Chapter 6
Nobody spoke.
Even Diane looked smaller.
Ryan stared at the DNA report.
“No.”
Diane reached for it.
“Ryan, you don’t understand.”
He pulled it away.
“It says zero probability.”
“It was complicated.”
“My entire life?”
“Lower your voice.”
Ryan laughed.
A broken, ugly laugh.
“You starved my daughter yesterday and now you’re telling me to lower my voice?”
Diane glanced at the neighboring houses.
“People are watching.”
“Good.”
He held up the paper.
“Who is my father?”
“Not here.”
“Who?”
She said nothing.
Ryan moved closer.
“Tell me.”
Diane’s shoulders dropped.
“His name was William Hayes.”
Ryan stopped.
I recognized the name.
Everyone in town did.
William Hayes had owned Hayes Development.
The company Ryan worked for.
The company where Ryan had recently been promoted.
The company sending him to the conference with Jessica.
Ryan whispered, “My boss?”
“Former boss,” Diane corrected.
William had died five years earlier.
Ryan looked physically ill.
“You let me work for him.”
“He helped you.”
“Did he know?”
“Yes.”
That answer broke something inside Ryan.
He turned away.
I should have felt sorry for him.
Part of me did.
But then Lily cried inside the house.
And I remembered that Ryan had still planned custody papers.
His childhood secrets didn’t erase his choices.
I opened the door.
“This conversation is finished.”
Ryan looked at me.
“Emily, please.”
“You need somewhere else to stay.”
“This is my home.”
“No. Legally, it isn’t.”
He closed his eyes.
“I know.”
Diane stared at him.
“You knew?”
“I found Dad’s papers two weeks ago.”
Thomas.
The man who had raised him.
Ryan continued.
“He left a letter.”
“What did it say?” I asked.
“That the house belonged to Emily. That you stole from us.”
Diane’s face hardened.
“I did not steal.”
“You took $140,000.”
“You gave it to me!”
“Because you said Dad had promised you a retirement home.”
“He did!”
“There’s no record of it.”
Diane suddenly looked at me.
“This is her fault.”
Ryan stared at her.
“What?”
“She turned you against me.”
“You hurt my children.”
“I was teaching them respect!”
Ryan’s voice shook.
“No. You were punishing Emily through them.”
For once, he understood.
But it was too late.
I stepped inside.
“Leave.”
Ryan didn’t fight me.
Diane did.
“You cannot keep my grandchildren from me.”
“Try me.”
“You think a judge will believe you?”
“The police already believed the video.”
Her face tightened.
Ryan grabbed her arm.
“Mom. Go.”
She yanked away.
“Don’t touch me.”
Then she looked at him with hatred.
“You weak little fool. Everything I did was for you.”
“No,” Ryan said quietly. “Everything you did was for yourself.”
Diane walked toward her car.
Before getting in, she turned.
“You want the truth?”
Ryan looked at her.
She smiled.
“Ask Jessica why she really went to that hotel with you.”
Ryan’s face changed.
Diane drove away.
I looked at him.
“What does that mean?”
“I don’t know.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“Yes.”
“Why were you in a hotel elevator with her?”
Ryan rubbed both hands across his face.
“She told me she had documents proving someone at Hayes Development was stealing money.”
“And she needed a hotel room for that?”
“She said her room was safer than the conference center.”
I laughed bitterly.
“That sounds convenient.”
“I know how it looks.”
“Then tell me what happened.”
“We went upstairs. She showed me files. Twenty minutes later, I left.”
“Did you sleep with her?”
“No.”
“Did you kiss her?”
“No.”
“Did you plan to leave me?”
He went silent.
There it was.
My answer.
Ryan looked at the floor.
“I was angry.”
“At me?”
“At everything.”
“So you planned to take our children?”
“I talked about it.”
“With Jessica’s brother.”
“Yes.”
I felt tears burn behind my eyes.
Ryan stepped forward.
I moved back.
“Don’t.”
He stopped.
“I never filed anything.”
“You considered it.”
“I did.”
“That’s enough.”
His eyes filled with shame.
“I know.”
Then his phone rang.
Jessica.
He answered on speaker.
“What?”
Her voice was panicked.
“Ryan, don’t go into the office.”
“Why?”
“Someone knows I gave you the files.”
He looked at me.
“Who?”
Jessica took a shaky breath.
“Your mother.”
May you like
Ryan went completely still.
Then Jessica said, “And Emily needs to check her bank account right now.”
