Chapter 7: My Brother Knew More Than He Admitted
For three hours, I stared at the message on my phone.
Don't let Evelyn tell you who you are.
Then I stared at the name on Margaret Vale's document.
*Marcus Carter.*
My brother.
The boy who used to sneak into my bedroom when thunderstorms frightened me. The teenager who taught me to ride a bicycle in the empty parking lot behind our apartment building. The man who stood beside me at our mother's birthday dinner last year and joked that I was the only person in the family who still believed every word Denise said.
I had trusted Marcus in ways I had never trusted anyone else.
Now I couldn't decide whether I wanted to call him or never hear his voice again.
Victor drove us back toward Savannah while Daniel remained in Brunswick to investigate the phone number and preserve the messages. Margaret had agreed to cooperate with him, but before we left, she gave us copies of every document she had kept.
There were seventeen pages.
Seventeen pieces of paper that had survived twenty-four years while my entire identity rested on a story my mother had repeated until I stopped questioning it.
Victor glanced at me from behind the steering wheel.
"You haven't said a word.""
"I'm trying to figure out whether my brother knew I might not be his sister.""
He tightened his grip on the wheel.
"We don't know what Marcus knew.""
"Margaret said Robert Voss was his father.""
"She said Voss had a son named Marcus Carter. We need to establish the connection.""
"How many men named Marcus Carter do you think there are who are also my brother?""
Victor didn't answer.
I looked out at the passing trees.
"If he knew, I'll never forgive him.""
"And if he didn't?""
I turned toward Victor.
"Then I'll have to learn how to trust him again.""
We reached Savannah shortly after four.
My mother was waiting outside my apartment building.
She stood beside her car in the same purple dress she'd worn to the ceremony the day before. Her makeup had faded, and her eyes were swollen. She looked exhausted.
When she saw Victor's car, she walked toward us.
"Nia, please. I need to talk to you.""
I remained inside the passenger seat for a moment.
Victor didn't tell me what to do.
He simply waited.
Finally, I opened the door.
"What do you want?""
Denise looked at Victor.
"Can we speak privately?""
"No," I said.
"Whatever you have to say, you can say in front of him.""
Her mouth tightened.
"I am still your mother.""
"And I'm still waiting for you to tell me the truth.""
She lowered her eyes.
"I know about the messages.""
My heart jumped.
"How?""
"Marcus called me last night. He said someone had contacted him about the hospital records.""
I felt the blood drain from my face.
"What exactly did he say?""
Denise looked toward the street.
"He told me someone was trying to reopen an old matter involving Robert Voss. He said you might be contacted.""
"Did he tell you not to let me meet Evelyn?""
She looked up sharply.
"Who told you that name?""
I stared at her.
"You know Evelyn?""
"No.""
"Then why did you react like that?""
"Because I haven't heard that name in years.""
I took a step toward her.
"How do you know it?""
Denise pressed a trembling hand against her forehead.
"I met her once. At the hospital. She was crying, and she kept asking about her baby. I told her the staff would explain everything.""
"What happened after that?""
"I don't know.""
"Did you ever see her again?""
"No.""
"Did you know she believed she'd taken home the wrong baby?""
My mother's face crumpled.
"I didn't know what to believe.""
I closed my eyes.
Every answer opened another door, and behind each door was another lie.
"Why didn't you tell me about her?""
"Because I was afraid that if you learned about the records, you'd lose the only family you'd ever known.""
I laughed bitterly.
"You mean the family you controlled.""
Denise flinched.
"I never wanted to control you.""
"You told me my father was dead. You gave me a birth certificate that might be false. You watched me grow up believing I had no one else in the world.""
"I raised you!""
"And I loved you!""
The words burst out of me before I could stop them.
My mother went silent.
I felt tears gathering in my eyes, but I refused to look away.
"That's what makes this so awful. I loved you. I trusted you.
I defended you when people said you were cold. I told myself you were strict because you cared. And all this time, there were things about my life you wouldn't let me know.""
Denise's shoulders began to shake.
"I was trying to protect you.""
"From whom?""
She stared at me.
Then she whispered, "Robert Voss.""
Victor stepped forward.
"What did he threaten you with?""
Denise looked at him.
"He said the hospital would be destroyed if the truth came out. He said people would lose their jobs. He said the children would be separated while the records were investigated. He made it sound as though the only way to keep everyone safe was to leave things alone.""
"That doesn't explain the letter saying Nia was dead," Victor said.
She wiped her cheeks.
"I know.""
"Who wrote it?""
Denise hesitated.
"I did.""
I felt as if someone had struck me in the chest.
Victor closed his eyes.
"You deliberately told me our daughter had died.""
"I was frightened!""
"So was I!""
His voice echoed across the parking area.
A neighbor passing with a grocery bag slowed, glanced at us, and continued toward the building.
Victor lowered his voice.
"I spent twenty years believing I'd failed my daughter. I imagined her growing up without me, and every year I told myself I should have found a way to come home sooner. You let me carry that guilt while you knew the records were uncertain.""
Denise began to sob.
"I thought if you stopped looking, the matter would disappear.""
"Did it?""
She shook her head.
"No.""
I turned away from her.
I couldn't listen anymore.
Then my phone rang.
Marcus.
I stared at his name until the call nearly ended.
Victor watched me.
"You don't have to answer.""
I pressed the green button.
"What?""
"Nia."" Marcus sounded breathless.
