Chapter 5 - Jessica’s Confession
Jessica’s hands were trembling.
“I put the chain around the railing.”
Mark stared at his wife.
Their ten-year marriage seemed to disappear from his face.
“Why?”
“Your mother told me to.”
Margaret scoffed.
“She’s lying.”
Jessica turned toward her.
“You said Lily would ruin Noah’s birthday.”
My stomach twisted.
The party had been for Mark and Jessica’s seven-year-old son, Noah.
Lily adored him.
She had spent three nights making him a cardboard rocket ship covered in silver stars.
That rocket was sitting beside the presents inside.
Daniel looked sick.
“You locked a five-year-old outside because my mother told you to?”
Jessica wiped her face.
“I thought she’d be outside for five minutes.”
“It was twenty-nine degrees.”
“I know.”
“No, you don’t.”
Mark removed his wedding ring.
He placed it on Richard’s desk.
Jessica stared at it.
“Mark.”
He didn’t look at her.
I wanted to scream.
Instead, I looked down at Lily.
She was playing with the zipper on my coat.
She had stopped listening.
I hoped.
“Who made the fake messages?” I asked.
Jessica went still.
Margaret spoke immediately.
“That has nothing to do with this.”
“It has everything to do with this.”
Jessica looked at Mark.
He finally raised his eyes.
“Tell her.”
Jessica began crying harder.
“I did.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
The silence became unbearable.
Jessica continued.
“Margaret said Emily was trying to take control of the family.”
“So you fabricated an affair?”
“She gave me screenshots.”
“You created them?”
“I changed them.”
My voice felt almost detached.
“You changed innocent messages between Nathan and me into romantic messages.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Jessica looked toward Margaret.
“Because she promised Noah’s trust would be protected.”
Mark stared at her.
“Our son already has a trust.”
“Not if Lily became the first qualifying granddaughter.”
“That clause had nothing to do with Noah.”
“I didn’t understand that.”
“You didn’t bother to understand.”
Jessica sobbed.
Margaret suddenly lost patience.
“Oh, enough.”
Everyone turned toward her.
“You’re all behaving as if Emily is some innocent saint.”
Daniel stared at his mother.
“She was innocent.”
Margaret looked at him.
“She made you weak.”
That sentence landed differently.
It wasn’t about money anymore.
It was about control.
Margaret had controlled Daniel for most of his life.
She chose his schools.
His career.
His first apartment.
Even the church where we were married.
Whenever Daniel resisted, Margaret became ill, furious, or wounded.
And Daniel surrendered.
Until now.
He picked up the original DNA test from the desk.
“Who changed this?”
Margaret remained silent.
“Who changed my daughter’s test?”
She smiled faintly.
“You really want to know?”
“Yes.”
Margaret looked at me.
Then at Lily.
Then back at Daniel.
“I didn’t change the result.”
Daniel frowned.
Margaret’s smile returned.
“I changed the sample.”
Nobody moved.
Daniel whispered.
“Whose sample did you use?”
Margaret looked toward Mark.
And suddenly Mark understood before any of us did.
His face went gray.
“No.”
Margaret nodded.
“Yes.”
“The sample that supposedly belonged to Lily…”
May you like
She paused.
“Belonged to Noah.”
