Chương 13
“It means he stopped being a father when he walked out.”
That answer should have relieved me.
It did not.
The delay before it was too long.
“You meant something else.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“I did not.”
I stepped closer.
“Look at me.”
She did.
For about half a second.
Then her eyes moved away.
Emily shifted in her chair.
Her voice was quiet.
“Ethan.”
I knew what she was warning me about.
Not my mother.
Me.
My breathing had gone shallow.
My hands had curled into fists.
I forced them open.
“Marcus.”
“Yeah.”
“Take Emily downstairs.”
“No.”
Emily’s answer came immediately.
I looked at her.
She shook her head.
“I’m staying.”
“Em.”
“No.”
Renee crouched beside her again.
“You sure?”
“I’m sure.”
My mother gave a bitter little laugh.
“Of course she wants to stay.”
Emily looked at her.
“I do.”
“That doesn’t make this yours.”
Emily did not rise to it.
She rested one hand on her belly.
“No.”
She glanced at me.
“It makes him mine.”
That shut everyone up.
I called the unknown number.
My father answered on the second ring.
“Ethan.”
Hearing him say my name live was different.
The voicemail had been recorded.
Controlled.
This was a voice breathing on the other end.
A person.
A man I had not spoken to since I was seventeen.
“Where are you?”
“Not far.”
“That doesn’t answer me.”
“I’m in Chicago.”
“Why?”
“I live here.”
My stomach turned.
“For how long?”
“A while.”
“How long?”
“About three years.”
I looked at my mother.
Her face gave nothing away.
“You knew?”
She said nothing.
My father heard me.
“Is she there?”
“Yes.”
“Then put me on speaker.”
Teresa moved toward me.
“No.”
I stepped back.
“Why?”
“Because he will twist everything.”
“Then you can correct him.”
“He does not get to walk into this family after what he did.”
I looked around the apartment.
“At this point, I’m not sure anybody gets to use the phrase this family like it settles anything.”
I put the call on speaker.
My father exhaled.
“Hi, Teresa.”
My mother’s face hardened.
“Go to hell.”
There was a small pause.
Then he said, “That sounds about right.”
Brittany stared at the phone.
Lily looked pale.
Kayla had gone completely still.
“Dad?” Brittany said.
His voice changed.
“Britt?”
She swallowed.
“Yeah.”
“Jesus.”
Nobody seemed to know what to do with that.
My father recovered first.
“Is everybody there?”
“All except your conscience,” Teresa said.
He sighed.
“I’m not doing this with you.”
“You started it six years ago.”
“No.”
His tone sharpened.
“You started it when you forged Ethan’s name.”
My mother’s face drained.
Daniel’s warning came back to me.
Do not accuse anyone based on one piece.
But here was another person saying the same thing.
“What do you know about the signatures?”
My father went quiet.
“More than you’re going to like.”
“Then talk.”
Teresa stepped forward.
“Ethan, hang up.”
“No.”
“You have no idea what kind of man he is.”
“I know what kind of man you told me he was.”
“That should be enough.”
“It isn’t anymore.”
She flinched.
That hurt me.
I hated that it hurt me.
My father said, “When your grandfather died, I called Teresa.”
“We know.”
“I shouldn’t have.”
“That’s not why I called you.”
“I know.”
“Then get to the point.”
He inhaled slowly.
“Your mother told me Walter left money in trust for you kids.”
“For all of us?”
“Yes.”
Teresa’s head snapped toward the phone.
“You do not know the terms.”
“I saw the documents.”
“You stole them.”
“I found them in your nightstand.”
“While going through my things.”
“You told me to get your insurance card.”
Their voices overlapped.
I cut through them.
“Stop.”
Silence.
I looked at the phone.
“What did you see?”
My father answered carefully.
“I saw a distribution statement with your name on it.”
“The eighty-five thousand.”
“Yes.”
“And what else?”
“A letter.”
My mother closed her eyes.
That was the first time I knew for certain the next thing mattered.
“What letter?”
My father hesitated.
“Walter wrote it to you.”
I looked at Teresa.
She sat down.
Not slowly.
Like her legs had given up.
“Where is it?”
My father answered.
“I have a copy.”
My pulse hammered.
“What does it say?”
“Not over the phone.”
I almost laughed.
“You leave a message saying she’s hiding the worst part, then suddenly you’re careful?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I’ve spent enough years saying things I can’t take back.”
Teresa made a sound of disbelief.
“That is rich.”
My father ignored her.
“Ethan, I’ll meet you.”
“Where?”
“There’s a diner on Archer.”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“You come here.”
My mother stood.
“Absolutely not.”
I looked at her.
“You don’t get to veto anything right now.”
“He is not setting foot in my home.”
“My home.”
That landed harder than I intended.
Her face changed.
I saw the apartment differently at that moment.
Not because of ownership.
Because of everything Emily had endured while I kept pretending shared space meant shared authority.
My father said, “I don’t need to come inside.”
I looked toward the window.
“Parking lot.”
“Fine.”
“When?”
“I’m ten minutes away.”
Of course he was.
Teresa laughed once.
“You called him.”
I looked at Kayla.
She shook her head quickly.
Brittany did too.
Lily stared at the floor.
“Who told him?”
Nobody answered.
My father did.
“Your mother did.”
Every head turned toward Teresa.
She went completely still.
“What?”
He continued.
“She called me last night.”
My mother’s mouth tightened.
I stared at her.
“After the hospital?”
“No.”
“What time?”
She did not answer.
My father did.
“About eleven thirty.”
That was after I had left the apartment with Emily.
While I sat in a hospital room wondering whether our son was coming early, my mother had called the man she claimed she had not spoken to in years.
“Why?”
My voice barely sounded like mine.
Teresa rubbed her forehead.
“I panicked.”
May you like
“About what?”
“She thought you might start digging,” my father said.
