Chapter 4
I thought I had run out of ways to be shocked.
I was wrong.
Ethan stood in his grandmother’s living room, staring at her.
“What do you mean Dad left first?”
Margaret’s hands twisted in her lap.
“He and Rebecca were already separated when she entered treatment.”
Rebecca had never mentioned that.
Or maybe she hadn’t gotten the chance.
I sat slowly in the armchair across from Margaret.
“Separated because of what?”
Margaret closed her eyes.
“Daniel was seeing someone else.”
The room went silent.
Ethan’s face hardened.
“My dad cheated on my mom?”
Margaret nodded.
“For several months.”
I felt sick.
Daniel had always told me Rebecca’s emotional problems destroyed their marriage.
He said she became unpredictable.
Distant.
Cold.
He said he tried everything.
Apparently “everything” included another woman.
“Who was she?” I asked.
Margaret looked away.
“Her name was Melissa.”
“Did Rebecca know?”
“Eventually.”
Ethan’s voice was sharp.
“Before treatment or after?”
Margaret hesitated.
“Before.”
His mouth fell open.
“So Mom found out Dad was cheating, then she got depressed, then she went to treatment?”
“Her depression had started before that.”
Margaret spoke quickly.
“But finding out about the affair made everything worse.”
I covered my mouth.
Pieces were moving into place.
Ugly pieces.
“Did Daniel leave Ethan with Rebecca while she was struggling?”
Margaret nodded reluctantly.
“Sometimes.”
“How often?”
“I don’t know.”
“You do know.”
She looked at me.
“I tried to help.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
Her shoulders slumped.
“He spent nights away.”
Ethan walked toward the window.
His back was to us.
Margaret stood.
“Honey.”
“Don’t.”
She stopped.
His voice was trembling.
“He made me think she destroyed our family.”
Margaret didn’t deny it.
“He made me feel sorry for him.”
Still nothing.
“He told me he stayed when she walked away.”
Margaret began crying.
“I should have told you.”
“Yes.”
The word came out hard.
“You should have.”
Margaret covered her face.
“I was afraid if I interfered, Daniel would cut me off too.”
Ethan turned around.
“So everybody was afraid of Dad?”
“No.”
“Yes.”
I spoke before I could stop myself.
Margaret looked at me.
I continued.
“You were afraid to challenge him. Rebecca was afraid he’d cut off updates. Ethan was afraid of losing his only parent. And apparently I was supposed to stay in my lane anytime I questioned him.”
Margaret lowered her eyes.
“That sounds like Daniel.”
Those four words chilled me.
I had spent ten years with a man his own mother seemed to understand better than I did.
My phone rang again.
This time Margaret’s phone rang at the same moment.
Daniel.
She looked at the screen.
Ethan said, “Answer it.”
Margaret hesitated.
“Put it on speaker.”
She did.
“Mom?”
Daniel sounded frantic.
“Is Ethan there?”
Margaret looked at him.
“Yes.”
A pause.
“Is Sarah there too?”
“Yes.”
Another pause.
Longer.
Then Daniel’s voice changed.
“What did you tell them?”
Ethan closed his eyes.
The question said everything.
Not “Is Ethan okay?”
Not “What happened?”
What did you tell them?
Margaret’s face collapsed.
“Daniel…”
“What did you tell them?”
Ethan leaned toward the phone.
“She told me enough.”
Silence.
“Ethan.”
“Did you cheat on Mom?”
Daniel exhaled sharply.
“This isn’t a conversation to have over the phone.”
“That means yes.”
“It was complicated.”
Ethan laughed.
“There it is again.”
“Come home.”
“No.”
“Ethan, you are still my son, and you are still a minor.”
“You keep reminding everyone what they legally are when you’re losing control.”
Daniel went quiet.
I looked at Ethan.
That sentence didn’t sound like a child’s sentence.
It sounded like a boy growing up too fast in one terrible night.
Daniel spoke more softly.
“Son, I know you’re angry.”
“Stop calling me son like that makes everything okay.”
“It doesn’t.”
“Did you lie to Sarah before you married her?”
Silence.
“Answer.”
“Yes.”
I closed my eyes.
Even though I already knew, hearing him admit it hurt differently.
Daniel continued.
“I intended to tell her later.”
I took the phone.
“Later?”
“Sarah—”
“When? Our fifth anniversary? Our tenth? When Ethan turned eighteen?”
“I was afraid you’d leave.”
That sentence stunned me.
It sounded almost identical to what he had said about Rebecca.
He was afraid Rebecca would take Ethan.
Afraid Ethan would choose Rebecca.
Afraid I would leave.
Every lie was apparently justified by fear.
His fear.
Never the damage those lies caused anyone else.
“So you lied to keep me,” I said.
“I loved you.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
“I knew how much you valued honesty.”
I almost laughed.
“Listen to yourself.”
“I made a mistake.”
“No. A mistake is forgetting an anniversary. You built our relationship around a false story.”
“I was going to fix it.”
“But you didn’t.”
“I didn’t know how.”
“You could have started with the truth.”
Daniel went quiet.
Then his tone shifted.
“Rebecca showed up for a reason.”
I frowned.
