Chapter 5
Ryan arrived at 10:23 the next morning.
He wasn’t alone.
Diane stood beside him.
And behind them was a man carrying a leather briefcase.
Ryan tried the new lock.
It didn’t open.
Then he rang the bell.
I watched through the camera.
“Open the door, Emily.”
I spoke through the intercom.
“Who is the man?”
“My attorney.”
“Then we can talk on the porch.”
Ryan’s face hardened.
“I live here.”
“Not according to the deed.”
He froze.
Diane looked at him.
I opened the door but kept the chain attached.
“You found it,” Ryan said.
“You knew?”
“Emily, let me explain.”
“You took money from our home and bought your mother a house.”
Diane stepped forward.
“That money belonged to Ryan.”
“No, Diane. It didn’t.”
Ryan glanced at his attorney.
The man looked uncomfortable.
“Mr. Carter, perhaps this conversation should occur privately.”
“No,” I said. “I’m comfortable right here.”
Ryan lowered his voice.
“Where are the children?”
“Safe.”
“They’re my children too.”
“Then start acting like their father.”
Diane pointed at me.
“She hit me!”
“And I gave the police the video.”
Her finger slowly dropped.
Ryan looked surprised.
“What video?”
“The kitchen camera.”
For the first time, real fear crossed Diane’s face.
“There was no camera.”
“There was.”
I unlocked my phone and played a few seconds.
Lily crying.
Diane shouting.
Ethan stepping between them.
Ryan’s attorney immediately took a step away from Diane.
“Mrs. Carter, I was not informed of this.”
Ryan’s face turned red.
“Mom, what the hell?”
Diane stared at him.
“Oh, don’t pretend.”
“You said they skipped one meal!”
“They needed discipline.”
“You threw food at Lily!”
“She’s manipulative, just like her mother!”
Ryan finally exploded.
“That’s enough!”
Lily appeared at the top of the stairs.
“Daddy?”
Everyone stopped.
Ryan looked inside.
His anger vanished.
“Lily.”
She didn’t run to him.
That hurt him.
I could see it.
“Baby, come here.”
Lily grabbed the railing.
“Are you taking us to Grandma’s house?”
Ryan looked at Diane.
“What?”
“She said you bought her a house and we have to live there.”
Diane’s face changed.
“Lily misunderstood.”
“No,” Ethan said.
He appeared beside his sister.
“You said Mom would be gone.”
Ryan went pale.
“Mom?”
Diane shook her head.
“They are children.”
Ryan turned toward me.
“I never told her you’d be gone.”
“But you did prepare custody papers.”
His attorney looked sharply at him.
Ryan’s mouth opened.
I held up my laptop.
“I heard your conversation.”
Diane whispered, “Ryan…”
He didn’t answer.
“What custody papers?” his attorney asked.
Ryan looked trapped.
Then I understood.
This wasn’t the lawyer who prepared them.
“Who is he?”
Ryan rubbed his face.
“Corporate counsel.”
I almost laughed.
“You brought a company lawyer to intimidate me?”
“I brought someone because you assaulted my mother.”
“No. You brought someone because Diane told you I’d panic.”
His eyes dropped.
That was answer enough.
I stepped onto the porch and closed the door behind me.
“Who prepared the custody paperwork?”
“No one yet.”
“Lie again and this conversation is over.”
Ryan’s jaw tightened.
“Jessica’s brother.”
Jessica.
The woman at the hotel.
Of course.
I showed him Diane’s photographs.
“Interesting choice of lawyer.”
Ryan’s face drained of color.
“Where did you get those?”
“Your mother.”
He turned slowly toward Diane.
She backed away.
“I was trying to protect you.”
“By sending my wife pictures?”
“She wouldn’t let me inside!”
Ryan stared at her.
Then he looked at me.
“Emily, Jessica and I—”
“Save it.”
“It isn’t what you think.”
“I think you planned to leave me, take my children, take my house, and put them under the control of a woman who starved them.”
“No.”
“Then prove me wrong.”
Ryan took a breath.
“I can.”
He reached inside his jacket.
Diane suddenly lunged toward him.
“Don’t!”
Ryan shoved her hand away.
A small envelope fell onto the porch.
Diane stared at it like it could destroy her.
Ryan picked it up.
“What is this?”
His face changed.
He looked at his mother.
“Why was this in my father’s safe?”
Diane whispered, “Give it to me.”
Ryan opened the envelope.
Inside was a DNA test.
He read the first line.
Then the second.
His knees nearly gave out.
“What?”
I stepped closer.
“Ryan?”
He looked at Diane.
May you like
His voice broke.
“Thomas Carter wasn’t my father.”
