Chapter 3: The Man on the Phone
My father read the message twice.
Then a third time.
Nobody spoke.
Outside, a lawn mower hummed somewhere across the street, absurdly normal against the silence inside our kitchen.
Dad slowly lowered the phone.
“Baby?””
Vanessa closed her eyes.
“Marcus…”
“Whose baby?””
She didn't answer.
He looked at her.
“Vanessa.””
“I was going to tell you.””
“Whose baby?””
Her lips trembled.
“Derek's.””
Isaiah sucked in a breath.
I felt something inside me collapse.
Not because I was surprised.
Because suddenly every strange moment from the last year rearranged itself in my mind.
The late-night phone calls.
The unexplained errands.
The way Vanessa always locked her phone.
The perfume that wasn't hers.
The nights she claimed she was staying with her sister when her sister later said she hadn't.
And now the pregnancy test.
Dad stepped backward.
He looked as if someone had physically struck him.
“How long?””
Vanessa cried quietly.
“Marcus…”
“How long have you been sleeping with him?””
“I don't know.””
“You don't know?””
“It wasn't supposed to happen.””
Dad's jaw tightened.
“That's not an answer.””
“It started months ago.””
I looked away.
Isaiah didn't.
He stood beside me, staring at Vanessa with an expression I'd never seen on his face before.
Disappointment.
“You told us you loved Dad.””
Vanessa wiped her cheek.
“I do.””
Isaiah shook his head.
“No.””
“Isaiah—”
“If you loved him, you wouldn't do this.””
Vanessa looked at him.
“You don't understand.””
“I understand enough.””
Dad held up the phone.
“And the pregnancy test?””
Vanessa nodded.
“I thought I was pregnant.””
“You thought?””
“I took one last night.””
“The one you showed Nia?””
“No.””
Dad stared at her.
“Then where did that one come from?””
Vanessa's eyes moved toward me.
I followed her gaze.
My blood went cold.
She was looking at my room.
“No,” I whispered.
Vanessa said nothing.
Dad turned toward her.
“You put it in Nia's room.””
“It was just a test.””
“You put it in my daughter's room.””
“I panicked.””
“You framed her.””
“I wasn't trying to frame her.””
“You accused her.””
“I needed time.””
“For what?””
“To figure out what I was going to do.””
Dad's voice became quieter.
“You decided to sacrifice Nia so you could buy yourself time.””
Vanessa started crying harder.
“I knew you'd leave me.””
“You cheated on me.””
“I knew you'd hate me.””
“You lied to me.””
“I was scared.””
“And you put the blame on my daughter.””
She covered her face.
I stared at her.
“You wanted Dad to think I was pregnant so he wouldn't ask questions about you.””
She lowered her hands.
“I didn't want him to think that.””
“You literally slammed the test on the counter and said I was pregnant.””
“I was desperate.””
I stepped closer.
“Why me?””
Vanessa looked at me.
“Because you were the easiest person to blame.””
The honesty of it hurt more than another lie would have.
Dad closed his eyes.
Isaiah whispered, “That's horrible.””
Vanessa looked at him.
“I know.””
“No,” I said.
“You don't.””
She stared at me.
“You've spent three years acting like you were protecting this family.””
My voice shook.
“You weren't protecting us.””
I pointed at the phone.
“You were protecting yourself.””
Dad placed the phone on the counter.
“Call Derek.””
Vanessa's eyes widened.
“What?””
“Call him.””
“No.””
“Put him on speaker.””
“I can't.””
“Why?””
She shook her head.
“Because he doesn't know you're here.””
Dad laughed bitterly.
“Apparently he knows enough.””
Another vibration.
Derek was calling again.
Dad picked up the phone.
Vanessa grabbed his wrist.
“Please.””
He pulled away.
“I want to hear him.””
“You don't understand.””
“I understand perfectly.””
“No, you don't.””
“What don't I understand?””
Vanessa's face changed.
The fear returned.
But this time, it was deeper.
Not fear of being caught.
Fear of something coming.
She whispered, “Derek isn't the only person who knows.””
Dad stopped.
“What does that mean?””
Vanessa looked toward the hallway.
I followed her gaze.
Nothing.
Just the narrow hallway leading toward the bedrooms.
Then I noticed something.
The front door was unlocked.
“Dad.””
He looked at me.
“The door.””
He frowned.
“What about it?””
“It was locked.””
Isaiah looked toward it too.
“I locked it after school.””
Dad walked over.
He opened the door.
Nobody stood outside.
The porch was empty.
But there was an envelope on the welcome mat.
Dad bent down.
Picked it up.
His name was written across the front.
*MARCUS REED.*
No return address.
No stamp.
Just his name.
Vanessa saw it.
And she stopped crying.
“Don't open that.””
Dad looked at her.
“Why?””
“Because I know what it is.””
He tore the envelope open.
Inside was a single sheet of paper.
Dad unfolded it.
His eyes moved across the page.
Then stopped.
His breathing changed.
“What?””
I stepped closer.
“Dad?””
He didn't answer.
Isaiah moved beside him.
“What's it say?””
Dad finally looked at Vanessa.
“Is this true?””
She shook her head.
“I don't know.””
“You just said you knew what it was.””
“I knew the envelope.””
“Not what's inside?””
“No.””
Dad handed me the paper.
My eyes scanned the first line.
I didn't understand it at first.
Then I read it again.
And again.
It was a laboratory report.
There was a name printed at the top.
*DEREK WILLIAMS.*
Below it was a date.
Yesterday.
And beneath that, a line that made my hands go numb.
*PATERNITY TEST — RESULTS AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST.*
I looked at Vanessa.
“What is this?””
She said nothing.
Dad took the paper from me.
“You told me the baby was Derek's.””
“It is.””
“Then why was a paternity test ordered yesterday?””
Vanessa stared at him.
“I didn't order it.””
Dad looked at the bottom of the page.
There was another name.
His own.
*MARCUS REED.*
He went completely still.
Isaiah whispered, “Dad…”
Dad looked at Vanessa.
“You tested me?””
“I didn't.””
“Then who did?””
Vanessa's face had gone white.
Her phone vibrated one more time.
A message from Derek appeared.
*Derek: Marcus isn't the father. But Nia knows who is.*
I looked up.
My heart slammed against my ribs.
“Why would Derek say my name?””
Vanessa stared at me.
And for the first time, I realized she wasn't looking at me like an enemy.
May you like
She was looking at me like someone who had just seen a ghost.
“Because,” she whispered, “there's something about your mother I never told you.””