Chapter 2
Nathan stared at Grace.
“What did Lily find?”
Grace glanced toward the hallway again.
Lily buried her face against Nathan’s shoulder.
Victoria was still shouting outside as the officers led her toward a patrol car.
“You’re making a mistake!” she screamed. “Nathan, listen to me!”
Nathan didn’t look at her.
He carried Lily closer to Grace.
“Tell me.”
Grace hesitated.
“Lily was cleaning upstairs with me.”
Nathan’s jaw tightened.
“She was working?”
“I didn’t make her work. She follows me sometimes. I couldn’t afford childcare, and Victoria told me Lily wasn’t allowed near the family rooms unless she was helping.”
Nathan looked sick.
“She told you that?”
Grace nodded.
“This morning, I was changing the sheets in your bedroom. Lily crawled underneath the desk looking for a toy she’d dropped.”
Grace paused.
“She found an envelope taped under the bottom drawer.”
Nathan’s expression changed.
“What envelope?”
“I never opened it.”
“But Victoria did?”
“Lily brought it downstairs. Victoria saw it.”
Grace looked at the bruising on her shoulder.
“She lost control.”
Nathan carefully set Lily on a chair.
“Sweetheart, do you remember where the envelope is?”
Lily nodded.
“She took it.”
“Where?”
Lily pointed toward the pantry.
Victoria had been inside the kitchen minutes earlier.
Nathan crossed the room and opened the pantry.
Nothing.
He searched the shelves.
Grace joined him despite her pain.
Then Lily climbed down.
“She put it behind the dog food.”
Nathan pulled out a large container.
Behind it was a torn white envelope.
He picked it up.
The front was blank.
The seal had been ripped open.
Inside were several folded pages.
Nathan read the first one.
His face drained of color.
Grace watched him.
“What is it?”
He didn’t answer.
His eyes moved rapidly across the page.
Then he sank into a chair.
Grace stepped closer.
“Nathan?”
He handed her the document.
It was a laboratory report.
Grace read the name at the top.
Nathan Carter.
Then another name.
Lily Grace Monroe.
Her hand began shaking.
A paternity probability appeared at the bottom.
99.99%.
Grace looked at Nathan.
“I never ordered this test.”
“Neither did I.”
Nathan grabbed the next page.
It was an email printed nearly three years earlier.
The sender was Victoria.
The recipient was someone named Dr. Mercer.
Nathan read it aloud.
“Destroy every digital copy. He can never know the child is his.”
Grace covered her mouth.
Nathan turned the page.
There were bank transfers.
Monthly payments.
All from Victoria’s personal account.
Nathan stood so quickly the chair fell backward.
“She knew.”
Grace whispered, “For years.”
“She knew Lily was mine.”
Nathan’s breathing became heavy.
Outside, Victoria saw the papers through the window.
Her face changed.
She pulled against the officer holding her.
“Nathan!”
Nathan stepped toward the door.
Grace caught his wrist.
“Don’t.”
He looked at her.
“She stole four years from me.”
“And if you go outside angry, she’ll use it against you.”
Nathan stopped.
Grace was right.
He looked down at Lily.
She was holding the stuffed rabbit she carried everywhere.
She had no idea why the adults were suddenly terrified.
One officer entered the kitchen.
“Mr. Carter?”
Nathan handed him the documents.
“You need these.”
The officer scanned the first page.
His expression sharpened.
“Where did you find them?”
“My daughter found them hidden in my bedroom.”
The officer looked toward Victoria.
Then back at Nathan.
“We’ll need copies.”
“You can take everything.”
Grace touched Nathan’s arm.
“There’s another problem.”
Nathan turned.
“What now?”
Grace looked at the payment records.
“The doctor Victoria paid…”
She tapped the page.
“I know that name.”
Nathan frowned.
“How?”
Grace’s voice dropped.
“He was the doctor who told me four years ago that you had taken a paternity test.”
Nathan stared at her.
“He told me the result was negative.”
The room went silent.
Grace’s eyes filled.
“That’s why I disappeared.”
Nathan slowly looked toward Victoria outside.
She was no longer screaming.
May you like
She was watching them.
And smiling.
