{"id":5663,"date":"2026-09-01T10:24:33","date_gmt":"2026-09-01T10:24:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/?p=5663"},"modified":"2026-09-01T10:24:33","modified_gmt":"2026-09-01T10:24:33","slug":"part-2-five-minutes-after-divorce-my-ex-chose-his-unborn-son-i-took-daughters-and-disappeared","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/?p=5663","title":{"rendered":"PART 2 \u2013 Five minutes after divorce, my ex chose his unborn son. I took daughters and disappeared."},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n
\"\"<\/h5>\n
<\/h5>\n
PART 2 \u2014 THE DATE THAT DIDN\u2019T BELONG<\/h5>\n

\u201cJust remember one thing,\u201d I said.
\nVictor looked at me with the impatient expression he had perfected during the final years of our marriage.
\n\u201cWhat?\u201d
\nI held his gaze.
\n\u201cSometimes getting exactly what you want is the fastest way to discover you never understood what you had.\u201d
\nSamantha gave a quiet scoff.
\nVictor actually laughed.
\n\u201cIs that supposed to scare me?\u201d
\n\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

I slipped my handbag over my shoulder.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s supposed to be goodbye.\u201d
\nThen I walked out.
\nI didn\u2019t slam the door.
\nI didn\u2019t cry in the hallway.
\nI didn\u2019t turn around hoping Victor would suddenly realize what he had done.
\nThat version of me had disappeared months earlier.
\nThe woman walking toward the elevator had already learned the most painful lesson of her marriage.
\nYou cannot convince someone to value you after they have decided your love is ordinary.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

And you should never teach your children that begging for love is the same thing as fighting for a family.
\nThe elevator doors opened.
\nI stepped inside.
\nJust before they closed, I heard Samantha laughing inside the conference room.
\n\u201cHonestly, Victor, she always has to be dramatic.\u201d
\nThe doors slid shut.
\nAnd for the first time in twelve years, I smiled without caring whether anyone in the Reynolds family approved.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

At 10:23 a.m., I walked out of the building and climbed into a waiting car.
\nMy phone immediately buzzed.
\nA message from my older daughter, Abigail.
\nARE WE REALLY GOING TODAY?
\nAbigail was nine years old and already understood far more about the divorce than I wanted her to.
\nI typed back.
\nYes.
\nHer reply arrived almost immediately.
\nGOOD.
\nThen another message.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

CAN GRANDMA COME VISIT US?
\nI smiled.
\nAnytime she wants.
\nThree dots appeared.
\nThen Abigail wrote:
\nIS DAD COMING TO SAY GOODBYE?
\nMy fingers froze above the screen.
\nThat question hurt more than signing the divorce papers.
\nVictor knew our flight left that evening.
\nHe knew the girls were waiting at my mother\u2019s house.
\nHe knew this was the last day he could see them before we moved.
\nHe also knew Naomi had an ultrasound appointment at eleven.
\nAnd somehow there had never been any doubt about which one he would choose.
\nI typed carefully.
\nI don\u2019t know, sweetheart.
\nAbigail didn\u2019t answer for nearly a minute.
\nFinally, one word appeared.
\nOkay.
\nChildren learn disappointment one \u201cokay\u201d at a time.
\nAcross town, Victor was driving toward St. Matthew\u2019s Women\u2019s Clinic with Samantha sitting beside him.
\nHe was in an excellent mood.
\nSamantha later told me that part herself.
\nNot because she wanted to.
\nBecause six weeks later, circumstances forced her to sit across from me and explain everything.
\nApparently, Victor spent most of the drive talking about names.
\n\u201cNaomi likes Alexander,\u201d he said.
\nSamantha nodded. \u201cAlexander Reynolds sounds strong.\u201d
\n\u201cI was thinking Victor Junior.\u201d
\nSamantha laughed.
\n\u201cOf course you were.\u201d
\nVictor grinned.
\nFor years, he had accused me of being overly sensitive whenever I mentioned how differently his family reacted to our daughters.
\nBut now, before Naomi\u2019s baby had even been born, Victor had already begun imagining the boy inheriting the family company.
