I loved you.”
I closed my eyes.
“You keep saying that as if love excuses everything.”
“It doesn't.”
“Then why?”
“Because I was seventeen when I first saw your name.”
I looked at Caroline.
Jessica continued.
“My father had your photograph.”
“My photograph?”
“An infant photograph.”
“Why?”
“He said you were the child who could destroy him.”
The words hung in the air.
“Destroy him how?”
“He had falsified legal records.”
Rachel motioned for me to put the call on speaker.
I did.
“Jessica,” Rachel said, “you need to explain precisely what your father was afraid of.”
“He was afraid Caroline would prove the adoption was fraudulent.”
“She can.”
“Yes.”
“Then why was he not prosecuted?”
“Because the evidence disappeared.”
“Except the evidence in the box.”
Jessica went silent.
“You found the recording.”
“Yes.”
Her breathing became shaky.
“I knew there was a recording.”
“You knew?”
“My father searched for it for years.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because I was afraid.”
“You've used that word a lot.”
“I was.”
I looked at the photograph of Jessica as a teenager.
“You told me you met me at that fundraiser by chance.”
“I lied.”
“You recognized me.”
“Yes.”
“You knew my name.”
“Yes.”
“You knew my father.”
“Yes.”
“Then why didn't you tell me?”
“Because I wanted to know who you were before I decided what to do.”
I stared at the phone.
“What did you decide?”
“That I couldn't destroy your life.”
“So you built a new lie around it.”
“Yes.”
Caroline's eyes filled.
“You stole my son.”
Jessica's voice broke.
“I know.”
“You kept him from me.”
“I know.”
“You took my money.”
“I know.”
“You made him believe I rejected him.”
“I know.”
Caroline turned away.
Rachel spoke.
“Where is Samuel?”
“I don't know.”
“You said he contacted you.”
“He left a message.”
“What did it say?”
Jessica hesitated.
“He said the box was still missing.”
I looked at the cassette.
“So he knows.”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“Someone told him.”
“Nathan?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
Jessica's voice dropped.
“Someone close to Ethan.”
My stomach tightened.
“Who?”
She didn't answer.
“Jessica.”
“Don't go home.”
“We're not.”
“Don't go to your father's house.”
“Why?”
“Because he already searched it.”
I looked at Caroline.
“The cabinet?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Last night.”
Maya checked her phone.
“The security system shows no movement after Jessica disabled the camera.”
Rachel shook her head.
“He could have entered before.”
Jessica spoke again.
“He wasn't looking for the money.”
“What was he looking for?”
“The original birth certificate.”
I remembered Dad's words.
The place she never looked.
My mother's box.
We had found the cabinet.
But not the certificate.
“Did Samuel get it?”
“I don't know.”
“Then what does he have?”
“I don't know.”
She started crying.
“I only know he told me if the certificate surfaced, he would disappear forever.”
“That doesn't make sense.”
“It does if the certificate contains his name.”
I looked at Rachel.
“What name?”
Jessica answered.
“Father.”
Silence.
Caroline whispered, “No.”
Rachel looked at her.
“Caroline?”
She shook her head.
“My family always said the father was unknown.”
Jessica said quietly, “He wasn't.”
I stared at the phone.
“Who is my biological father?”
Jessica didn't answer.
“Tell me.”
“I can't.”
“You've lied enough.”
“I can't tell you because I don't know whether it's true.”
“What do you know?”
“My father told me.”
“What?”
“That you weren't Arthur's child.”
“I know.”
“No.”
Her voice broke.
“He said you weren't Caroline's husband's child either.”
Caroline stopped breathing.
Rachel immediately said, “Jessica, clarify.”
“My father said Daniel was his.”
Nobody moved.
I stared at the floor.
“Samuel.”
“Yes.”
Caroline shook her head.
“He wasn't.”
Jessica whispered, “That's what my father claimed.”
“But you don't believe him.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because my mother left a letter.”
“What did it say?”
“That she didn't know.”
I looked at Caroline.
She seemed unable to process the words.
“I was married,” she whispered.
“Who was your husband?”
“David.”
Rachel looked at the documents.
“Is David listed anywhere?”
“No.”
Caroline's hands shook.
“David died before Daniel was born.”
I looked at her.
“Then how could Samuel claim he was my father?”
“He may have been lying.”
Jessica's voice softened.
“Or he may have been telling the truth.”
I wanted certainty.
Instead, every answer opened another door.
Maya finally spoke.
“We need DNA testing.”
Caroline nodded immediately.
“Yes.”
I looked at the cassette.
“And we need to know why Samuel wants the birth certificate.”
Rachel closed the box.
“We also need to get somewhere secure.”
My phone buzzed.
A text from Nathan.
Don't trust Jessica.
A second message appeared.
She knows why Samuel chose you.
