Chapter 6: The Name Behind the Money
The phone slipped slightly in my hand.
I read the message again.
Then again.
*He’s the man who paid for your wedding.*
My mind refused to understand it.
Richard.
A stranger from my mother’s past.
The unanswered question from before I was even born.
The man whose name had appeared for the first time tonight.
Was the person who paid for the wedding I was supposed to have tomorrow?
No.
That wasn’t possible.
I looked at the screen, waiting for another explanation to appear.
It didn’t.
“Emma?””
Michael’s voice pulled me back.
I looked up.
He was watching me carefully.
“What happened?””
I didn’t answer.
Because I didn’t know where to begin.
How do you tell someone who just found out he might be your father that another man connected to your birth had secretly paid for your entire wedding?
I showed him the message.
His expression changed immediately.
He read it once.
Then his jaw tightened.
“Who sent this?””
“I don’t know.””
Michael looked at the number.
His face became serious.
“Emma, don’t reply.””
“Why?””
“Because whoever sent this knows exactly what they’re doing.””
I stared at him.
“What does that mean?””
“It means they want you confused.””
I almost laughed.
“Confused?””
I looked around.
“My mother lied about my father. My father says someone else knew. David kept letters hidden. And now some random person is telling me the man who paid for my wedding might be connected to all of this.””
My voice cracked.
“I think confused is the one thing I’m allowed to be.””
Nobody argued.
Because I was right.
The front door opened.
David stepped outside holding a worn cardboard box.
Not a folder.
Not a few papers.
A box.
My stomach dropped.
“How many are there?””
He looked down.
“More than I wanted there to be.””
My mother covered her mouth.
“David…”
He looked at her.
“I’m sorry.””
She shook her head.
“No.””
“I should have told her.””
“Yes.””
The honesty from him hurt.
But I appreciated it.
At least one person was finally saying the words.
David handed me the box.
It was heavier than it looked.
Not because of the paper inside.
Because of everything those papers represented.
Eighteen years of unanswered questions.
I carried it to the porch table.
Michael stood across from me.
He looked nervous.
Not like a man waiting to be proven right.
Like a man afraid of what I would find.
I opened the box.
The first thing I saw was an envelope.
My name was written on it.
Again.
Another letter.
Another piece of my life that had existed without me knowing.
I pulled it out.
“Is this from you?””
I asked Michael.
He nodded.
“Yes.””
I opened it carefully.
The paper was old.
The handwriting matched the first letter.
*Emma,*
*I don’t know if you will ever read this. I don’t even know if I’m allowed to write it.*
My eyes moved down.
*Your mother told me you were happy. She told me you had a father who loved you. I wanted to believe that meant you were okay.*
I paused.
My eyes moved toward David.
The words hurt him.
I could see it.
*But I need you to know something. I never stopped thinking about you.*
My throat tightened.
I continued.
*Every year on your birthday, I bought a gift. I never sent them. I didn’t know where to send them. I kept them because it was the only way I felt close to you.*
I stopped reading.
“Gifts?””
Michael looked down.
“Yes.””
“Where are they?””
His eyes moved toward the street.
“I don’t know if I should show you.””
“Why?””
“Because I don’t want you to feel pressured.””
I stared at him.
“You think seeing proof that you cared would pressure me?””
He looked away.
“I think you’re overwhelmed.””
That answer was so different from what I expected.
I expected excuses.
Instead, he was careful.
Almost too careful.
I looked back at the letter.
Then I saw another name.
At the bottom.
A signature.
Not Michael’s.
Someone else’s.
I frowned.
“Who is this?””
Michael looked.
His expression changed.
“Where did you get that?””
“It’s on the letter.””
He stepped closer.
I handed it to him.
His face went pale.
“That’s Richard’s signature.””
The air disappeared.
My mother stood up.
“What?””
Michael looked at her.
“You know exactly what this is.””
She shook her head.
“No.””
“Don’t lie.””
“I’m not.””
I looked between them.
“Someone explain.””
Michael pointed at the signature.
“When I wrote these letters, they were returned.””
“Returned?””
“Yes.””
“Why?””
He looked at Linda.
“Because someone was intercepting them.””
My mother’s face changed.
“I didn’t.””
Michael looked at her.
“Then how did Richard’s signature end up on my returned mail?””
Silence.
My mother looked terrified.
I turned toward her.
“Mom.””
She shook her head.
“I don’t know.””
But this time, I noticed something.
She wasn’t just afraid.
She was surprised.
Like she was learning something too.
That changed everything.
Because maybe she wasn’t the only person hiding things.
I looked at David.
“Who is Richard?””
David answered carefully.
“I know who he is.””
My eyes widened.
“You do?””
He nodded.
“Everyone in town knows him.””
“Why?””
David looked uncomfortable.
“Because he owns several businesses.””
My heart sank.
“And?””
“He’s wealthy.””
I looked at the wedding papers.
The expensive venue.
The flowers.
The photographer.
Everything.
The pieces started moving.
“No.””
David didn’t speak.
I looked at him.
“Tell me.””
He sighed.
“Richard offered to help with the wedding.””
“Why?””
Nobody answered.
“Why would he do that?””
My mother whispered:
“Because he wanted to.””
I stared at her.
“That’s not an answer.””
She looked away.
Michael stepped forward.
“He’s trying to buy his way into your life.””
My mother immediately snapped.
“You don’t know that.””
Michael looked at her.
“Do you?””
The silence between them said more than words.
I looked at my mother.
“You knew?””
She closed her eyes.
“I knew he wanted to help.””
“You knew he paid?””
She didn’t answer.
“Mom.””
“Yes.””
The word was barely audible.
I felt sick.
“You knew another man was paying for my wedding?””
“Yes.””
“And you didn’t tell me?””
“I thought it was a gift.””
“A gift?””
I pointed at the house.
“At what point does someone paying thousands of dollars for my wedding stop being a gift?””
She cried.
“I didn’t know how to explain it.””
“You could have started with the truth.””
She looked at me.
“I didn’t know if you would accept it.””
I froze.
Accept what?
“What are you talking about?””
She looked at Michael.
Then at me.
“Richard believes he’s your father.””
The world became completely silent.
I looked at Michael.
Then back at my mother.
“No.””
Her eyes filled with tears.
“Emma…”
“No.””
I stepped back.
“Are you saying there’s still a chance he’s my father?””
Nobody answered.
That was the answer.
My entire life had been built around one question.
Who was my father?
First, I thought it was Michael.
Then I learned he was.
Then I learned maybe he wasn’t.
Now there was another man.
A man who had paid for my wedding.
A man who had been connected to my family before I was born.
A man who had apparently been waiting somewhere in the background.
My phone buzzed again.
Everyone looked at it.
Another message.
Same unknown number.
I opened it.
This time, there was a picture attached.
My breath stopped.
It was a photograph of a man standing outside my wedding venue.
Richard.
I had seen him before.
Not personally.
But in newspapers.
Business articles.
Community events.
The man everyone called successful.
The man everyone respected.
Under the picture was a message.
*Ask your mother why she told Michael he wasn’t your father.*
My heart raced.
Then another message appeared.
*Ask her why she never told you Richard was there the day you were born.*
I looked at my mother.
Her face had gone completely white.
“Mom?””
She didn’t answer.
“Were you with him?””
Her lips trembled.
Then she whispered the words that made my entire body go cold.
“Emma…”
She looked at Michael.
Then at me.
“Richard was in the delivery room when you were born.””
Nobody moved.
Nobody spoke.
May you like
And then David quietly said something that made everything even worse.
“That means he knew about you before any of us did.””