\nWalter had apparently mentioned it too.
\nOne day, Victor had even said to Abigail within my hearing, \u201cMaybe your little brother will run Reynolds Engineering when he grows up.\u201d
\nAbigail had stared at him.
\nThen she asked, \u201cWhy can\u2019t I run it?\u201d
\nVictor laughed.
\n\u201cYou don\u2019t even like engineering.\u201d
\n\u201cI\u2019m nine.\u201d
\nI almost smiled when she said it.
\nVictor hadn\u2019t.
\nThat night, Abigail asked me whether being a girl meant people expected less from her.
\nI told her something I hoped she would remember for the rest of her life.
\n\u201cAnyone who expects less from you because you\u2019re a girl is showing you their limitation, not yours.\u201d
\nVictor called that statement \u201canother one of Mom\u2019s speeches.\u201d
\nNow he was racing toward an ultrasound appointment for the son he believed would finally make his life complete.
\nAt 10:48, I arrived at my mother\u2019s house.
\nThe front door opened before the car had completely stopped.
\nCharlotte came running down the walkway wearing a pink backpack almost as large as her body.
\n\u201cMom!\u201d
\nI crouched just in time to catch her.
\nShe wrapped both arms around my neck.
\n\u201cAre we divorced now?\u201d
\nChildren have an extraordinary ability to ask enormous questions in the simplest possible words.
\n\u201cYes, sweetheart.\u201d
\n\u201cDoes that mean Dad doesn\u2019t live with us anymore?\u201d
\n\u201cYes.\u201d
\nShe considered that.
\nThen she whispered, \u201cHe already didn\u2019t.\u201d
\nI closed my eyes.
\nThat sentence told me everything I needed to know about whether leaving had been the right decision.
\nMy mother, Eleanor, stood in the doorway behind Abigail.
\nShe didn\u2019t say anything.
\nShe didn\u2019t need to.
\nHer face said enough.
\nShe had warned me about Victor years earlier.
\nNot because she disliked him.
\nBecause she noticed the way I slowly became quieter after marrying him.
\nMothers notice when their daughters start disappearing inside their own lives.
\nAbigail walked toward me more slowly than Charlotte had.
\nShe carried her backpack over one shoulder.
\n\u201cDid Dad ask about us?\u201d
\nThere are lies parents tell to protect their children.
\nThere are also lies that only delay pain.
\nI chose the truth.
\n\u201cNo.\u201d
\nAbigail looked toward the sidewalk.
\nI watched her swallow.
\nThen she shrugged.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s fine.\u201d
\n\u201cNo,\u201d I said gently. \u201cYou don\u2019t have to pretend it\u2019s fine.\u201d
\nHer eyes immediately filled.
\n\u201cHe picked the baby again.\u201d
\nI pulled her against me.
\n\u201cHe made his choice. But his choice doesn\u2019t determine how important you are.\u201d
\nShe buried her face against my coat.
\nCharlotte wrapped herself around both of us.
\nMy mother turned away, wiping her eyes.
\nAt almost exactly that moment, the Reynolds family was gathering around Naomi.
\nThe ultrasound room wasn\u2019t large enough for everyone, but apparently rules became flexible when Walter Reynolds mentioned that his company had donated to the hospital foundation three years earlier.
\nVictor sat beside Naomi.
\nMiriam stood near her head.
\nWalter remained by the wall.
\nSamantha stood at the foot of the examination bed.
\nNaomi was glowing.
\nThat was the word Samantha later used.
\nGlowing.
\nShe wore a cream-colored maternity dress and kept one hand protectively over her stomach while the technician prepared the machine.
\n\u201cYou nervous?\u201d Victor asked.
\nNaomi smiled.
\n\u201cWhy would I be nervous?\u201d
\nHe kissed her forehead.
\n\u201cWe\u2019re finally seeing our son.\u201d
\nOur son.
\nTwo words.
\nTwo dangerous words when spoken with absolute certainty.
\nThe technician dimmed the lights.
\nA gray image appeared on the monitor.
\nThen movement.
\nNaomi gasped.
\nMiriam pressed both hands against her chest.
