Kenneth arranged for me to meet Evan Mercer the next afternoon.<\/p>\n
Not alone.<\/p>\n
Not informally.<\/p>\n
And definitely not at my house.<\/p>\n
We met in a conference room at Kenneth\u2019s office with glass walls facing downtown. Rain clouds hung low over the buildings, flattening the afternoon light.<\/p>\n
Evan arrived ten minutes early.<\/p>\n
He was taller than I remembered from the hospital, perhaps thirty-five, with dark hair cut short and the tired posture of someone who had not slept properly in days.<\/p>\n
He did not try to shake my hand.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sorry,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor what?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFor walking into something that clearly had nothing to do with me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kenneth closed the conference-room door.<\/p>\n
\u201cI suspect it has quite a lot to do with you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Evan sat.<\/p>\n
I remained standing for another moment before taking the chair across from him.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you know Melinda was married?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe wasn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo. She was sleeping with my husband.\u201d<\/p>\n
His eyes dropped.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t know that either.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kenneth placed a legal pad on the table.<\/p>\n
\u201cStart from the beginning.\u201d<\/p>\n
Evan nodded.<\/p>\n
He had met Melinda at a fundraising event in May, nearly two years earlier. She had introduced herself as single.<\/p>\n
They began seeing each other within a week.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow often?\u201d Kenneth asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cTwo or three times a week.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd this continued through?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOctober.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cNoah was conceived around June.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
His voice was quiet.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen did you learn she was pregnant?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cJuly.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did she tell you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat it couldn\u2019t be mine.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe said she had been with someone else.\u201d<\/p>\n
Connor.<\/p>\n
The word did not need to be spoken.<\/p>\n
Evan reached into his bag.<\/p>\n
Kenneth immediately stopped him.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat are you taking out?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy phone.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPut it on the table.\u201d<\/p>\n
Evan did.<\/p>\n
He opened an archived conversation.<\/p>\n
\u201cI saved everything after she contacted me last month.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLast month?\u201d<\/p>\n
That surprised me.<\/p>\n
Evan looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe contacted me first.\u201d<\/p>\n
He turned the screen.<\/p>\n
The message was dated February 11.<\/p>\n
Evan, I need to know whether you ever told anyone about us.<\/p>\n
Another followed.<\/p>\n
Especially anything about June.<\/p>\n
Kenneth photographed the screen.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did you answer?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat I hadn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWas that true?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy contact you after almost two years?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cUntil today?\u201d<\/p>\n
Evan nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cI saw the baby.\u201d<\/p>\n
Something in his voice changed.<\/p>\n
Not certainty.<\/p>\n
Recognition.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know babies resemble everybody and nobody,\u201d he continued. \u201cI\u2019m not claiming a photograph proves anything. But Noah looks exactly like my brother did at that age.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kenneth asked, \u201cWhy were you at the hospital yesterday?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy mother had surgery.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd seeing Melinda was accidental?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCompletely.\u201d<\/p>\n
I believed him.<\/p>\n
Not because I trusted him.<\/p>\n
Because Melinda\u2019s reaction had been too immediate to fake.<\/p>\n
Evan scrolled farther.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s another message.\u201d<\/p>\n
This one was from the year Noah was born.<\/p>\n
Melinda had written:<\/p>\n
Please don\u2019t contact me again. Everything is settled now.<\/p>\n
Evan\u2019s response:<\/p>\n
Settled how?<\/p>\n
There had been no answer.<\/p>\n
Kenneth leaned back.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen did you learn about Connor?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYesterday.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI searched Melinda online after seeing her.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd Kirsten?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe same way.\u201d<\/p>\n
Evan looked uncomfortable.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n
I had heard those words from strangers more sincerely than I had heard them from my own husband.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat do you want?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
He looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf Noah is mine, I want to know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd if he isn\u2019t?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen I disappear.\u201d<\/p>\n
There was no drama in the answer.<\/p>\n
That made it more convincing.<\/p>\n
Kenneth gathered the printed filings.<\/p>\n
\u201cConnor\u2019s attorney has already requested expedited testing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Evan nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy lawyer agreed.\u201d<\/p>\n
I turned toward Kenneth.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow fast?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cA private accredited laboratory can return results within days once samples are collected.\u201d<\/p>\n
My heartbeat shifted.<\/p>\n
Days.<\/p>\n
Not months.<\/p>\n
