Chapter 5: The Stranger Who Knew My Family
I called the number back immediately.
No answer.
Again.
No answer.
Again.
Straight to voicemail.
My hands were shaking.
Brielle watched me carefully.
“Who was it?””
I didn’t answer right away.
Because saying it out loud made it real.
“A man.””
“What man?””
“He said he needed to talk about your brother.””
Her face went pale.
I noticed.
And that scared me.
“Brielle,” I said slowly.
“You know who that was.””
She looked down.
“I think so.””
“What does that mean?””
She sat on the couch.
For the first time since I arrived home, she looked eighteen.
Not angry.
Not strong.
Just scared.
“His name is Marcus.””
The name meant nothing to me.
“Who is Marcus?””
She rubbed her hands together.
“I don’t know exactly.””
“That’s not possible.””
“I met him once.””
“When?””
She hesitated.
“The day I found the papers.””
I stared at her.
“Why didn’t you tell me?””
“Because I didn’t know if I could trust him.””
“And you trusted him enough to keep this from me?””
She looked hurt.
“I was trying to protect you.””
The irony almost made me laugh.
My daughter was eighteen years old.
And she believed she had to protect me.
“Tell me everything.””
She took a deep breath.
“Three months ago, I went with Mom to pick something up from her car. She forgot her bag at school.””
I listened.
“She was acting weird. Nervous.””
“Your mother?””
“Yes.””
I waited.
“When she opened the glove compartment, some papers fell out.””
“The genetic appointment?””
She nodded.
“I picked them up.””
“And?””
“And I saw another name.””
She looked at me.
“Marcus Reed.””
I felt nothing.
No recognition.
No memory.
Just confusion.
“Who is he?””
“I didn’t know.””
“Then how did you meet him?””
Brielle looked toward the floor.
“Because I searched the name.””
A cold feeling moved through me.
“What did you find?””
“Nothing at first.””
She paused.
“Then he found me.””
My stomach tightened.
“What?””
“He messaged me.””
“How?””
“I don’t know.””
“Brielle.””
She looked frustrated.
“I don’t know, Dad. He said he knew my mother.””
I stood.
“You should have come to me.””
“I wanted to.””
“Then why didn’t you?””
“Because he sent me a picture.””
She reached into her phone.
Her fingers moved quickly.
Then she handed it to me.
The image loaded.
My breath stopped.
It was Elena.
Years younger.
Standing outside a hospital.
And beside her was a man I had never seen.
Marcus.
But that wasn’t what made my chest tighten.
It was what Elena was holding.
A baby.
A newborn.
I looked closer.
The date on the picture was fifteen years earlier.
Before I met Elena.
Before our marriage.
Before Brielle.
I looked at my daughter.
“What am I looking at?””
She whispered:
“I don’t know.””
I looked back at the picture.
“But you thought this had something to do with me?””
She nodded.
“Because Marcus said it did.””
“When?””
“Yesterday.””
My head snapped up.
“Yesterday?””
She looked guilty.
“I was going to tell you after graduation.””
I laughed once.
Not because it was funny.
Because I didn’t know what else to do.
“You were carrying this for months?””
“I was scared.””
“Of what?””
Her eyes filled.
“Of watching our family fall apart.””
That stopped me.
Because that was exactly what I was afraid of.
A family falling apart.
The difference was that she had been watching it happen already.
I sat beside her.
“Brielle.””
She wiped her eyes.
“I’m sorry.””
“No.””
I shook my head.
“You don’t apologize for this.””
She looked at me.
“You should be angry.””
“I am.””
“At me?””
I looked at my daughter.
“No.””
At that moment, I realized something.
The person I was angry with wasn’t Brielle.
It wasn’t even Marcus.
It was myself.
Because I had spent years believing I knew my family.
But maybe I only knew the version they showed me.
My phone buzzed.
A text message appeared.
Unknown number.
I opened it.
One sentence.
*Ask Elena why she kept the paternity test hidden.*
I felt the room spin.
Brielle saw my face.
“What did he say?””
I locked the phone.
“Nothing.””
She immediately knew I was lying.
“Dad.””
I stood.
“I need to talk to your mother.””
“Don’t go alone.””
“I have to.””
“No.””
Her voice became urgent.
“Dad, please listen.””
I turned.
“What?””
She pointed at my phone.
“Marcus isn’t trying to warn you.””
I stared at her.
“Then what is he doing?””
She swallowed.
“He’s trying to make you destroy your own family.””
I wanted to believe her.
I wanted to believe everything had a reasonable explanation.
But when I arrived at the hospital that night and saw Elena looking at me with fear in her eyes before I even spoke, I knew something.
May you like
She already knew why I was there.
And she knew what I had found.