\n\u201cOh, look at him.\u201d
\nThe technician smiled.
\n\u201cThere\u2019s your baby.\u201d
\nWalter stepped closer.
\n\u201cEverything healthy?\u201d
\n\u201cI\u2019ll take the measurements first, and then the doctor will go over everything.\u201d
\nVictor stared at the screen.
\nAccording to Samantha, he looked completely mesmerized.
\nFor one brief moment, perhaps he truly believed he had reached the life he deserved.
\nNew woman.
\nNew baby.
\nA son.
\nThe family name secured.
\nHis inconvenient first family neatly pushed aside.
\nThen the technician measured the baby\u2019s head.
\nShe stopped.
\nMeasured again.
\nHer smile changed.
\nIt was subtle.
\nBut Samantha noticed.
\n\u201cWhat?\u201d Naomi asked.
\n\u201cNothing. I\u2019m just confirming the measurements.\u201d
\nThe technician measured the abdomen.
\nThen the femur.
\nThen she looked at the information on the computer.
\nThen back at the monitor.
\nNaomi shifted on the bed.
\n\u201cIs something wrong?\u201d
\n\u201cI\u2019m going to ask Dr. Patel to come in.\u201d
\nVictor straightened.
\n\u201cWhy?\u201d
\n\u201cIt\u2019s standard when measurements aren\u2019t exactly what we expected.\u201d
\nNaomi\u2019s face tightened.
\n\u201cWhat does that mean?\u201d
\nThe technician did not answer directly.
\n\u201cI\u2019ll get the doctor.\u201d
\nShe left the room.
\nMiriam immediately moved closer.
\n\u201cDon\u2019t worry. Babies grow at different rates.\u201d
\nWalter nodded.
\n\u201cExactly.\u201d
\nVictor squeezed Naomi\u2019s hand.
\n\u201cEverything is fine.\u201d
\nNaomi didn\u2019t look reassured.
\nBecause Naomi already knew something nobody else in that room knew.
\nAnd the moment the technician mentioned unexpected measurements, she understood the secret she had been carrying was about to become much harder to hide.
\nAt my mother\u2019s house, we were loading the girls\u2019 suitcases into the car.
\nMy mother had offered to drive us to the airport.
\nI had sold or donated nearly everything that wouldn\u2019t fit inside six suitcases.
\nVictor thought I was walking away with almost nothing.
\nHe didn\u2019t know that six months earlier, before I ever filed for divorce, I had been quietly rebuilding my professional life.
\nBefore I married Victor, I had worked in international logistics.
\nI left after Abigail was born because Victor convinced me we didn\u2019t need two demanding careers.
\nAt first, staying home had felt like a choice.
\nYears later, I realized how many choices had slowly become expectations.
\nWhen our marriage began collapsing, I called an old colleague.
\nHer name was Claire Bennett.
\nClaire had become regional director for a global shipping company headquartered in Toronto.
\nShe offered me something Victor had stopped giving me years earlier.
\nA chance.
\nNot charity.
\nNot pity.
\nA chance.
\nThe company needed an operations manager.
\nI interviewed.
\nI got the job.
\nAnd because Victor wanted the divorce completed quickly enough to start his new life before Naomi gave birth, he barely paid attention when my attorney included the relocation agreement.
\nHe signed it.
\nHis attorney explained it.
\nVictor waved it away.
\n\u201cPenelope can live wherever she wants.\u201d
\nSo I intended to.
\nAt 11:09 a.m., Dr. Patel entered Naomi\u2019s ultrasound room.
\nHe introduced himself, examined the screen, and reviewed the technician\u2019s notes.
\nThen he began taking measurements himself.
\nOnce.
\nTwice.
\nA third time.
\nNobody was speaking anymore.
\nFinally, Victor asked, \u201cDoctor, is there something wrong with my son?\u201d
\nDr. Patel looked toward Naomi.
\n\u201cThe baby appears healthy.\u201d
\nEveryone exhaled.
\nMiriam laughed nervously.
\n\u201cThank goodness.\u201d
\n\u201cBut,\u201d the doctor continued, \u201cthere seems to be a significant discrepancy regarding gestational age.\u201d
\nVictor frowned.
