{"id":31644,"date":"2026-10-06T18:05:53","date_gmt":"2026-10-06T18:05:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/?p=31644"},"modified":"2026-10-06T18:05:53","modified_gmt":"2026-10-06T18:05:53","slug":"part-7-a-letter-hidden-for-fifty-eight-years-revealed-why-rebeccas-father-disappeared-and-why-martha-never-forgave-herself-for-believing-the-wrong-person","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/?p=31644","title":{"rendered":"PART 7 \u2013 A Letter Hidden for Fifty-Eight Years Revealed Why Rebecca\u2019s Father Disappeared and Why Martha Never Forgave Herself for Believing the Wrong Person"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Daniel did not sit.<\/p>\n<p>He stood at Martha\u2019s kitchen table with both hands pressed against the back of a chair, watching his mother.<\/p>\n<p>Rebecca looked as though she wanted the envelope to vanish.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhere did you find it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn Grandma\u2019s cedar chest.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI emptied that chest.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo, you emptied the top tray. There was a false bottom.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rebecca stared at him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow did you know?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOne side was warped.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Arthur leaned slightly toward the document.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWho wrote it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Daniel looked at him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI still don\u2019t know who you are.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cArthur Bell.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Daniel\u2019s eyes narrowed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMartha\u2019s son?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy grandmother mentioned you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Arthur looked wary.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGood things?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMostly that Martha adopted a boy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Arthur nodded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat sounds like Anna.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rebecca reached for the letter.<\/p>\n<p>Daniel gave it to her.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat does it say?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI read enough to know you should see it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid Grandma read it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rebecca unfolded the page.<\/p>\n<p>The paper was thin and browned along the folds.<\/p>\n<p>She read the first line.<\/p>\n<p>Her entire posture changed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n<p>She shook her head.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLet me finish.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>We waited.<\/p>\n<p>Her eyes moved slowly down the page.<\/p>\n<p>At the bottom, she sat without seeming aware she had done so.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWho wrote it?\u201d Arthur asked.<\/p>\n<p>Rebecca looked up.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy father.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The words barely carried across the table.<\/p>\n<p>Daniel pulled out the chair beside her.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat was his name?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDavid Mercer.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Arthur frowned.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMercer?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou know it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo. It just sounds familiar.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rebecca returned to the letter.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy mother said David left when she told him she was pregnant.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Daniel nodded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s what you told me too.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s what I believed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She touched the page.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut this says he didn\u2019t leave.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat happened?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n<p>Rebecca looked toward Evelyn.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy grandparents told him Anna had lost the baby.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A silence followed.<\/p>\n<p>Daniel sat slowly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey told your father you died?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cApparently.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rebecca continued reading aloud in fragments, careful and halting.<\/p>\n<p>David wrote that he had returned to Richmond after months away with the Navy.<\/p>\n<p>He went to Anna\u2019s parents\u2019 house.<\/p>\n<p>Anna\u2019s father told him she had miscarried and did not want further contact.<\/p>\n<p>David did not believe him at first.<\/p>\n<p>He wrote letters.<\/p>\n<p>None were answered.<\/p>\n<p>He called.<\/p>\n<p>He was told Anna had moved.<\/p>\n<p>Eventually a letter arrived, supposedly from Anna, telling him never to contact her again.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWas it really from Grandma?\u201d Daniel asked.<\/p>\n<p>Rebecca shook her head.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid he send this to Martha?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rebecca continued.<\/p>\n<p>Years later, David had heard through an old school friend that Anna had a daughter born around the time he left.<\/p>\n<p>He tried to locate Anna.<\/p>\n<p>Someone gave him Martha\u2019s address because Martha had once been close to the family.<\/p>\n<p>He wrote asking one question.<\/p>\n<p>Was Rebecca his daughter?<\/p>\n<p>Arthur swore under his breath.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat year?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rebecca checked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c1983.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I calculated quickly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou were sixteen.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd Martha received this?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rebecca looked at the envelope.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s addressed to her.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Daniel leaned closer.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut was it delivered?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>There was no postmark visible from where I sat.<\/p>\n<p>Evelyn reached for the envelope.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMay I?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rebecca nodded.<\/p>\n<p>Evelyn examined it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis was never mailed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>We all looked at her.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow do you know?\u201d Daniel asked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo stamp. No cancellation marks. No postal code notation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rebecca frowned.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen how did my mother have it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nobody answered.<\/p>\n<p>Arthur took the envelope.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s handwriting on the back.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He turned it over.<\/p>\n<p>Three words had been written faintly near the edge.<\/p>\n<p>Martha never saw.<\/p>\n<p>Rebecca closed her eyes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy mother wrote that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow can you tell?\u201d Daniel asked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know her handwriting.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The meaning settled over us.<\/p>\n<p>David had apparently written to Martha.<\/p>\n<p>Somehow Anna had ended up with the letter before it was sent.<\/p>\n<p>Or afterward, before Martha saw it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMaybe he gave it to Anna to forward,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n<p>Rebecca shook her head.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy would he do that if he couldn\u2019t find her?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Arthur tapped the page.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat address is on the letterhead?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere isn\u2019t one.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhere does he say he was living?