Then another.
Ask her about the night your father brought you home.
I looked at Jessica.
“What happened the night Dad brought me home?”
She was silent.
“Jessica.”
“I wasn't there.”
“You know something.”
“Yes.”
“What?”
“I found the record in my father's papers.”
“Tell me.”
“He wrote that you weren't supposed to survive.”
Caroline gasped.
“What?”
Jessica continued.
“You had pneumonia.”
Dad had mentioned the blue blanket.
The chest infection.
My small hand around his finger.
“He said you were weak.”
“What happened?”
“He expected you to die.”
My stomach turned.
“And if I had?”
“My father said the adoption would have disappeared with you.”
Rachel looked at the documents.
“That sounds like motive.”
Jessica whispered, “There was more.”
“What?”
“My father had a second child.”
I stared at her.
“Nathan?”
“No.”
She hesitated.
“A son you don't know about.”
Caroline looked confused.
“Samuel had another child?”
“Yes.”
“Who?”
Jessica's voice dropped.
“Daniel.”
I stared at her.
“What?”
She began crying.
“My father had another son named Daniel.”
“That makes no sense.”
“It does if the baby you were told was Caroline's wasn't the only child involved.”
Rachel stood.
“Jessica, stop speaking in fragments.”
“I don't know the whole truth.”
“Then tell us what you know.”
Jessica took a breath.
“My father was involved in an illegal adoption network.”
The words landed heavily.
“He wasn't just hiding Ethan.”
“He had several children moved through the same attorney.”
Caroline covered her mouth.
“Why?”
“Money.”
Rachel nodded grimly.
“And Ethan?”
“He was different.”
“How?”
“My father believed Ethan had an inheritance connected to Caroline's family.”
I stared at her.
“What inheritance?”
“The land.”
Caroline looked confused.
“My family lost the property years ago.”
“Not all of it.”
Jessica continued.
“There was a trust.”
Rachel's eyes narrowed.
“Where?”
“Held under Margaret Sharma's name.”
The safe deposit box.
The missing papers.
The two hundred thousand dollars.
Suddenly they weren't separate pieces.
They were parts of the same machine.
My biological family had assets.
My adoption had been manipulated.
Someone had profited.
And now someone was desperate to recover documents proving what happened.
I looked at Caroline.
“Did my mother have a trust?”
She nodded slowly.
“Yes.”
“How much?”
“I don't know.”
Rachel answered for her.
“Your mother may have had a substantial interest in property.”
“How substantial?”
“Enough to motivate fraud.”
My phone buzzed again.
This time it was an email.
No sender name.
One attachment.
A photograph.
It showed my father standing outside his house.
Taken that morning.
Beneath it were four words.
You found the wrong box.
I looked at the time.
Five minutes earlier.
Someone had been watching us.
Caroline reached for my hand.
“We should leave.”
Rachel nodded.
“Now.”
We hurried out of the bank.
The parking lot looked ordinary.
Cars.
Rain.
People walking beneath umbrellas.
Then I saw the black sedan parked across the street.
A man sat behind the wheel.
He was watching us.
I couldn't see his face clearly.
But he lifted one hand.
A small wave.
The sedan pulled away.
I memorized the license plate.
Maya was already calling the police.
Rachel opened her car.
“Get in.”
Caroline climbed into the back.
I followed.
My phone rang again.
Unknown number.
I answered.
No one spoke.
Then I heard an old man's voice.
“You look just like your mother.”
My entire body went still.
“Who is this?”
A soft laugh.
“You should ask your wife.”
I gripped the phone.
“Where are you?”
“Closer than you think.”
The call ended.
Caroline stared at me.
“Who was it?”
I couldn't answer.
Because I knew.
Not from the voice.
From the final words.
You should ask your wife.
Jessica was still on the line.
I put the phone to my ear.
“Jessica?”
“Yes.”
“Did your father just call me?”
She began sobbing.
“Yes.”
“Where is he?”
“I don't know.”
“Then how did he get my number?”
She whispered the answer.
“He never needed your number.”
I felt cold.
“What do you mean?”
“He has always had it.”
“Since when?”
“Since before I met you.”
I looked through the car window.
The black sedan had disappeared.
Rachel started the engine.
Jessica's voice came through the speaker.
“Ethan…”
“What?”
“I lied about one more thing.”
My jaw tightened.
“What now?”
“I didn't choose you because I was afraid of losing you.”
She paused.
“I chose you because my father told me to marry you.”
Click Here to continue read next: PART9: My Wife Said Her Father Had Ordered Her to Marry Me, but the Question I Asked Next Made Her Finally Tell Me What He Wanted From My Family
My Father Came Asking for Money, but the Question My Wife Asked Him Made Me Realize Something Was Terribly Wrong
Part 8 of 16