\n\u201cI don\u2019t understand.\u201d
\nDr. Patel clicked something on the screen.
\n\u201cThe information we were given estimates the pregnancy at approximately eighteen weeks.\u201d
\nNaomi\u2019s fingers tightened around Victor\u2019s hand.
\n\u201cYes,\u201d she said quickly.
\nThe doctor looked at the monitor again.
\n\u201cThese measurements are much more consistent with approximately twenty-four weeks.\u201d
\nSilence.
\nWalter was the first to speak.
\n\u201cSix weeks?\u201d
\n\u201cApproximately.\u201d
\nVictor stared at Naomi.
\n\u201cThat doesn\u2019t make sense.\u201d
\nNaomi immediately shook her head.
\n\u201cUltrasounds can be wrong.\u201d
\nDr. Patel remained calm.
\n\u201cThere is always a margin of variation. Six weeks at this stage, however, would be unusual.\u201d
\nSamantha slowly looked from Naomi to Victor.
\nMiriam\u2019s smile had disappeared.
\nVictor gave an awkward laugh.
\n\u201cSo what\u2019s the problem? Maybe she calculated the dates wrong.\u201d
\nNaomi nodded too quickly.
\n\u201cYes. That\u2019s probably it.\u201d
\nDr. Patel asked a routine medical question.
\n\u201cWhen was the first day of your last menstrual cycle?\u201d
\nNaomi gave him a date.
\nHe looked at the chart.
\nThen he looked back at her.
\n\u201cThat doesn\u2019t align with the measurements.\u201d
\nVictor\u2019s expression changed.
\nNot dramatically.
\nNot yet.
\nBut enough.
\n\u201cNaomi?\u201d
\nShe stared at the ceiling.
\n\u201cVictor, don\u2019t start.\u201d
\n\u201cStart what?\u201d
\n\u201cI told you. The dates can be confusing.\u201d
\nWalter stepped forward.
\n\u201cWhat exactly does twenty-four weeks mean?\u201d
\nNobody answered.
\nBecause everyone in that room had started doing the same calculation.
\nSix weeks.
\nSix additional weeks.
\nVictor and Naomi had publicly acknowledged their relationship roughly four months earlier.
\nBut according to Victor, their physical relationship hadn\u2019t begun until shortly before Naomi announced the pregnancy.
\nThat had been the version he told his parents.
\nThe version he gave his attorney.
\nThe version he used when insisting that although he had \u201cdeveloped feelings\u201d for Naomi while married, he hadn\u2019t technically crossed certain lines until our separation.
\nTwenty-four weeks destroyed that story.
\nBut it created a much bigger problem.
\nVictor knew exactly where Naomi had been twenty-four weeks earlier.
\nShe had been traveling for work.
\nIn Chicago.
\nFor almost two weeks.
\nAnd Victor hadn\u2019t been with her.
\n\u201cWho were you with in Chicago?\u201d he asked.
\nNaomi turned sharply toward him.
\n\u201cWhat?\u201d
\n\u201cTwenty-four weeks ago. You were in Chicago.\u201d
\n\u201cVictor, we\u2019re sitting in a doctor\u2019s office.\u201d
\n\u201cI know exactly where we\u2019re sitting.\u201d
\nSamantha stepped closer.
\n\u201cVictor.\u201d
\nHe ignored her.
\n\u201cYou told me you spent that entire trip working.\u201d
\n\u201cI did.\u201d
\n\u201cWith who?\u201d
\nNaomi pulled her hand away.
\n\u201cThis is ridiculous.\u201d
\nThe doctor cleared his throat.
\n\u201cI think this conversation may be better handled privately. Medically, what matters is establishing accurate dating for prenatal care.\u201d
\nBut Victor wasn\u2019t listening anymore.
\nHis face had gone pale.
\n\u201cDoctor.\u201d
\nDr. Patel hesitated.
\n\u201cYes?\u201d
\n\u201cIf she\u2019s twenty-four weeks pregnant\u2026 approximately when would conception have happened?\u201d
\nNaomi sat up slightly.
\n\u201cVictor, stop.\u201d
\nThe doctor gave him an approximate window.
