Chapter 7: The Name on the Envelope
“Marcus.””
Chloe said the name so softly that at first Laura wasn't sure she'd heard her correctly.
Michael was still holding the envelope.
Daniel looked as if someone had struck him.
“Say it again,” Michael said.
Chloe shook her head.
“No.””
“Say it.””
“I can't.””
Michael stepped closer.
“You just did.””
Chloe's eyes darted toward Daniel.
“Daniel…”
He didn't answer.
Michael looked at his father.
“Who is Marcus?””
Daniel swallowed.
“Marcus Reed.””
Laura's heart stopped.
The name hit something buried deep inside her memory.
A young man with a crooked smile.
A green jacket.
A laugh that made Michael laugh when he was a baby.
A man Daniel had once called his closest friend.
Laura looked at Daniel.
“Marcus?””
Daniel nodded once.
“He was my best friend.””
“Was?””
“He died.””
Michael stared.
“When?””
Daniel looked away.
“Three weeks before you were born.””
Michael's face changed.
He looked down at the envelope.
“Then why would someone write that?””
Daniel didn't answer.
Laura's voice was barely audible.
“Because Marcus was there when Michael was born.””
Daniel looked at her.
“You remember him?””
“Of course I remember him.””
Chloe closed her eyes.
Michael turned toward Laura.
“Mom.””
She looked at him.
“Was Marcus my father?””
Laura's lips parted.
Nothing came out.
The auditorium was so quiet that the faint hum of the ventilation system sounded loud.
Michael's voice broke.
“Mom.””
Laura looked at her son.
Then at Daniel.
Then at Chloe.
Finally, she whispered, “I don't know.””
Michael recoiled.
“You don't know?””
“I know who your father is.””
“Then tell me.””
Laura's eyes filled.
“Daniel is your father.””
Daniel's shoulders dropped.
Michael looked confused.
“Then why does this say—”
“I don't know who wrote that line.””
Chloe suddenly laughed.
It was a broken, desperate sound.
“You're still lying.””
Laura turned toward her.
“Excuse me?””
Chloe wiped her face.
“You know exactly who Marcus was.””
“Yes.””
“You know what happened.””
“No.””
Chloe looked at Daniel.
“You told me you would never tell him.””
Daniel's head snapped toward her.
“I told you?””
“You promised.””
“What did I promise?””
“That the truth would stay buried.””
Michael's expression hardened.
“Which truth?””
Chloe didn't answer.
Daniel grabbed the edge of a nearby chair.
“Chloe.””
She looked at him.
“Don't.””
“Don't what?””
“Don't pretend you don't remember.””
“I remember everything.””
“Then tell me.””
Chloe shook her head.
“I can't.””
Michael stepped between them.
“You've been saying that all afternoon.””
He held up the envelope.
“But someone wrote this.””
He turned to Evelyn.
“Did you?””
Evelyn shook her head.
“No.””
“Did my mother?””
“No.””
“Then who?””
Evelyn looked toward Chloe.
“I think you know.””
Michael's eyes narrowed.
“Chloe?””
Chloe covered her mouth.
Daniel stared at her.
“Did you write it?””
“No.””
“Did you know about it?””
She hesitated.
“Yes.””
Laura's breath caught.
“You knew?””
Chloe nodded.
“I knew there was a letter.””
“Where did you get it?””
“I didn't.””
“Then how did you know?””
Chloe looked at Daniel.
“I saw it.””
“When?””
“Years ago.””
Michael's jaw tightened.
“Where?””
Chloe didn't answer.
Michael slammed the envelope onto the podium.
“Where?””
The sharp sound made several people in the audience jump.
Chloe flinched.
“I found it in Laura's apartment.””
Laura stared.
“My apartment?””
“After you moved.””
“You went into my apartment?””
“I had a key.””
Daniel looked stunned.
“Why did you have a key?””
Chloe's voice dropped.
“You gave it to me.””
“I did not.””
“You did.””
“I never gave you Laura's key.””
“You don't remember.””
Daniel shook his head.
“No. I remember.””
Michael picked up the envelope.
“So you saw the letter.””
Chloe nodded.
“What did it say?””
“I didn't read all of it.””
Michael stared at her.
“You expect me to believe that?””
“I read enough.””
“What did it say?””
Chloe looked at Laura.
Laura felt cold.
“Tell him.””
Chloe's eyes filled.
“It said you were leaving.””