“What does that mean?”
“She wants something.”
Margaret looked at Ethan.
“What?”
Daniel continued.
“She hasn’t been involved in Ethan’s life for years, and suddenly she arrives now? Think.”
Ethan grabbed the phone.
“She tried to get custody three years ago!”
“And lost.”
“Because you lied about me!”
“I presented facts.”
“You said I didn’t want her!”
“You didn’t.”
“Because of what you told me!”
Daniel’s frustration broke through.
“I was trying to keep your life stable.”
“You mean keep it under your control.”
“Enough.”
“No!”
Ethan was shaking.
“No more ‘enough.’ No more telling everyone when the conversation is over.”
Daniel’s voice became very quiet.
“Ethan, I’m coming to get you.”
Margaret stood.
“No, Daniel.”
Everybody turned toward her.
It was the first time that night she sounded strong.
“He can stay here.”
“Mom.”
“He needs space.”
“He needs his father.”
“He needs the truth.”
Silence.
Margaret’s hands trembled, but she continued.
“I should have said that years ago.”
Daniel hung up.
Ethan stared at the phone.
Then he asked, “Why did Mom come tonight?”
I didn’t know.
Margaret didn’t either.
I pulled out my phone.
Rebecca’s number wasn’t in my contacts.
But it was in Ethan’s.
He handed me his phone.
I called.
Rebecca answered on the second ring.
“Ethan?”
“It’s Sarah.”
“Oh.”
Her voice tightened.
“Is he okay?”
“He’s with me.”
“Thank God.”
“Why tonight?”
Silence.
“Why did you come tonight?”
Rebecca exhaled.
“Daniel contacted me three weeks ago.”
I looked at Ethan.
“What?”
“He told me Ethan had been asking questions.”
Ethan frowned.
“I wasn’t.”
Rebecca continued.
“He said you and Daniel were having marital problems.”
My skin went cold.
“How would that concern you?”
“He offered me money.”
Nobody spoke.
I put the call on speaker.
“How much?”
“Twenty-five thousand dollars.”
“For what?”
“To sign something.”
I felt my stomach turn.
“What?”
“A written agreement that I wouldn’t contact Ethan until he turned eighteen.”
Ethan stood up so quickly the coffee table shook.
“What?”
Rebecca heard him.
“I didn’t sign it.”
“Why would Dad do that now?”
Rebecca hesitated.
“He said Sarah might leave him.”
My chest tightened.
“And?”
“And if you left, he said Ethan might start looking for other family.”
Ethan looked devastated.
Rebecca continued.
“I realized he still saw me as a threat.”
“So you came here.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you call first?”
“Because every time I tried to handle things through Daniel, he controlled what happened.”
Fair.
“But why bring all those documents?”
“Because I knew he’d call me a liar.”
Also fair.
Ethan sank onto the couch.
“So Dad thought Sarah might leave, and he wanted to make sure you couldn’t come back.”
Rebecca was silent.
Ethan looked at me.
“He was making sure I had nobody but him.”
I wanted to say that wasn’t necessarily true.
But the evidence was sitting all around us.
Margaret suddenly walked toward a cabinet.
She opened a drawer and removed an old wooden box.
Daniel’s name was carved into the top.
She brought it to the coffee table.
“What’s that?” I asked.
“Something I should have given Rebecca years ago.”
She opened it.
Inside were photographs.
Letters.
A small flash drive.
And an old phone.
Ethan picked up the phone.
“It doesn’t work.”
“It might if we charge it.”
“What’s on it?”
Margaret looked nervous.
“Voicemails Daniel left me during the custody case.”
My pulse quickened.
“What kind of voicemails?”
She looked directly at Ethan.
“The kind that might explain why your father was so desperate to keep Rebecca away.”
An hour later, the old phone was charging in Margaret’s kitchen.
Daniel had sent twelve more texts.
I ignored every one.
Ethan sat beside me at the table.
Margaret stood near the sink.
Finally the phone flickered to life.
She entered a passcode.
The voicemail archive still worked.
There were seventeen saved messages.
Margaret selected one.
Daniel’s younger voice filled the kitchen.
Mom, stop talking to Rebecca. I mean it. If she gets joint custody, she’ll eventually tell Ethan everything. He doesn’t need to know why we split up. He doesn’t need to know any of it.
The message ended.
Ethan stared at the phone.
“Everything?”
Margaret’s face had gone pale.
“There’s another one.”
She played it.
Mom, Melissa is threatening to contact Rebecca. I need you to call her and calm her down. If those two start comparing stories, I’m screwed.
I froze.
“Comparing what stories?”
Margaret looked away.
Ethan tapped the next voicemail himself.
Daniel’s voice played again.
I told Rebecca the money was gone because of medical bills. Melissa thinks I used it for the house. Neither one knows where it actually went. Keep them apart.
My heart stopped.
Ethan looked at his grandmother.
“What money?”
Margaret whispered, “I don’t know.”
But I knew one thing.
This was no longer only about custody.
There was money involved.
May you like
Money Daniel had hidden.
And for the first time since Rebecca appeared at our door, I wondered whether the biggest secret in my marriage had nothing to do with Ethan at all.