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rebecca scanned it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNorfolk.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Arthur stood.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMom kept old city directories.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I stared at him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou know that?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe used them for genealogy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He crossed into the hallway and disappeared upstairs.<\/p>\n<p>Daniel looked after him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIs he always like this?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rebecca wiped her cheek.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI met him twenty minutes before you did.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat wasn\u2019t a no.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Despite everything, she smiled.<\/p>\n<p>Arthur returned carrying a dusty hardcover directory and a small wooden box.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat\u2019s that?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMom\u2019s index box.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He opened it.<\/p>\n<p>Inside were hundreds of handwritten cards.<\/p>\n<p>Names.<\/p>\n<p>Dates.<\/p>\n<p>Addresses.<\/p>\n<p>Martha had apparently built an analog map of her family history.<\/p>\n<p>Arthur searched under M.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMercer.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He pulled a card.<\/p>\n<p>His expression changed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He placed it on the table.<\/p>\n<p>DAVID MERCER.<\/p>\n<p>Beneath the name, Martha had written an address in Norfolk.<\/p>\n<p>Then another in Baltimore.<\/p>\n<p>Then a date.<\/p>\n<p>1983.<\/p>\n<p>Rebecca stared.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe knew where he was.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Arthur shook his head.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo. Look.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Beneath the 1983 date, Martha had written:<\/p>\n<p>Address from Anna. Do not contact.<\/p>\n<p>Rebecca\u2019s face hardened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy mother told her not to.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt looks that way.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Daniel spoke quietly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMaybe Grandma was still afraid of him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rebecca snapped toward him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe told me he abandoned her.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat doesn\u2019t mean everything else was false.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She stared at her son.<\/p>\n<p>Daniel continued carefully.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMaybe he hurt her. Maybe she had reasons.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rebecca looked down at the letter.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s possible.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Arthur searched the box again.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s another Mercer card.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He pulled it free.<\/p>\n<p>This one had Martha\u2019s handwriting on the front and a clipped obituary attached.<\/p>\n<p>Rebecca reached for it.<\/p>\n<p>The obituary was dated nine years earlier.<\/p>\n<p>David Mercer.<\/p>\n<p>Seventy-one.<\/p>\n<p>Retired naval engineer.<\/p>\n<p>Survived by wife Patricia.<\/p>\n<p>Two sons.<\/p>\n<p>One daughter.<\/p>\n<p>Rebecca\u2019s hand trembled.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA daughter.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Daniel leaned close.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt might mean\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know what it might mean.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She read the clipping again.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe had a family.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nobody knew what to say.<\/p>\n<p>Arthur finally asked, \u201cDoes it list names?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rebecca swallowed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPatricia. Michael. Steven. Claire.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Daniel took out his phone.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat are you doing?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLooking.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor what?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe daughter.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDaniel, don\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMom\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDon\u2019t turn fifty-eight years of my life into a search result before I\u2019ve had five minutes to understand it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He lowered the phone.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou\u2019re right.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rebecca pressed both hands against the table.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou don\u2019t have to apologize.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI snapped.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s different.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Arthur watched them.<\/p>\n<p>Something about the exchange affected him.<\/p>\n<p>He looked away.<\/p>\n<p>I wondered how many times he and Martha had confused snapping with abandonment, anger with rejection, conflict with a reason not to call.<\/p>\n<p>Rebecca turned back to Evelyn.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid Martha know David died?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Her face fell.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe found the obituary nine years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid she contact him before that?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Evelyn hesitated.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rebecca stared.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cApproximately eleven years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMartha had become increasingly troubled by the way Anna refused to discuss you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rebecca\u2019s voice sharpened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo she ignored my mother\u2019s request.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did David say?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Evelyn opened another folder.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know everything. Martha told me only that she located him by telephone.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe told her he had always believed you died before birth.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rebecca covered her mouth.<\/p>\n<p>Daniel whispered, \u201cJesus.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Arthur sat again.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did Mom do?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe confronted Anna.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rebecca looked up.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy mother never told me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat happened?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey had one telephone conversation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAfter decades?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did Anna say?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Evelyn\u2019s expression tightened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat she had done what she believed was necessary.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor whom?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe did not specify.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rebecca laughed in disbelief.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe lied to him. Lied to me. Lied to Martha.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Daniel looked at the old letter.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMaybe the answer\u2019s here.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He pointed to the second page.<\/p>\n<p>Rebecca had stopped reading halfway through.<\/p>\n<p>She unfolded it.<\/p>\n<p>The bottom contained several lines written in David\u2019s hand.<\/p>\n<p>Rebecca read silently.<\/p>\n<p>Then her eyes widened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She handed the page to Daniel.<\/p>\n<p>He read aloud.<\/p>\n<p>David wrote that before leaving for naval training, he had asked Anna to marry him.<\/p>\n<p>She said yes.<\/p>\n<p>Her parents refused.<\/p>\n<p>They believed David\u2019s family had \u201cthe wrong background.