Chapter 13: The Brother My Mother Buried
I read the message three times.
*Ask your daughter why Margaret never told her about the little boy.*
My father stood motionless, staring at the photograph on his phone. The man beside my mother looked younger than Dad, with dark hair and a narrow face. Margaret was smiling, but it wasn't the smile I remembered from family photographs.
It was different.
Almost frightened.
"Who is he?"" I asked.
Dad slowly sat down.
"His name was Andrew.""
Thomas Reed looked at him sharply.
"You knew?""
"I knew Margaret had been married before me. I didn't know about a child.""
"Then why did you say you thought he was dead?""
Dad rubbed his forehead.
"Because that's what Margaret told me. She said Andrew had disappeared years before we met. She believed he was gone.""
I looked at the photograph again.
"Disappeared where?""
Dad shook his head.
"She never explained.""
Thomas took the phone and examined the image.
"Who sent this?""
"Unknown number," Dad replied.
Thomas placed it on the table.
"Don't respond. We need to preserve the message and have it traced through the proper channels.""
I felt a wave of anger.
"Everyone keeps telling us things in pieces. My mother left letters, recordings, and secret documents. Why couldn't she just tell me?""
Thomas looked at me gently.
"Because she wanted you to have a childhood, not an investigation.""
"But she knew something was happening!""
"Yes," he said.
"And she was trying to protect you.""
I looked at Dad.
"Did she ever mention a little boy?""
He shook his head.
"Not to me.""
Renee suddenly stood.
"I think you should stop digging.""
Dad turned toward her.
"You've lost the right to tell us what to do.""
"I'm serious, Daniel. You don't understand what you're getting into.""
"Then explain it.""
Renee looked at the photograph.
For a moment, her expression changed.
Not surprise.
Recognition.
I noticed it immediately.
"You know him.""
She looked away.
"Renee.""
"I've seen that photograph.""
Dad stepped closer.
"Where?""
"At Victor's office.""
Thomas reached for his phone.
"When?""
"Years ago. Before Margaret died.""
I stared at her.
"Why was my mother's photograph in Victor's office?""
Renee shook her head.
"I don't know.""
"You're lying.""
Her eyes filled.
"I was told it was an old family photograph.""
"By Victor?""
She nodded.
Dad looked sick.
"Why didn't you tell me?""
"Because I didn't know what it meant!""
Thomas interrupted.
"Did Victor ever mention Andrew?""
Renee hesitated.
Then she said, "He called him the missing heir.""
The words seemed to drain the air from the room.
Dad stared at her.
"What missing heir?""
Renee pressed her hands together.
"He said Margaret had a son before you married her. He said the boy had been given up for adoption.""
I looked at the photograph.
"Was he?""
"I don't know.""
"Then why would Victor call him an heir?""
Renee didn't answer.
Thomas opened his briefcase and removed the letter from Margaret.
He studied the handwriting again.
"There's something we haven't considered.""
Dad frowned.
"What?""
"Margaret's trust documents.""
He placed the original trust summary on the table.
"Her inheritance was established specifically for her daughter. But there was a separate provision concerning any other biological children she might have had.""
I stared at him.
"Other children?""
Thomas nodded.
"The provision stated that the trust would remain solely for you unless Margaret personally amended it. No one else could redirect it.""
Dad looked confused.
"Why would she include that clause?""
"Because she knew someone might attempt to use another family member to challenge the trust.""
I felt my stomach tighten.
"Did she have another child?""
Thomas turned to me.
"I don't know. But we can find out.""
He called his office and asked his assistant to retrieve the original estate file.
While he waited, Dad walked to the window.
I followed him.
"Did you love Mom?""
He turned toward me.
"More than anything.""
"Then why didn't she trust you with everything?""
He looked toward the photograph.
"Maybe she was afraid that knowing everything would put me in danger too.""
I wanted to believe that.
But I was beginning to understand that love didn't always mean honesty.
Sometimes people kept secrets because they were frightened.
Sometimes they kept secrets because they were guilty.
Thomas's phone rang.
He listened, then asked his assistant to read a document aloud.
His expression changed.
"Thank you. Send me the scan immediately.""
He ended the call.
"What is it?"" Dad asked.
Thomas turned the screen toward us.
It was an old hospital birth record.
Margaret's name appeared at the top.
Below it was the name of a male infant.
*Andrew James Carter.*
Date of birth: eighteen years before mine.
Father's name: Daniel Andrew Carter.
I stared at the record.
"That's impossible.""
Dad took the phone.
His hands began to shake.
"That's not my name.""
Thomas nodded.
"Exactly.""
The father listed on the document was not my father.
It was a man named Andrew James Hale.
Victor Hale.
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
Then Dad whispered, "Victor was married to Margaret?""
Thomas examined the record.
"It appears they had a child together.""
I looked at the photograph again.
The man standing beside my mother was Victor.
My mother's first husband.
My father's longtime business partner.
The man who had stolen from our family.
The man who had threatened her.
The man who had apparently fathered a child with her before she met Dad.
"Where is Andrew now?"" I asked.
Thomas looked at the record.
"There's an adoption notation.""
"Who adopted him?""
Thomas enlarged the document.
The answer was handwritten.
*Mark Carter and his wife.*
I turned toward the staircase.
Uncle Mark had raised my mother's first son.
He had stood in our living room pretending he was only a confused witness to the fraud.
He had known.
He had known who Victor was to my mother.
He had known about the boy.
And he had known exactly why Margaret had been afraid.
My father slowly lowered himself into a chair.
"Mark adopted Victor's son?""
Thomas nodded.
"And concealed the relationship.""
I looked toward Renee.
She was crying.
"Why are you crying?"" I asked.
She covered her mouth.
Then she whispered:
"Because Andrew isn't the only child Victor had with Margaret.""
Dad looked up.
"What?""
Renee stared at me.
"There's another birth record.""
Thomas immediately asked, "Where?""
Renee shook her head.
"I don't know. Victor told me there was a second child. He said that child was the reason he never let Margaret leave him completely.""
My father stood.
"Who?""
Renee looked directly at me.
May you like
Then she said:
"He told me your mother had given birth to twins.""