Laura shook her head.
“No.””
“It said you wanted to start over.””
“No.””
“It said you couldn't handle being a mother.””
“That is a lie.””
Michael looked at Chloe.
“Did you read it?””
“Yes.””
“Then what did it actually say?””
Chloe's mouth trembled.
“I don't remember.””
Michael laughed bitterly.
“You remember enough to destroy my family, but not enough to tell the truth.””
Daniel stepped forward.
“Where is the original?””
Chloe looked at him.
“I don't have it.””
“Where is it?””
“I threw it away.””
“When?””
“Years ago.””
Evelyn shook her head.
“No.””
Everyone turned.
Evelyn's face was pale.
“I saw the original.””
Chloe stared at her.
“You couldn't have.””
“I did.””
“When?””
“Two days after Laura left town.””
Laura looked at Evelyn.
“I didn't leave town.””
“I know.””
Michael turned.
“Then where did you go?””
Laura's voice broke.
“I was staying with my cousin.””
“Why?””
“Because I had nowhere else to go.””
“Why didn't you tell me?””
“You were seven.””
“I deserved the truth.””
Laura nodded.
“You did.””
She looked at Daniel.
“But every time I tried to tell you, someone had already told you something else.””
Daniel's face crumpled.
Michael walked slowly toward him.
“Dad.””
Daniel looked up.
“Why did you believe her?””
Daniel's eyes moved toward Chloe.
“Because I was a coward.””
Chloe shook her head.
“No.””
“Yes.””
Daniel's voice strengthened.
“I wanted to believe Laura had left.””
“Why?””
“Because believing that was easier than believing I had failed you.””
Michael stared at him.
“You let me hate my mother because it was easier?””
Daniel looked at the floor.
“Yes.””
The answer broke something in the room.
Laura's tears fell.
Michael closed his eyes.
Then he opened the envelope again.
“There has to be something else.””
He reached inside.
His fingers touched a folded piece of paper.
He pulled it out.
It was not a letter.
It was a photocopy of a birth certificate.
Michael looked at it.
Then froze.
“Dad.””
Daniel took it.
His eyes moved down the page.
Then his face went white.
“What?””
Laura stepped closer.
Daniel couldn't speak.
Michael took the paper back.
At the bottom, beneath the parents' names, was an amendment.
A handwritten note.
*Paternity test requested.*
Date:
Twenty-two years ago.
Michael stared.
“You had a paternity test?””
Daniel shook his head.
“No.””
“But this says—”
“I never requested one.””
Laura looked at the document.
“I didn't either.””
Chloe backed away.
Michael noticed.
“Chloe.””
She stopped.
“Did you?””
Chloe said nothing.
Michael walked toward her.
“Did you order a paternity test?””
“No.””
“Did you arrange for one?””
“No.””
“Then why is your name on the authorization?””
Chloe's face went completely still.
Daniel snatched the document.
His eyes widened.
At the bottom was a signature.
*Chloe Bennett.*
Daniel looked at her.
“You did this?””
Chloe began crying.
“I needed to know.””
“Why?””
“Because Marcus had called me.””
Laura's blood ran cold.
Michael whispered, “Marcus was alive?””
Chloe shook her head.
“No.””
She looked at Daniel.
“He called me before he died.””
Daniel's face emptied.
“What did he say?””
Chloe's voice broke.
“He said…”
She stopped.
Michael stepped closer.
“What did he say?””
Chloe looked at him.
“He said he wasn't your father.””
Laura exhaled.
Daniel closed his eyes.
Then Chloe whispered the words that made Laura's heart stop.
“He said *you were*.””
Michael stared at Daniel.
“But he also said he had proof.””
Daniel opened his eyes.
“What proof?””
Chloe looked toward the auditorium doors.
“I gave it to someone.””
“Who?””
Chloe didn't answer.
A phone began ringing.
Everyone looked around.
It was Daniel's.
He pulled it from his pocket.
The screen showed an unknown number.
He answered.
“Hello?””
Silence.
Then a man's voice came through.
Low.
Calm.
Impossible.
Daniel's face turned white.
Michael watched him.
“Dad?””
Daniel couldn't speak.
The voice on the phone said:
“Daniel, if you're hearing this, Chloe finally told you.””
Daniel's hand began to shake.
The voice continued.
“And if Michael is standing beside you…”
May you like
A pause.
“…then he deserves to know why I disappeared.””