"Thank God.""
"Why are you calling?""
"Mom told me you've been talking to Victor.""
"Yes.""
A long pause.
"Where are you?""
"Outside my apartment.""
"Don't go anywhere. I'm coming over.""
"No. You're going to tell me what you know right now.""
He exhaled sharply.
"There's a lot you don't understand.""
"Then explain it.""
"I can't do that over the phone.""
"Why not?""
"Because I need you to see something.""
My stomach tightened.
"What?""
"Documents. Letters. Things Dad left behind.""
I looked at Victor.
His expression had changed.
"Which dad?"" I asked.
Marcus fell silent.
Then he said, "The man Mom told us was dead.""
I felt dizzy.
"You said our father abandoned us.""
"I know what I said.""
"Was that another lie?""
"I was a kid when this started, Nia. I didn't know everything.""
"How much did you know?""
He swallowed audibly.
"Enough to be afraid of what would happen if you found out.""
My hand tightened around the phone.
"Marcus, if you knew something about my birth and kept it from me, I swear—"
"I didn't know you were the wrong baby.""
The words stopped me cold.
"What?""
"I didn't know that part. I swear to you. I didn't know.""
"But you knew about Robert Voss.""
Silence.
"Marcus?""
"Yes.""
I could barely breathe.
"Why?""
"Because he was my biological father.""
Denise covered her mouth.
Victor stared at the phone.
I felt the world tilt beneath my feet.
"What did you just say?""
Marcus's voice broke.
"Mom was already pregnant with me when she met him. She told everyone my father was Victor. She said it was easier that way because she was married to Victor by the time I was born.""
I looked at my mother.
She had gone completely still.
"Is that true?"" I asked her.
She didn't answer.
Marcus continued.
"Robert Voss was involved with Mom before she married Victor. He wasn't a good man, Nia. He threatened her.
He controlled everything. When Mom told him she was pregnant, he said he wanted nothing to do with the child.""
I pressed my hand against my forehead.
"How did you find out?""
"I found some letters when I was nineteen. I confronted Mom. She told me the truth about Robert, but she said he'd been gone for years.""
"Then why did you keep talking to him?""
Marcus didn't answer.
I felt my stomach drop.
"Marcus?""
"He contacted me about six months ago.""
"Why?""
"He said he wanted to make things right.""
Victor stepped closer.
"What did he offer you?""
Marcus heard him.
"Who is that?""
"Victor is standing beside me.""
My brother's breathing changed.
"Put me on speaker.""
I did.
Marcus spoke more slowly now.
"Robert said he could help me expand my business. He had connections with several investors. He said he wanted to compensate me for the years he'd been absent.""
"And what did he want in return?"" Victor asked.
Marcus hesitated.
"He asked me to find out whether Nia had ever seen the hospital records.""
I felt sick.
"You investigated me?""
"No! I didn't follow you or anything like that. He asked whether Mom had ever told you about the discrepancy. I said no.""
"Why would he care?""
"I don't know.""
"You're lying.""
"I'm not!""
I heard a door slam on his end.
Then Marcus spoke in a whisper.
"He said if you learned the truth, everything he'd built would collapse.""
I looked at Victor.
His face was hard with anger.
"What did Robert build?"" I asked.
Marcus took a long breath.
"A company. A foundation. A whole public reputation as a man who protects families and funds children's medical programs.""
I almost laughed.
A man who had allegedly concealed a hospital's failure had spent years presenting himself as a protector of children.
"What else did he tell you?""
Marcus was silent for so long that I thought the call had dropped.
Then he said, "He told me something else.""
"What?""
"He said you were never supposed to meet Victor.""
I felt cold.
"Why?""
"He said if you ever found out who your biological mother was, you'd understand why the exchange happened.""
My mother began to cry again.
I turned toward her.
"Who is my biological mother?""
Denise shook her head.
Marcus answered.
"I don't know. But Robert does.""
The call ended abruptly.
I stared at my phone.
Then a message appeared.
It was from Marcus.
Come to my house tonight. Alone. I have the original documents. Don't tell Mom.
A second message followed.
And Nia, whatever you do, don't trust Margaret Vale.
I looked at Victor.
He read the words over my shoulder.
For the first time since he'd found me, he looked genuinely afraid.
Because the person who had spent twenty years searching for me was no longer the only person who wanted to know who I was.
My brother had documents.
My mother had secrets.
Margaret had helped alter my identity.
And Robert Voss, a man I had never met, had apparently spent twenty-four years making sure I never learned the truth.
I typed a single reply.
I'll be there at seven.
Then I looked at Victor.
"I'm going to my brother's house.""
He nodded.
"We'll go together.""
"No."" I shook my head.
"If Marcus has spent years being afraid of Robert, he needs to know I'm not bringing another man into the room to speak for me.""
Victor studied my face.
Finally, he nodded.
"Then I'll wait nearby. You won't be alone unless you choose to be.""
I looked at my mother one last time.
She was standing beside her car, crying silently.
I wanted to comfort her.
That was the worst part.
Even after everything, some part of me still wanted to walk over, take her hand, and tell her we'd find a way through it.
But I couldn't keep rescuing the person who had hidden my own life from me.
I turned toward the building.
At seven o'clock, I would learn what Marcus knew.
And if he had lied to me, too, there would be no family left to protect.
May you like
Only the truth.
And whoever had spent twenty-four years trying to bury it.