\nSamantha remembered the exact moment because Walter took out his phone and opened his calendar.
\nHe didn\u2019t say anything.
\nHe didn\u2019t need to.
\nThe dates were right there.
\nChicago.
\nMiriam looked at Naomi.
\n\u201cWere you with someone else?\u201d
\nNaomi\u2019s face hardened.
\n\u201cThat\u2019s none of your business.\u201d
\nMiriam actually stumbled backward.
\nVictor stared at her.
\n\u201cNone of her business?\u201d
\n\u201cI didn\u2019t mean\u2014\u201d
\n\u201cI\u2019m supposedly the father.\u201d
\n\u201cYou ARE the father.\u201d
\n\u201cThen answer the question.\u201d
\nNaomi\u2019s voice rose.
\n\u201cYou don\u2019t get to interrogate me.\u201d
\nVictor laughed once.
\nThere was no humor in it.
\n\u201cI just ended my marriage.\u201d
\nNaomi\u2019s eyes flashed.
\n\u201cYour marriage was already over.\u201d
\n\u201cI told my daughters I didn\u2019t have time for them because I was preparing for this baby.\u201d
\n\u201cVictor\u2014\u201d
\n\u201cMy parents are opening accounts for him.\u201d
\n\u201cStop.\u201d
\n\u201cI signed away custody arrangements this morning!\u201d
\nThat sentence silenced the room.
\nEven Naomi looked shocked.
\nSamantha whispered, \u201cWhat do you mean, signed away?\u201d
\nVictor didn\u2019t answer.
\nHe had been perfectly comfortable treating Abigail and Charlotte as secondary when he believed another child was waiting to replace what he thought was missing.
\nNow, suddenly, the cost of that decision seemed visible.
\nThe doctor spoke carefully.
\n\u201cThere is only one reliable way to resolve questions of paternity.\u201d
\nNobody moved.
\nThen Dr. Patel asked the question that erased every remaining smile in the room.
\n\u201cMr. Reynolds, would you like information about prenatal paternity testing?\u201d
\nVictor looked at Naomi.
\nNaomi looked away.
\nAnd that was when he knew.
\nNot scientifically.
\nNot legally.
\nBut somewhere deep inside himself.
\nHe knew there was something she hadn\u2019t told him.
\nAt 11:31, my phone rang while I was driving toward the airport.
\nVictor.
\nI looked at his name on the screen.
\nCharlotte was singing quietly in the back seat.
\nAbigail was wearing headphones.
\nMy mother glanced at the phone.
\n\u201cAre you going to answer?\u201d
\nI thought about it.
\nThen declined the call.
\nThirty seconds later, he called again.
\nThen again.
\nThen Samantha called.
\nThen Miriam.
\nMy mother raised an eyebrow.
\n\u201cThey suddenly seem very interested in speaking with you.\u201d
\n\u201cYes.\u201d
\n\u201cDo you know why?\u201d
\n\u201cNo.\u201d
\nAnd at that moment, I genuinely didn\u2019t.
\nVictor had never invited me to Naomi\u2019s appointments.
\nI didn\u2019t know the gestational age.
\nI didn\u2019t know about Chicago.
\nI didn\u2019t know that the future grandson the Reynolds family had been celebrating had just become the center of a paternity question.
\nBut I knew Victor.
\nAnd Victor only called repeatedly when something was no longer going according to his plan.
\nAt 11:38, a message appeared.
\nVICTOR: ANSWER YOUR PHONE.
\nI ignored it.
\nAnother followed.
\nVICTOR: THIS IS IMPORTANT.
\nThen:
\nVICTOR: HAVE YOU LEFT YET?
\nThat one made me stare.
\nWhy would he care?
\nTen minutes earlier, he had been perfectly content for me to leave the country with our daughters.
\nI typed only four words.
\nWe\u2019re on our way.
\nHis response came instantly.
\nDON\u2019T GET ON THAT PLANE.
\nI actually laughed.
\nMy mother looked over.
\n\u201cWhat?\u201d
\nI showed her the message.
\nShe stared at the screen.
\nThen at me.
