Chapter 10 - The Price of Silence
Daniel sat down.
He looked like a man preparing for a sentence.
“Two million dollars.”
I stared at him.
Margaret had offered Daniel two million dollars if he divorced me quietly.
I almost laughed.
Not because it was funny.
Because sometimes betrayal became so large that your mind stopped knowing how to process it.
“When?”
“The week after the first DNA test.”
“And you never told me?”
“I refused it.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
“No.”
His voice dropped.
“I never told you.”
“Why?”
“Because I was ashamed.”
I stood.
Nathan quietly left the conference room.
Mark followed him.
Daniel and I were alone.
“You were ashamed that your mother tried to buy me out?”
“I was ashamed that I considered it.”
The room became silent.
I felt something inside me go completely still.
“For how long?”
“One night.”
I looked away.
“She told me the money could protect me if the divorce got ugly.”
“And you considered taking it.”
“Yes.”
“Did you believe Lily wasn’t yours?”
“I didn’t know what to believe.”
“That sentence is going to follow you for the rest of your life.”
He nodded.
“I know.”
I picked up my bag.
Daniel stood.
“Emily, please.”
“I can’t do this right now.”
“Where are you going?”
“To my daughter.”
“Our daughter.”
I stopped.
“You don’t get to use those words as a shield.”
He looked crushed.
Good.
Some pain needed to be felt.
That evening, Lily and I stayed at my sister’s house.
We built a blanket fort.
We ate pancakes for dinner.
She asked me why Grandma was angry.
I told her the simplest truth I could.
“Sometimes adults make terrible choices because they’re scared.”
“Is Grandma scared of me?”
My throat tightened.
“No, sweetheart.”
“What did I do?”
“Nothing.”
She looked at her wrist.
The red mark was fading.
“Then why did she make me stay outside?”
I pulled her close.
“Because Grandma was wrong.”
Lily was quiet.
Then she whispered.
“Daddy didn’t come get me.”
That sentence hurt more than anything Margaret had said.
“No.”
“Does Daddy love me?”
I closed my eyes.
“Yes.”
“Then why didn’t he know?”
I had no good answer.
The next morning, police found Margaret’s car abandoned near the airport.
Her passport had not been used.
Her phone was inside the vehicle.
She had disappeared.
Jessica was missing too.
So was Noah.
Mark nearly broke apart when he learned that.
Then security footage from Margaret’s house gave us another shock.
Jessica had not been forced into a car.
She had packed bags.
She had helped Margaret load them.
And before leaving, Jessica entered Richard’s study and removed one final box.
A box none of us had ever seen.
Mark zoomed in on the footage.
Three words were written across the lid.
DANIEL CARTER - PRIVATE.
Daniel stared at the screen.
May you like
Whatever Margaret was running from, she had taken something that belonged to him.
And I had the terrible feeling it had nothing to do with money.