The truth that had been hidden inside Noah\u2019s existence for a year could become a number on a page before the week ended.<\/p>\n
Evan left twenty minutes later.<\/p>\n
Kenneth waited until the door closed.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou believe him,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI believe his records deserve verification.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat wasn\u2019t what I asked.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kenneth gave me the faintest smile.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ve known me too long.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI think Melinda lied to both men.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked through the glass wall.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
My phone vibrated.<\/p>\n
Connor.<\/p>\n
I turned it over.<\/p>\n
Kenneth\u2019s expression changed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe keeps calling.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBlock him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought you wanted records.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have records. We don\u2019t need harassment.\u201d<\/p>\n
I blocked the number.<\/p>\n
It felt surprisingly easy.<\/p>\n
Then Kenneth slid another document toward me.<\/p>\n
\u201cI obtained something this morning.\u201d<\/p>\n
The page contained a series of financial transfers.<\/p>\n
I recognized Connor\u2019s old investment account immediately.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat is this?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMoney moving after your separation.\u201d<\/p>\n
I scanned the entries.<\/p>\n
Thirty thousand.<\/p>\n
Twenty-five thousand.<\/p>\n
Fifty thousand.<\/p>\n
All within four months.<\/p>\n
Recipient names meant nothing to me.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does this have to do with Noah?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPossibly nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kenneth tapped the third line.<\/p>\n
\u201cLook at the date.\u201d<\/p>\n
June 28.<\/p>\n
The same June.<\/p>\n
The same window in which Noah was likely conceived.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat am I looking at?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cA payment to a private fertility and reproductive clinic.\u201d<\/p>\n
My throat tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat could be treatment.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt could.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFor Connor?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPossibly.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why hide it?\u201d<\/p>\n
Kenneth did not answer.<\/p>\n
I looked again.<\/p>\n
$18,600.<\/p>\n
Two weeks later, another payment.<\/p>\n
$9,400.<\/p>\n
Then a refund.<\/p>\n
Then a transfer to Melinda.<\/p>\n
I stared at her name.<\/p>\n
\u201cConnor paid her?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFifty thousand dollars.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThree days after the refund.\u201d<\/p>\n
I felt the room narrow.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid this come from the assets he concealed during our divorce?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
That mattered.<\/p>\n
Even if Noah had never existed, Connor had hidden substantial marital assets. Kenneth had already traced more than seven hundred thousand dollars that should have been disclosed.<\/p>\n
Now those accounts were telling a second story.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat was the clinic?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWestbridge Reproductive Medicine.\u201d<\/p>\n
I knew the name.<\/p>\n
Not personally.<\/p>\n
Professionally.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey handle male-factor infertility.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAmong other things.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou think Connor was getting treatment.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we need records before concluding anything.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does Melinda have to do with that?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is exactly the question.\u201d<\/p>\n
My phone vibrated despite Connor being blocked.<\/p>\n
A message arrived from Melinda.<\/p>\n
Please, Kirsten. Woman to woman. We need to talk before lawyers destroy all of us.<\/p>\n
I almost handed the phone to Kenneth.<\/p>\n
Then another message appeared.<\/p>\n
Connor doesn\u2019t know everything.<\/p>\n
Kenneth read it over my shoulder.<\/p>\n
\u201cStill don\u2019t answer.\u201d<\/p>\n
I forwarded it.<\/p>\n
Ten minutes later, Melinda sent a photograph.<\/p>\n
It showed a sheet of paper.<\/p>\n
Most of it was obscured by her thumb, but the heading was visible.<\/p>\n
WESTBRIDGE REPRODUCTIVE MEDICINE.<\/p>\n
Below it was a date.<\/p>\n
June 19.<\/p>\n
And beneath the date:<\/p>\n
FLEMING, CONNOR.<\/p>\n
I enlarged the photograph.<\/p>\n
There was another name farther down the page.<\/p>\n
Only the first letters were visible.<\/p>\n
MEL\u2014<\/p>\n
My pulse thudded.<\/p>\n
\u201cKenneth.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI see it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another message arrived.<\/p>\n
I never meant for you to find out this way.<\/p>\n
Then:<\/p>\n
He told me you already knew.<\/p>\n
I looked at Kenneth.<\/p>\n
\u201cKnew what?\u201d<\/p>\n
Before he could answer, Melinda sent one final message.<\/p>\n
Ask Connor why my name was on his fertility paperwork before you two were divorced.<\/p>\n
Kenneth arranged for me to meet Evan Mercer the next afternoon. Not alone. Not informally. And definitely not at my house. We met in a conference room at Kenneth\u2019s office … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":30496,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30504","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-insightdrama"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30504","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=30504"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30504\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30556,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30504\/revisions\/30556"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/30496"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=30504"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=30504"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=30504"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}