\n\u201cInteresting.\u201d
\nI placed the phone face down.
\nVictor called again.
\nI declined it.
\nAt the clinic, things were getting worse.
\nNaomi refused prenatal paternity testing.
\nShe claimed she was concerned about the baby.
\nDr. Patel explained that noninvasive testing existed.
\nNaomi still refused.
\nVictor demanded to know why.
\nShe accused him of humiliating her.
\nWalter demanded answers.
\nMiriam started crying.
\nSamantha tried to calm everyone down.
\nAnd then another man entered the story.
\nHis name was Daniel Mercer.
\nVictor knew Daniel.
\nEveryone at Reynolds Engineering knew Daniel.
\nHe was the senior project consultant who had accompanied Naomi to Chicago.
\nVictor had approved the trip himself.
\nAccording to Samantha, Victor stood completely still when he remembered.
\nThen he pulled out his phone.
\nNaomi saw the name he was searching for.
\nHer face changed.
\n\u201cDon\u2019t call him.\u201d
\nThe room became silent again.
\nVictor slowly raised his eyes.
\n\u201cWhy not?\u201d
\nNaomi said nothing.
\n\u201cNaomi.\u201d
\n\u201cBecause he\u2019s working.\u201d
\nVictor\u2019s voice dropped.
\n\u201cWhy shouldn\u2019t I call Daniel?\u201d
\nShe looked toward Samantha.
\nThen Miriam.
\nThen Walter.
\nAnywhere except Victor.
\nAnd Walter Reynolds understood before his son did.
\n\u201cOh, God.\u201d
\nVictor dialed.
\nDaniel didn\u2019t answer.
\nVictor called again.
\nNothing.
\nThen a text arrived.
\nNobody knew what it said until Victor read it aloud.
\nI CAN\u2019T TALK ABOUT THIS AT WORK.
\nVictor stared at the message.
\nThen typed:
\nABOUT WHAT?
\nThe reply came less than a minute later.
\nYOU NEED TO SPEAK TO NAOMI.
\nThat was enough.
\nVictor exploded.
\n\u201cWhat happened in Chicago?\u201d
\nNaomi started crying.
\nNot soft tears.
\nNot frightened tears.
\nAngry tears.
\n\u201cYou were still married!\u201d
\nVictor stared at her.
\n\u201cWhat?\u201d
\n\u201cYou kept telling me you were leaving Penelope, but every week there was another excuse!\u201d
\n\u201cI filed for divorce!\u201d
\n\u201cEventually!\u201d
\n\u201cSo you slept with Daniel?\u201d
\n\u201cI was lonely!\u201d
\nSamantha later told me that was the moment she stopped feeling sorry for her brother and almost started laughing at the cruelty of the symmetry.
\nFor months, Victor had justified betraying me because he was \u201clonely in the marriage.\u201d
\nNow the woman he left me for was giving him almost exactly the same explanation.
\nVictor backed away from Naomi.
\n\u201cHow many times?\u201d
\nShe cried harder.
\n\u201cOnce.\u201d
\nHe shook his head.
\n\u201cDon\u2019t lie.\u201d
\n\u201cTwice.\u201d
\nWalter closed his eyes.
\nMiriam sat down.
\nSamantha crossed her arms.
\nVictor whispered, \u201cIs the baby his?\u201d
\n\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d
\nThree words.
\nThat was all it took.
\nI don\u2019t know.
\nThe son Victor had sacrificed his family for might not be his.
\nThe grandson Walter had already planned an inheritance for might belong to someone else.
\nThe woman Miriam had welcomed into family dinners might have been lying to all of them.
\nAnd the two girls they had treated like consolation prizes were currently driving toward an airport with their mother.
\nAt 12:14 p.m., we reached the international terminal.
\nI unloaded our suitcases.
\nAbigail looked up at the enormous glass entrance.
\n\u201cMom?\u201d
\n\u201cYes?\u201d
\n\u201cAre you scared?\u201d
\nI smiled.
\n\u201cA little.\u201d
\n\u201cMe too.\u201d
\nI took her hand.
