Chapter 12
William looked as though someone had struck him.
I kept the phone on speaker.
“What do you want?” I asked.
“To meet Ethan.”
“No.”
“He is my grandson.”
“You had seven years.”
“I didn’t know he existed.”
I looked at William.
His face was unreadable now.
“Margaret knew.”
Raymond sighed.
“Yes.”
“And she never told you?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“You should ask her.”
“I’m asking you.”
Raymond paused.
“Because our relationship is complicated.”
William suddenly spoke.
“Complicated?”
Raymond went silent.
William stepped closer to the phone.
“Say it clearly.”
“William.”
I had never heard a stranger say William’s name with such familiarity.
William’s hands curled into fists.
“How long?”
Raymond did not answer.
William asked again.
“How long have you been sleeping with my wife?”
My stomach tightened.
Raymond finally spoke.
“Not continuously.”
William laughed.
It sounded broken.
“Thirty-eight years, and that is your answer?”
I looked away.
There are moments when anger becomes too private to witness.
Raymond continued.
“Margaret and I knew each other before she met you.”
“I know.”
“She chose you.”
“What a comfort.”
“William—”
“Did it continue after we married?”
Silence.
That was the answer.
William ended the call.
He stood perfectly still.
Then he picked up a vase from the side table.
For a second I thought he would throw it.
Instead, he set it back down with both hands.
“I need air.”
He left the room.
I followed him to the balcony.
Cold wind moved through the city.
William gripped the railing.
“I knew.”
I frowned.
“Knew what?”
“Not facts. Something.”
He stared into the distance.
“Years ago, I found hotel receipts. Margaret said they were related to charity conferences. I believed her because believing her allowed me to keep my life.”
I understood too well.
“William.”
He turned.
“Was Daniel right?”
“About what?”
“Was I a terrible father?”
My chest tightened.
“That is something only Daniel and Lauren can answer.”
He nodded.
“I ignored things.”
“Yes.”
“I thought paying for everything made me dependable.”
“It made you a provider.”
“Not necessarily a protector.”
“No.”
The honesty hurt him.
But he asked for it.
William looked through the glass at Ethan’s bedroom.
“That boy protected me more in one afternoon than I protected my children in years.”
“You can’t change years ago.”
“No.”
He took a breath.
“But I can change what I do now.”
That afternoon, Marcus called about the divorce.
Daniel had withdrawn his request for exclusive possession of the house.
He had also returned half the joint-account money.
Not all.
Half.
I almost laughed when I saw the deposit.
Nine thousand dollars.
As if returning what already belonged to me was generosity.
Then Daniel texted.
I am trying.
I did not answer.
Later, Lauren arrived.
William told her about Raymond.
She listened without interrupting.
When he finished, she asked one question.
“Does Daniel know?”
“No.”
Lauren looked at me.
“He needs to hear it from us before Mom uses it against him.”
William’s face changed.
“Uses what?”
Lauren hesitated.
Then I understood.
“You think Raymond might be Daniel’s biological father.”
William closed his eyes.
None of us wanted to say it.
The timeline fit.
Margaret and Raymond had been involved before her marriage.
They continued speaking.
Possibly more.
Daniel was thirty-six.
William and Margaret had been married thirty-eight years.
William whispered, “I never questioned it.”
Lauren sat beside him.
“I’m sorry.”
He looked at her.
“What about you?”
She gave a sad smile.
“I look exactly like Grandma Carter.”
It was true.
Nobody had ever questioned Lauren.
Daniel looked more like Margaret.
William stood.
“We are not going to speculate.”
Lauren nodded.
“Mom will.”
She was right.
Margaret had been released pending trial with strict conditions.
No contact with me or Ethan.
No contact with certain witnesses.
That did not mean she had stopped planning.
The next morning, a gossip site published an article.
WILLIAM CARTER’S SON MAY NOT BE HIS BIOLOGICAL HEIR.
I stared at the headline.
My stomach dropped.
There were no names in the body.
Only anonymous “family sources.”
But everyone knew.
Daniel called me within minutes.
“Did Dad do this?”
“No.”
“Don’t lie.”
“I’m not.”
“Lauren?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
“You know who.”
He went silent.
“Mom.”
“Yes.”
His breathing changed.
“What is she saying?”
I closed my eyes.
“You need to talk to William.”
“Tell me.”
“No.”
“Emily.”
“Not like this.”
His voice became angry.
“Everyone already knows something except me!”
I looked at Ethan playing on the floor.
“Come to Julia’s office.”
“Why hers?”
“Because I don’t want this conversation at my apartment.”
“You mean Dad’s apartment.”
I ignored that.
Two hours later, Daniel arrived.
William was already there.
Lauren sat beside him.
Daniel stopped in the doorway.
“What?”
Nobody knew how to start.
Finally, William said, “Your mother has had a relationship with Raymond Vale for many years.”
Daniel looked from face to face.
“Who is Raymond Vale?”
I answered.
“Nathan’s father.”
Daniel looked at me.
“Ethan’s Nathan?”
“Yes.”
Confusion spread across his face.
Then he looked at William.
“Why does that matter to me?”
William’s eyes filled.
“Because the relationship began before you were born.”
Daniel froze.
“No.”
William stepped toward him.
“I don’t know anything for certain.”
“No.”
“Daniel.”
“No.”
He backed away.
“You’re doing this because of the company.”
William’s face crumpled.
“I would never do that to you.”
Daniel laughed wildly.
“You disinherited me.”
“Because you stole from me.”
“You think I’m not your son.”
“I said nothing of the kind.”
Daniel looked at Lauren.
She was crying.
That terrified him more.
“No.”
He turned toward the door.
William caught his arm.
Daniel ripped away.
“Don’t touch me.”
William stopped.
Daniel looked directly at me.
“Did you know?”
“Since yesterday.”
“And you didn’t tell me.”
“It wasn’t mine to tell over the phone.”
He laughed bitterly.
“Everybody keeps deciding what’s best for me.”
He left.
William started after him.
Julia stopped him.
“Give him space.”
It was terrible advice.
Because twenty minutes later Daniel called me.
His voice was slurred.
“Emily.”
My heart dropped.
“Have you been drinking?”
“I did a DNA test.”
“What?”
“One of those private labs.”
“When?”
“Months ago.”
I stood.
“Why?”
“Mom made me.”
I could barely breathe.
“What did it say?”
May you like
Daniel started crying.
Then he whispered, “William isn’t my biological father.”
