Chapter 2 - Our Son
The screenshot was dated six weeks before Lily’s birth.
It had been sent at 2:13 in the morning.
Chloe had written first.
I wish you were here when our son kicks.
Daniel’s reply came less than a minute later.
Soon. Once I figure out Jennifer, we won’t have to hide anymore.
Nobody spoke.
Patricia looked from Daniel to me.
Then back to Daniel.
“Our son?”
Daniel immediately shook his head.
“She was emotional.”
I stared at him.
“That is what you’re going with?”
“She was going through a divorce.”
“And somehow your response to her divorce was creating a baby with her?”
His father stood.
“Daniel.”
Daniel rubbed both hands over his face.
“It wasn’t supposed to happen like this.”
Patricia made a sound that was half gasp, half sob.
I had imagined this moment many times.
During late-night feedings.
During the hours after Lily’s birth when Daniel disappeared because he claimed a client needed him.
During the mornings when I looked across our kitchen table and wondered how someone could lie so comfortably.
I imagined screaming.
I imagined throwing something.
I imagined demanding to know why I had not been enough.
But standing there, I felt none of those things.
I only felt finished.
Daniel looked at me.
“Jennifer, please.”
I picked up Lily’s diaper bag.
My mother was already beside the stroller.
“You can explain it to your parents.”
“Where are you going?”
“Home.”
Daniel moved around the table.
“We need to talk.”
“My attorney will contact you Monday.”
That stopped him.
His face went blank.
“Your what?”
“My attorney.”
Patricia looked at me sharply.
“You already hired a lawyer?”
“Four months ago.”
Daniel stared at me as though I had slapped him.
Four months.
That was what frightened him.
Not the affair being exposed.
Not his mother crying.
Not his coworkers whispering.
The realization that while he had been congratulating himself for deceiving me, I had been quietly preparing an exit.
“You knew all this time?”
“Yes.”
“And you acted normal?”
I buckled Lily into her carrier.
“I acted exactly as normal as you did.”
His father turned away.
Daniel followed me toward the ballroom door.
“You can’t just take Lily.”
I stopped.
Slowly, I turned around.
“She is three months old.”
“I am her mother.”
“And before you start threatening me, you should know that my attorney already has copies of every financial record in that folder.”
Daniel’s eyes narrowed.
“You’re trying to destroy me.”
“No.”
I looked around the expensive room he had booked with money that should have protected our daughter.
“You did that part yourself.”
Then the hotel manager approached us.
He carried a tablet and looked deeply uncomfortable.
“Mr. Carter?”
Daniel turned.
“There is also an issue regarding tomorrow’s event.”
Daniel froze.
The manager glanced at me.
Then at Patricia.
“Ms. Hart has arrived early.”
My stomach tightened.
Daniel whispered, “What?”
The manager pointed toward the lobby.
And through the ballroom’s open doors, I saw a woman standing beside a baby carriage.
May you like
Chloe had come one day early.
And she was not alone.