\n\u201cBeing scared doesn\u2019t always mean you\u2019re making the wrong decision.\u201d
\nCharlotte grabbed my other hand.
\n\u201cDoes Canada have pancakes?\u201d
\nI laughed.
\n\u201cYes, Charlotte. Canada has pancakes.\u201d
\n\u201cThen I\u2019m not scared.\u201d
\nMy mother started laughing so hard she had to wipe her eyes.
\nWe stood outside the terminal holding one another for several minutes.
\nMy mother would join us in Toronto a month later after finishing the sale of her house.
\nUntil then, Claire had arranged a furnished apartment for us near my new office.
\nIt wasn\u2019t a penthouse.
\nThere was no private elevator.
\nNo luxury SUV.
\nNo Reynolds family name printed on anything.
\nAnd I had never been more excited to go somewhere in my life.
\nMy phone rang again.
\nVictor.
\nThis time, Abigail saw the name.
\n\u201cDad?\u201d
\n\u201cYes.\u201d
\nShe looked at me.
\n\u201cCan I talk to him?\u201d
\nI handed her the phone.
\nShe answered.
\n\u201cHi, Dad.\u201d
\nI could hear Victor\u2019s voice, frantic and loud, but I couldn\u2019t understand every word.
\nAbigail\u2019s expression changed.
\n\u201cNo, we\u2019re at the airport.\u201d
\nPause.
\n\u201cYes.\u201d
\nPause.
\n\u201cNo, Mom didn\u2019t make us.\u201d
\nAnother pause.
\nAbigail frowned.
\n\u201cYou said you were busy.\u201d
\nMy heart tightened.
\nVictor spoke quickly.
\nThen Abigail asked a question I will never forget.
\n\u201cDid something happen to your new son?\u201d
\nSilence.
\nVictor apparently didn\u2019t know how to answer.
\nAbigail listened for several seconds.
\nThen she said, \u201cDad, I have to go.\u201d
\nShe handed the phone back.
\nI lifted it to my ear.
\n\u201cVictor.\u201d
\n\u201cPenelope, please.\u201d
\nIt was the first time in years I heard fear in his voice.
\n\u201cWhat happened?\u201d
\n\u201cNaomi may have lied to me.\u201d
\nI looked through the terminal doors.
\nFamilies moved past us with suitcases.
\nChildren laughed.
\nAnnouncements echoed faintly from inside.
\n\u201cI\u2019m sorry to hear that.\u201d
\n\u201cThat\u2019s all you have to say?\u201d
\n\u201cWhat exactly would you like me to say?\u201d
\nHe breathed heavily.
\n\u201cThe baby\u2019s dates are wrong.\u201d
\nI said nothing.
\n\u201cHe might not be mine.\u201d
\nThere it was.
\nI expected satisfaction.
\nMaybe even revenge.
\nInstead, I felt something closer to sadness.
\nNot for Victor.
\nFor everyone who had been treated as disposable because of a fantasy that might now disappear.
\nEspecially my daughters.
\nVictor continued.
\n\u201cI need some time.\u201d
\n\u201cFor what?\u201d
\n\u201cTo figure things out.\u201d
\n\u201cThen figure them out.\u201d
\n\u201cPenelope, don\u2019t take the girls today.\u201d
\nI almost couldn\u2019t believe him.
\n\u201cYou told me to take them.\u201d
\n\u201cI was angry.\u201d
\n\u201cNo. You were honest.\u201d
\n\u201cThat\u2019s not fair.\u201d
\n\u201cFair?\u201d
\nMy voice stayed quiet.
\n\u201cYou told me this morning that you would see your daughters when your schedule allowed. You said you were starting over.\u201d
\n\u201cI didn\u2019t know this was happening.\u201d
\nExactly.
\nThat was the entire problem.
\nHis interest in his daughters had suddenly returned only because his replacement family was collapsing.
\nI looked at Abigail.
\nShe was pretending not to listen.
\nCharlotte was hugging my mother\u2019s leg.
\n\u201cNo, Victor.\u201d
\n\u201cPenelope\u2014\u201d
\n\u201cWe\u2019re leaving.\u201d
\n\u201cI can go to court.\u201d
\nMy expression hardened.
