Chapter 7: The Mother Behind the Lie
Jessica's face collapsed.
“My mother?””
Evelyn nodded.
“Your mother.””
Daniel looked from Evelyn to Jessica.
“What does your mother have to do with any of this?””
Jessica shook her head violently.
“Nothing.””
Evelyn laughed.
“You still want to lie?””
“I don't know what you're talking about.””
“You knew exactly who Margaret was when you walked into that bridal suite.””
Jessica looked at me.
Her eyes were wet.
But this time, there was no performance in them.
“I knew your name.””
“That isn't what she means,” Daniel said.
Jessica swallowed.
Evelyn opened the folder again.
“Your mother was Sarah Carter.””
Daniel's face tightened.
“The woman from the hospital.””
“Yes.””
“And my father knew her.””
“Yes.””
“Then why was Jessica involved?””
Evelyn turned toward Jessica.
“Tell him.””
Jessica stared at the floor.
“Tell him what?””
“Tell him what Sarah did.””
Jessica didn't answer.
Evelyn's voice sharpened.
“She wasn't just your mother.””
Daniel looked at Jessica.
“She worked with your father.””
My stomach tightened.
Jessica finally whispered, “Yes.””
Daniel stared at her.
“Doing what?””
“She handled his private accounts.””
Richard suddenly spoke.
“That's not true.””
Evelyn spun toward him.
“You'd know.””
Richard's face hardened.
“You have no idea what you're talking about.””
“You're the one who gave Sarah access.””
Daniel looked at Richard.
“You said Dad's fraud was your doing.””
Richard's eyes flickered.
“I made mistakes.””
“Stop calling theft a mistake.””
Richard clenched his jaw.
Daniel stepped closer.
“What happened to Sarah?””
Nobody answered.
I looked at Jessica.
“What happened to your mother?””
Jessica wiped her cheeks.
“She died.””
“How?””
“A car accident.””
Evelyn shook her head.
“That's the story they gave her.””
Daniel's voice was low.
“You mean she was murdered?””
Jessica looked at him.
“No.””
“Then what?””
“She killed herself.””
The garage went silent.
Jessica's shoulders shook.
“She found out what my father had done.””
I stared at her.
“Your father?””
Jessica nodded.
“My father was Richard's business associate.””
Richard looked away.
Jessica continued.
“He was the one who helped move the money.””
Daniel stared at Richard.
“So there were three of them.””
“Your father, Richard, and Sarah.””
Jessica nodded.
“My mother wanted out.””
“And your father?””
“He threatened her.””
Richard snapped, “That's enough.””
Jessica turned on him.
“You threatened her too!””
Richard's face changed.
“I never touched Sarah.””
“You told her you'd take me away.””
“I was trying to protect the company.””
“You were protecting yourself.””
Daniel stepped between them.
“What happened the night Dad died?””
Jessica looked at him.
“My mother was supposed to meet your father.””
“For what?””
“To give him evidence.””
“What evidence?””
“Bank records.””
Richard laughed bitterly.
“She never had them.””
Jessica looked at him.
“She did.””
Richard went still.
Daniel noticed.
“You knew.””
Richard said nothing.
“You knew she had the records.””
“I knew she claimed she did.””
“Where are they?””
Jessica pointed at Evelyn.
“She has them.””
All of us turned.
Evelyn's smile disappeared.
Daniel stared.
“You?””
Evelyn didn't answer.
Jessica stepped closer.
“My mother gave them to Evelyn before she died.””
Evelyn's jaw tightened.
“She trusted her.””
Daniel looked at Evelyn.
“Why?””
“Because Evelyn was the only person your father trusted.””
I felt a strange chill.
“My husband trusted her?””
“Yes.””
Evelyn pulled a small envelope from the folder.
She held it toward me.
“This was written by your husband.””
I didn't take it.
“Why give it to me now?””
“Because I need you to understand why everything happened.””
I took the envelope.
My hands shook as I opened it.
Inside was a single page.
My husband's handwriting.
I recognized it instantly.
Margaret,
If you are reading this, then I failed.
My vision blurred.
Daniel moved beside me.
“Keep reading.””
I continued.
There is a woman named Sarah Carter. I never told you the truth about her because the truth would destroy more than my reputation.
Sarah gave birth to a child on the same night you gave birth to ours.
I stopped.
Daniel's face tightened.
The hospital records were corrupted during the evacuation. Someone deliberately altered them.
I looked at Evelyn.
She nodded.
I kept reading.
I discovered the truth too late. The child Margaret raised may not be mine.
My hands began shaking.
Daniel whispered, “May not?””
I continued.
But the DNA test I ordered was manipulated.
Someone changed the samples.
My heart pounded.
I discovered who did it.
I stopped again.
There was a name beneath the sentence.
A name I knew.
A name that made Daniel gasp.
Richard.
I looked up.
Richard's face was empty.
“You manipulated the DNA test.””
He didn't deny it.
Daniel stepped forward.
“You switched the results.””
Richard said quietly, “Yes.””
“Why?””
“Because your father was going to expose everything.””
“Everything?””
“The accounts. Sarah. The hospital.””
Daniel's fists clenched.
“And me?””
Richard looked at him.
“You were the leverage.””
“What does that mean?””
“Your father had spent years believing you were his biological son.””
Daniel stared.
“And if he learned I wasn't?””
“He would have destroyed Sarah.””
Jessica shook her head.
“No.””
Richard looked at her.
“Yes.””
“You told my mother you would protect her.””
“I couldn't.””
“So you killed her?””
“I didn't kill her.””
Jessica screamed, “You drove her to it!””
Her voice echoed across the garage.
Then she turned to Daniel.
“I thought marrying you would give me access to your father's trust.””
Daniel looked at her with disgust.
“You used me.””
“Yes.””
“And my mother?””
Jessica's tears fell.
“I was supposed to frame her.””
“You tore your own dress.””
“Yes.””
“You planted evidence.””
“Yes.””
“You made me believe she attacked you.””
“Yes.””
Daniel looked away.
“And who were you really talking to?””
Jessica hesitated.
Evelyn answered for her.
“Richard.””
Daniel turned.
“You two were working together?””
Richard shook his head.
“Not exactly.””
Jessica whispered, “He promised me the money.””
“And what did you promise him?””
Jessica looked at Daniel.
“I promised to make you hate your mother.””
My heart broke all over again.
Daniel closed his eyes.
Then a sound came from behind us.
Footsteps.
Slow.
Measured.
A woman stepped out from between two parked cars.
She was older.
Gray hair.
Black coat.
Daniel stared.
“Who is that?””
Jessica went completely still.
Her face lost all color.
The woman walked toward us.
She looked at Jessica.
Then at me.
Then at Daniel.
“I suppose it's time you knew the final part.””
I recognized her.
Not from the wedding.
Not from the photograph.
From somewhere much older.
A hospital corridor.
A woman standing beside my bed thirty years ago.
The nurse who had carried Daniel away.
Daniel looked at her.
“You're the nurse.””
She nodded.
“My name is Helen Ward.””
Evelyn whispered, “She knows what happened to the babies.””
Helen looked at Daniel.
“No.””
She looked at me.
“She knows what happened to your baby.””
Then she reached into her coat.
May you like
And pulled out a yellowed hospital bracelet.
“Because I was the one who switched him.””
