Chapter 6: The Missing Report
Dad stared at Vanessa.
“You had a DNA report from the night Nia was born?””
Vanessa shook her head.
“No.””
Evelyn's expression didn't change.
“You kept it.””
“I didn't.””
“You showed it to me.””
“Twenty years ago.””
“I remember.””
Dad turned toward Evelyn.
“What exactly did that report say?””
Evelyn hesitated.
“That Marcus wasn't listed as the biological father.””
Dad's face went rigid.
I felt my knees weaken.
Isaiah caught my arm.
“Nia.””
“I'm okay.””
I wasn't.
But I didn't want anyone to see that.
Dad looked at Vanessa.
“You knew.””
Vanessa began crying.
“I suspected.””
“Don't.””
“I suspected.””
“You just said you didn't have the report.””
“I don't.””
“Then where is it?””
“I don't know.””
Evelyn shook her head.
“You gave it to Derek.””
Vanessa looked at her.
“No.””
“Yes.””
“No, I didn't.””
“You did.””
“Evelyn, stop.””
“You mailed it to him.””
Dad's voice cut through them.
“When?””
Evelyn looked at him.
“Twenty years ago.””
Dad stared.
“But Derek only came back recently.””
“Yes.””
“Why?””
“Because he didn't receive it.””
Vanessa closed her eyes.
Dad stepped closer.
“What happened to it?””
Evelyn looked at Vanessa.
“She sent it to an old address.””
Vanessa whispered, “I didn't know.””
“You knew enough.””
“I was young.””
“You were old enough to know you were destroying a family.””
Vanessa covered her face.
I stared at her.
“Why didn't you tell Dad?””
She lowered her hands.
“Because I thought I was protecting him.””
“From what?””
“From knowing that the woman he loved had been unfaithful.””
Dad flinched.
Vanessa continued.
“And then your mother died.””
Her voice cracked.
“After that, there was no way to tell him.””
I shook my head.
“So you kept lying.””
“Yes.””
“For twenty years.””
“Yes.””
“And then you married him.””
Vanessa looked at Dad.
“I loved him.””
Dad's eyes were wet.
“You loved me while hiding my daughter's paternity?””
“I loved you every day.””
“That doesn't make it better.””
“I know.””
The kitchen door suddenly rattled.
Everyone turned.
A shadow moved behind the frosted glass.
Dad stepped toward it.
The handle turned.
The door opened.
A man stood outside.
Tall.
Gray around the temples.
Baseball cap.
Dark jacket.
I knew immediately.
Derek.
He looked older than the photograph.
Much older.
But his eyes were the same.
They landed on me.
He didn't look at Dad.
He didn't look at Vanessa.
He looked only at me.
“Nia?””
I couldn't answer.
Dad moved in front of me.
“You need to leave.””
Derek stopped.
“I understand.””
“You have no right to come here.””
“I know.””
“Then why are you here?””
Derek took a slow breath.
“Because I don't have much time.””
Dad's jaw tightened.
“I don't care.””
“I know.””
“You don't get to show up after twenty years and call her your daughter.””
Derek looked at me.
“I didn't come to take her from you.””
Dad said nothing.
“I came to give her something.””
Derek reached into his jacket.
Dad immediately raised a hand.
“Don't.””
Derek stopped.
“I won't come closer.””
He pulled out a small envelope.
“This belonged to her mother.””
My breath caught.
Another letter.
Derek held it out.
“She asked me to keep it until I knew the truth.””
I looked at Evelyn.
She nodded.
“Take it.””
Dad turned toward me.
The decision was mine.
I stepped around him.
Derek's eyes filled with tears.
He looked at me for several seconds.
“You have her eyes.””
I swallowed.
“Don't say that.””
He nodded.
“I'm sorry.””
“Were you really with my mother?””
“Yes.””
“Did you love her?””
“Yes.””
“Did she love you?””
His eyes dropped.
“Yes.””
Dad looked away.
I asked the question that had been haunting me.
“Did you know about me?””
Derek's face crumpled.
“I suspected.””
“That's not an answer.””
“No.””
He looked directly at me.
“I didn't know you existed until years later.””
“Why didn't you find me?””
“I tried.””
Vanessa made a quiet sound.
Derek looked at her.
“You know that's not true.””
She shook her head.
“I told you she didn't want you involved.””
“You lied.””
“I thought I was protecting her.””
“You always say that.””
The same words.
The same excuse.
Different people.
I looked at Dad.
He seemed exhausted.
Not angry anymore.
Just broken.
Derek extended the envelope.
“This will explain why I stopped looking.””
I took it.
Inside was a photocopy of an old hospital record.
I scanned it.
My mother's name.
My birth date.
Then another line.
*Biological father: Derek Williams.*
My vision blurred.
I looked at Dad.
He was staring at the document.
Derek spoke softly.
“Marcus, I never wanted to replace you.””
Dad looked at him.
“You already think you're her father.””
“No.””
Derek shook his head.
“You are.””
That surprised all of us.
He continued.
“You changed her diapers. You taught her to ride a bike. You stayed up when she had nightmares.
You were there when she graduated. You were there when her mother couldn't be.””
Dad's eyes filled.
Derek looked at me.
“Biology is a fact. Fatherhood is a choice.””
I couldn't stop crying.
Then Vanessa spoke.
“I never meant for any of this to happen.””
Derek turned toward her.
“You planted the test.””
She froze.
Dad looked at her.
“What?””
Derek's expression hardened.
“The positive test wasn't yours.””
Vanessa said nothing.
“You got it from the clinic.””
Dad's eyes narrowed.
“You went to the clinic?””
Vanessa began shaking her head.
“No.””
Derek continued.
“You knew Nia was going to take a DNA test.””
I looked at him.
“What?””
Derek nodded.
“She contacted the clinic three weeks ago.””
I stared.
“I did not.””
Derek looked confused.
“Yes, you did.””
“No.””
He glanced at Vanessa.
Then at Dad.
And suddenly his expression changed.
“Oh.””
“What?”” I asked.
Derek looked at Vanessa.
“She wasn't the one who ordered the test.””
Dad's face hardened.
“Then who did?””
Derek slowly pulled another piece of paper from his jacket.
“The order came from your family account.””
Dad stared at it.
“What family account?””
Derek pointed to the signature.
I leaned forward.
The handwriting was unmistakable.
It wasn't Vanessa's.
It wasn't Dad's.
It wasn't mine.
It belonged to someone who hadn't been in our house for years.
My mother's handwriting.
But underneath her signature was a date.
*Two weeks before she died.*
And beneath that was a note:
*If anything happens to me, test Nia. The danger isn't Derek.*
I looked up.
“Then who is the danger?””
Derek's face had gone pale.
He stared at the paper.
“I don't know.””
Vanessa whispered, “I do.””
Dad turned toward her.
She was staring at the kitchen doorway.
“Who?”” he demanded.
Vanessa's lips trembled.
“The person who killed Nia's mother.””
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The lights suddenly flickered.
And from somewhere upstairs came the unmistakable sound of a bedroom door opening.