\n\u201cYou already signed the relocation agreement.\u201d
\nSilence.
\n\u201cWhat relocation agreement?\u201d
\nAnd there it was.
\nThe sentence my attorney had predicted I might eventually hear.
\n\u201cYou should have read the documents.\u201d
\n\u201cI read them.\u201d
\n\u201cNo. Your lawyer read them. You rushed through them because Naomi was waiting.\u201d
\nHis breathing changed.
\n\u201cPenelope.\u201d
\n\u201cThe agreement allows me to relocate with primary physical custody. You signed it six weeks ago.\u201d
\n\u201cI didn\u2019t think you would actually leave the country.\u201d
\n\u201cThat wasn\u2019t my responsibility to explain twice.\u201d
\n\u201cWhere are you going?\u201d
\n\u201cToronto.\u201d
\n\u201cSince when?\u201d
\n\u201cFor a while.\u201d
\n\u201cWhy Toronto?\u201d
\n\u201cI have a job.\u201d
\nAnother silence.
\n\u201cA job?\u201d
\n\u201cYes.\u201d
\n\u201cYou haven\u2019t worked in years.\u201d
\nI smiled.
\nThere was Victor.
\nEven with his life collapsing, he still knew exactly how to make one sentence insulting.
\n\u201cI start Monday.\u201d
\n\u201cWhat company?\u201d
\n\u201cThat isn\u2019t your concern.\u201d
\n\u201cYou can\u2019t just rebuild your whole life without telling me.\u201d
\nI nearly laughed.
\n\u201cYou rebuilt yours while sleeping beside me.\u201d
\nHe had no answer.
\nThen his voice softened.
\n\u201cPlease don\u2019t do this today.\u201d
\nI looked at my daughters.
\nThen at my mother.
\nThen through the terminal doors toward the life waiting ahead.
\n\u201cYou were right about one thing, Victor.\u201d
\n\u201cWhat?\u201d
\n\u201cThings are complicated.\u201d
\nI ended the call.
\nWe walked inside.
\nBut the Reynolds family\u2019s nightmare was only beginning.
\nBecause Daniel Mercer finally called Victor back twenty-three minutes later.
\nAnd Daniel didn\u2019t deny sleeping with Naomi.
\nHe didn\u2019t apologize.
\nHe didn\u2019t beg Victor to keep quiet.
\nInstead, he told Victor something even worse.
\n\u201cBefore you start blaming me,\u201d Daniel said, \u201cyou need to ask Naomi why she already had a paternity test done three weeks ago.\u201d
\nVictor stopped breathing.
\n\u201cWhat did you say?\u201d
\nDaniel was silent for a moment.
\nThen he answered.
\n\u201cShe knows who the father is.\u201d
\nAnd while my daughters and I passed through airport security, completely unaware of what was unfolding behind us, Victor drove back toward Naomi\u2019s apartment with his father and Samantha following him.
\nNaomi was already there.
\nAnd when Victor demanded the truth, she finally opened a drawer beside her bed.
\nInside was an envelope from a private genetics laboratory.
\nVictor grabbed it.
\nNaomi tried to stop him.
\n\u201cVictor, don\u2019t.\u201d
\nHe ripped it open.
\nHis eyes moved across the page.
\nOnce.
\nTwice.
\nThen he looked at Naomi like he had never seen her before.
\nBecause Daniel Mercer wasn\u2019t the father.
\nVictor wasn\u2019t the father either.
\nAnd printed beneath the words\u00a0Probability of Paternity<\/strong>\u00a0was the name of a third man.
\nA name Victor knew very well.
\nA name that made Walter Reynolds turn white when Samantha read it over Victor\u2019s shoulder.
\nBecause the man listed as the baby\u2019s biological father wasn\u2019t a stranger.
\nHe was a Reynolds.
\nAnd he had been sitting at their family dinner table for years\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026<\/p>\n

TO BE CONTINUED IN PART 3\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

CLICK HERE CONTINUE TO READ PART 3 \u2013 Five minutes after divorce, my ex chose his unborn son. I took daughters and disappeared.<\/a><\/h5>\n<\/div>\n