Chương 10
“I expect you to check what I send you.”
“What are you sending?”
“Messages with dates, photos, and a hotel confirmation.”
Victor looked at me.
I looked away.
“When did you last sleep with her?”
Daniel gave the date.
Victor’s face changed.
He knew the significance immediately.
“Say that again.”
Daniel repeated it.
Victor stood.
“No.”
“I understand.”
“No, you don’t understand.”
“You’re right.”
“I was with her four days after that.”
Daniel was silent.
Victor began pacing.
“So what, you’re saying she went from your bed to mine?”
“I’m saying the timeline overlaps.”
“Don’t talk like a lawyer.”
“I’m an operations manager.”
“I don’t care what you are.”
Victor’s voice rose.
The bedroom door opened a crack.
I crossed the hallway and shut it gently.
“Lower your voice.”
He glared at me but obeyed.
Daniel spoke again.
“I’m not calling to humiliate you.”
“Then what the hell are you calling for?”
“To establish whether the child is mine.”
“And if he is?”
“I don’t know yet.”
Victor laughed bitterly.
“That’s convenient.”
“I have a wife and a son.”
Victor stopped moving.
“A wife.”
“Separated.”
“Of course.”
The contempt in his voice was almost impressive.
I folded my arms.
Daniel did not react.
“My marriage ended because my wife discovered the affair.”
“You mean Naomi destroyed your marriage too.”
“No.”
Victor frowned.
Daniel continued.
“I destroyed my marriage.”
The room went very quiet.
Victor looked down.
I did not know whether he heard the accusation inside Daniel’s refusal to shift blame.
I did.
“So what happens now?”
Victor asked.
“I want a paternity test when it’s medically and legally appropriate.”
“Naomi says the baby is mine.”
“She told me she thought there was a possibility he was mine.”
Victor closed his eyes.
“When?”
“Yesterday.”
“After the ultrasound?”
“Yes.”
A muscle jumped in Victor’s cheek.
“She called you before she called me.”
Daniel said nothing.
That answer was enough.
Victor ended the call without saying goodbye.
He stood there with his phone in one hand.
Then he threw it.
Not at me.
Not at the wall.
Down onto the sofa.
It bounced against a cushion and fell harmlessly to the rug.
I stared at him.
He stared back.
“That was dramatic.”
The words escaped before I could stop them.
For one startled second, his mouth almost twitched.
Then the expression disappeared.
“I’m glad you’re entertained.”
“I’m not.”
“You smiled.”
“No, I nearly smiled because you tried to throw a phone at a sofa.”
He rubbed both hands over his face.
“I hate you sometimes.”
“I know.”
The honesty of it hung between us.
Then he lowered his hands.
“I don’t mean that.”
“You probably do sometimes.”
He looked exhausted.
“So do I.”
That made him laugh once.
Not happily.
Just because there was nothing else to do.
From the bedroom, Charlotte shouted, “It’s been more than five minutes.”
Victor looked toward the hallway.
“How does she know?”
“She counts everything.”
“She gets that from you.”
“She gets it from your father.”
That stopped him.
Then, unexpectedly, he smiled.
A real one.
Small and wounded.
“My dad does count everything.”
“Especially money.”
“And stairs.”
I frowned.
“Stairs?”
“He counts steps when he climbs.”
“I never noticed.”
“He thinks nobody notices.”
The ordinary conversation felt almost obscene given what had happened.
But perhaps that was why it happened.
People could only stare at disaster for so long before their minds reached for something stupid and familiar.
I opened the bedroom door.
Charlotte stood there with her arms crossed.
“That was seven minutes.”
“You were right.”
“I usually am.”
Abigail sat on her bed.
“Is Dad staying?”
Victor looked at me.
“No,” he said.
“I’m going home.”
“Are we still leaving tomorrow?”
Abigail asked.
He did not answer immediately.
Then he looked at her.
“Yes.”
Her shoulders loosened.
I had not realized how tense she was until that moment.
Victor saw it too.
It hurt him.
I watched the realization move across his face.
Not that she wanted to leave him.
That she had been afraid he might prevent her from leaving.
He picked up the envelope.
For a second, I thought he would take it back.
Instead, he tore it in half.
Then in half again.
The gesture was theatrical enough that Charlotte’s eyes widened.
“That was legal paper.”
Victor looked at her.
“Probably.”
“Are you allowed to tear it?”
“It wasn’t filed.”
She considered this.
“Okay.”
He handed the pieces to me.
“I won’t challenge the relocation.”
I did not respond.
“I’ll call my attorney tonight.”
“Send it in writing.”
His mouth tightened.
“Of course.”
“This is not about trust.”
“I know.”
He looked at Abigail.
“Actually, I’m beginning to understand that.”
She stared at him without answering.
He walked toward the door.
Then stopped.
“I want to visit.”
“In Ireland?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then when you know, we’ll discuss it.”
He nodded.
“And I want them for the school holidays we agreed on.”
“As long as you follow the agreement.”
I did not tell him I believed him.
I did not tell him I did not.
He opened the door.
Abigail suddenly stood.
“Dad.”
Victor turned immediately.
She walked toward him but stopped several feet away.
“Are you sad because the baby might not be yours?”
His face tightened.
“Yes.”
“Are you sad we’re leaving?”
He swallowed.
“Yes.”
“Which one more?”
I almost intervened.
Victor lifted a hand slightly, asking me not to.
He crouched so he was closer to her height.
“I don’t know how to compare those.”
Abigail frowned.
“You compared us before.”
The words hit every adult in the room.
Victor looked down.
“Yes.”
Her eyes filled again.
“That was bad.”
“Yes.”
“Mom says people can’t unsay things.”
“She’s right.”
I wished she had not quoted me.
Victor looked at her.
“But people can spend a long time proving they wish they hadn’t said them.”
Abigail wiped her cheek.
“That sounds hard.”
“It probably is.”
She nodded.
May you like
Then she stepped forward and hugged him.
Victor froze.
