Chapter 4: The Secret Behind The Wall
I spent the next hour staring at the envelope.
Nobody touched it.
Not Emily.
Not Ryan.
Not me.
It sat on the counter like a bomb.
Finally, I picked it up.
My name was written across the front.
James Carter.
My handwriting.
I recognized it immediately.
“What is this?””
Emily looked terrified.
“I don’t know.””
That was a lie.
I could see it.
“You know.””
She shook her head.
“No.””
“Emily.””
She looked at Ryan.
Ryan looked away.
That was enough.
I opened it.
Inside was a stack of documents.
The first page was a DNA report.
My hands went numb.
I read the names.
Mother.
Child.
Father.
The father’s name wasn’t Ryan.
It wasn’t mine either.
I looked up.
“What is this?””
Nobody spoke.
I flipped the page.
The next document was from a fertility clinic.
My eyes moved across the words.
Then I stopped.
Because suddenly, the impossible started making sense.
I looked at Emily.
“You knew.””
She started crying.
“I found out after you left.””
“Found out what?””
“That the doctor was wrong.””
I stared.
“What?””
She wiped her face.
“The fertility results.””
My breathing slowed.
“Our doctor said we couldn’t have children.””
“He was wrong.””
The room spun slightly.
“What does that mean?””
Emily looked at Noah.
“It means…”
Her voice broke.
“It means there’s a chance Noah is yours.””
I stared at her.
No.
That was impossible.
Wasn’t it?
I looked back at the papers.
There were dates.
The timing.
The pregnancy.
The deployment.
Everything I thought I understood suddenly became uncertain.
Ryan stepped forward.
“I didn’t know.””
I looked at him.
“You didn’t know?””
He shook his head.
“I thought he was mine.””
Emily whispered:
“I thought so too.””
The anger inside me changed.
It didn’t disappear.
It became something worse.
Confusion.
Pain.
A thousand unanswered questions.
“Then why hide it?””
Emily looked down.
“Because I was afraid.””
“Afraid of what?””
She hesitated.
Then said:
“That you would hate him.””
I looked at Noah.
The baby stared back.
Small.
Innocent.
He had no idea what his existence had done to all of us.
A knock interrupted us.
Again.
Everyone froze.
I walked to the door.
This time nobody stopped me.
When I opened it, Mark the plumber stood there.
But he wasn’t holding tools.
He was holding a file.
“You need to see this before anyone else tells you a different story.””
I stared.
“Who are you really?””
His expression changed.
For the first time, the confidence disappeared.
“I’m someone who knew your family before you did.””
My stomach tightened.
“What family?””
He handed me the file.
Inside was an old photograph.
A woman.
A baby.
And my father.
My father, who had died three years earlier.
I looked at Mark.
“How do you know my father?””
He looked toward Emily.
May you like
Then said:
“Because your father was the reason this baby was born.””