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Arthur frowned.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat does that mean?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rebecca looked sick.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy grandparents.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Daniel continued reading.<\/p>\n<p>David\u2019s father was Puerto Rican.<\/p>\n<p>His mother was Irish.<\/p>\n<p>Anna\u2019s parents considered him unsuitable.<\/p>\n<p>The room went very quiet.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey told my mother he abandoned her,\u201d Rebecca said.<\/p>\n<p>Daniel nodded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd told him you were dead.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rebecca stared at the old photograph of Anna and Martha.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy whole life was built around their lie.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I moved my chair closer.<\/p>\n<p>This time I did touch her hand.<\/p>\n<p>She did not pull away.<\/p>\n<p>Arthur looked at Martha\u2019s index cards.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMom must have figured it out.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPartly,\u201d Evelyn said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow much?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe believed Anna\u2019s parents separated them deliberately. But she never knew whether Anna had participated willingly.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rebecca\u2019s voice was raw.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe must have, eventually.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPerhaps.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy protect them?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFear. Shame. Anger. Loyalty. People can serve several masters at once.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rebecca looked toward the window.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI spent years angry at a man who thought I was dead.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>No one corrected her.<\/p>\n<p>Daniel picked up the obituary.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMom.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou don\u2019t know what I was going to say.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou were going to suggest finding his children.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI can\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot today.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMaybe not ever.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s your choice.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rebecca looked at him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWould you?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf I found out I had siblings somewhere?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He considered.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019d want to know whether they knew about me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Arthur leaned forward.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo would I.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rebecca gave him a tired look.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou\u2019re not helping.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSorry.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou\u2019re not.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That earned another unwilling smile.<\/p>\n<p>Evelyn closed the file.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere is one more thing Martha wanted Rebecca to have.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She removed a small key.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhere does that go?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMartha\u2019s attic.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Arthur frowned.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe attic doesn\u2019t lock.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe storage room inside it does.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI didn\u2019t know there was a storage room.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere is.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rebecca stared at the key.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat\u2019s in it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Evelyn looked at her.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMartha called it the room of things she should have said sooner.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Arthur stood.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat sounds ominous.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rebecca picked up the key.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid she leave instructions?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor us?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor all of you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I looked at Evelyn.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAll?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou, Rebecca, Arthur, and Daniel if he was present.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Daniel blinked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMartha didn\u2019t know I\u2019d be here.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo. But she knew Rebecca had a son.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rebecca shook her head.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe researched me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOnly enough to be certain she had found the right person.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Arthur headed toward the stairs.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen we might as well find out what Mom hid.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rebecca did not move.<\/p>\n<p>I understood why.<\/p>\n<p>Every answer she had received that morning had broken something.<\/p>\n<p>I squeezed her hand.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou don\u2019t have to go up.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She looked at the key.<\/p>\n<p>Then toward the staircase.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI do.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>We climbed to the second floor.<\/p>\n<p>Arthur led us to the narrow attic stairs.<\/p>\n<p>The air smelled of dust and cedar.<\/p>\n<p>At the far end stood a paneled wall I had seen before without noticing anything unusual.<\/p>\n<p>Arthur ran his fingers along the trim.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A small keyhole.<\/p>\n<p>Rebecca inserted Martha\u2019s key.<\/p>\n<p>The lock clicked.<\/p>\n<p>A narrow door opened inward.<\/p>\n<p>Inside were shelves.<\/p>\n<p>Boxes.<\/p>\n<p>Photographs.<\/p>\n<p>Cassette tapes.<\/p>\n<p>Files.<\/p>\n<p>A child\u2019s white knitted blanket.<\/p>\n<p>Rebecca stopped at the doorway.<\/p>\n<p>On top of the nearest box, Martha had placed a note.<\/p>\n<p>Arthur picked it up.<\/p>\n<p>He read the first sentence silently.<\/p>\n<p>Then handed it to Rebecca.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat?\u201d Daniel asked.<\/p>\n<p>Rebecca looked at us.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMartha says the truth about my father isn\u2019t the reason she brought us here.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Arthur frowned.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen what is?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rebecca read the next line.<\/p>\n<p>Her face went blank.<\/p>\n<p>She looked directly at Arthur.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause she believed your adoption and my birth were connected.\u201d<\/p>\n<hr>\n<h2><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/?p=31645\">Click here to continue reading: PART 8: Inside Martha\u2019s Locked Attic Room, Arthur Found the Record That Turned Two Separate Family Secrets Into One Unfinished Story<\/a><\/strong><\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Daniel did not sit. He stood at Martha\u2019s kitchen table with both hands pressed against the back of a chair, watching his mother. Rebecca looked as though she wanted the &hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":31637,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31644","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\/31644","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=31644"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31644\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31679,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31644\/revisions\/31679"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/31637"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=31644"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=31644"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=31644"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}