Chapter 2 - MY HUSBAND ALREADY KNEW
“Richard?”
My husband didn’t answer.
He stared at Noah as if the boy were a ghost that had followed him through fourteen years of lies and finally caught him on Fifth Avenue.
Ethan moved beside me.
“Dad, who is he?”
Richard’s jaw tightened.
“Get in the car.”
“What?”
“Now.”
Noah stepped backward.
His whole body changed.
He had been frightened before.
Now he looked terrified.
Richard moved toward him.
“You need to leave.”
I grabbed Richard’s arm.
“Don’t touch him.”
People were starting to watch.
Richard lowered his voice.
“Claire, this is not the place.”
“Then tell me where the place is.”
“Get Ethan in the car.”
Ethan pulled away from him.
“No.”
Richard blinked.
Our son had never spoken to him like that.
Ethan held up the locket.
“Why does this say twin sons?”
Richard stared at it.
Something in his expression broke.
Then hardened.
“It’s fake.”
Noah flinched.
Richard pointed at him.
“He’s running a scam.”
I actually laughed.
Not because anything was funny.
Because my brain couldn’t process the stupidity of what he had just said.
“A scam?”
“Yes.”
“With your face?”
Richard glared at me.
“Claire.”
“He looks exactly like Ethan.”
“Coincidence.”
“His name is Noah.”
That stopped him.
I stepped closer.
“Our second-choice baby name, Richard. The name no one knew.”
Richard looked toward the SUV.
Our driver, Marcus, stared straight ahead.
Richard whispered, “We’re going home.”
Noah backed toward the building.
“I shouldn’t have come.”
I turned.
“Wait.”
He shook his head.
“He said this would happen.”
“Who?”
Noah immediately regretted speaking.
Richard’s face changed.
“Who have you been talking to?”
Noah took another step back.
I moved between them.
“You’re not questioning him.”
Richard grabbed my wrist.
“Claire, you don’t understand what’s happening.”
I stared at his hand until he released me.
“You have five seconds to start explaining.”
He didn’t.
Noah suddenly reached inside his hoodie.
Richard lunged.
“No!”
Too late.
Noah pulled out a folded envelope.
Richard froze.
The envelope was yellow with age.
Across the front, written in blue ink, was my maiden name.
Claire Bennett.
I recognized the handwriting.
My mother’s.
My mother had been dead for eleven years.
My hands started trembling as I took it.
Richard said, “Don’t open that.”
That was when I knew.
Whatever was inside, my husband had spent years making sure I never saw it.
I tore the envelope open.
A single sheet of paper fell into my hands.
The first line read:
Claire, if you are reading this, Richard failed to keep the second baby hidden.
I stopped breathing.
Ethan whispered, “Second baby?”
Noah looked down.
Richard closed his eyes.
I kept reading.
You gave birth to twins. Both boys survived.
The sidewalk tilted beneath me.
I grabbed the street pole.
“No.”
“Mom?” Ethan reached for me.
I read the next sentence.
Then I looked at my husband of seventeen years.
And suddenly I didn’t recognize him.
May you like
Richard chose which son you were allowed to take home.
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