Chapter 5
The judge granted the protective order that afternoon.
No contact from Ryan.
No contact from Diane.
They were barred from the hospital, my home, and any place I stayed.
Nora also filed an emergency motion freezing any guardianship claim.
Dad drove me to his hotel when I was discharged.
I refused to go back home.
My body hurt.
My heart hurt worse.
I kept seeing Mom’s signature.
When my phone rang, I almost ignored it.
But it was Mom.
Dad said, “You don’t have to answer.”
“I know.”
I answered anyway.
Her voice was small.
“Emily, please let me explain.”
“Explain why you signed away my baby.”
“I didn’t think of it that way.”
“How else could you think of it?”
“Diane said you were talking about leaving Ryan. She said if you left, you’d cut all of us off. She said you were unstable.”
“And you believed her?”
Mom cried harder.
“She had recordings.”
My blood went cold.
“What recordings?”
“You yelling. Crying. Saying you couldn’t do this anymore.”
I remembered those nights.
Ryan would corner me until I broke.
Diane would criticize me for hours.
Then Ryan would pull out his phone after I finally screamed.
“They made those happen,” I whispered.
Dad closed his eyes.
Mom said, “I didn’t know.”
“You didn’t ask me.”
“I was afraid.”
“Of me?”
“No,” she whispered. “Of Diane.”
The room went still.
Dad leaned closer.
“What did Diane do to you, Carol?”
Mom sobbed.
“She knows something.”
I gripped the phone.
“What?”
A long silence.
Then Mom said, “About your birth.”
My breath stopped.
Dad’s face went white.
“What about my birth?”
Mom whispered, “Michael isn’t your biological father.”
The phone slipped from my hand.
Dad caught it before it hit the floor.
I stared at him.
He looked shattered.
Not shocked.
Shattered.
May you like
“You knew?” I whispered.
Dad could not answer.
