Chapter 6: The Mother Who Paid for the Betrayal
Daniel's mother, Margaret, had always treated me like the daughter she never had.
When Daniel and I first started dating, she sent me flowers every Friday.
When I became pregnant, she knitted a tiny cream-colored blanket.
She had even helped me choose the name for our baby.
Now she stood beside the garden entrance, holding a silver gift box, while everyone stared at her.
I couldn't understand how the same woman who had kissed my forehead at Christmas could have been involved in something so cruel.
"What did you pay for?"" I asked.
Margaret looked at Daniel.
He shook his head.
"Mom, don't.""
She closed her eyes.
Then she placed the gift box on a nearby table.
"Claire, I wanted to protect my family.""
I laughed.
"Your family?""
"Please let me explain.""
"You paid someone to change my baby's paternity results?""
Margaret's face crumpled.
"I didn't know they would change them.""
Ethan stepped forward.
"Then why did you transfer money to the laboratory administrator?""
Margaret looked at him.
"Because Daniel told me he needed help.""
"Help with what?""
"He said there was a possibility the baby wasn't his. He said he wanted the truth.""
I looked at Daniel.
"Is that what you told her?""
He nodded faintly.
Margaret continued.
"He came to my house crying. He said he was afraid you had been unfaithful with Ethan.""
I almost laughed.
The story was so absurd that I couldn't even find the energy to be angry.
"So you believed him?""
"He showed me messages.""
"What messages?""
Margaret reached into her purse and pulled out a folded sheet of paper.
She handed it to me.
The messages were supposedly between me and Ethan.
*Claire:* I wish things were different.
*Ethan:* You know I would never hurt you.
*Claire:* I can't keep pretending everything is fine with Daniel.
*Ethan:* Then stop pretending.
I read them twice.
I had never sent those messages.
I looked at Ethan.
He shook his head.
"Those aren't mine.""
Daniel interrupted.
"They came from your number.""
I turned toward him.
"How?""
He hesitated.
Margaret answered.
"Daniel told me Victoria had access to your phone.""
I looked at my sister.
She lowered her head.
I suddenly remembered the week before she disappeared.
She had visited our house to collect some belongings.
She'd asked to borrow my charger.
I'd left my phone on the kitchen counter.
She had been alone in the room for almost twenty minutes.
I turned toward her.
"Did you send those messages?""
Victoria began crying.
"Yes.""
"Why?""
"Daniel asked me to.""
Daniel slammed his hand against the table.
"Stop blaming me for everything!""
Victoria turned on him.
"You told me Claire had been cheating!""
"I said I suspected it!""
"You said if we created enough evidence, she'd finally leave you!""
I stared at him.
The words seemed to echo through the garden.
"Leave you?""
Daniel looked at me.
"Claire, it wasn't supposed to go this far.""
I stepped toward him.
"Then tell me what was supposed to happen.""
He looked at Margaret.
Then at Victoria.
Finally, he took a breath.
"I wanted a divorce.""
The sentence landed quietly.
Somehow, that hurt more than the affair.
I had spent months wondering what I'd done wrong.
Whether I had become less attractive during pregnancy.
Whether Daniel was overwhelmed by fatherhood.
Whether the distance between us was temporary.
All along, he had been planning to leave.
"Why didn't you just tell me?""
He looked down.
"Because of the house.""
I frowned.
"What?""
"The house was purchased with money from my family. But your name is on the deed. If we divorced, I could lose half of it.""
I stared at him.
"So you wanted to make me look unfaithful.""
He nodded.
"I thought if I could prove you had cheated, things would be different.""
Ethan stepped forward.
"That's why you used my identity.""
Daniel looked at him.
"You were always there.""
"I was your brother!""
"You were always the one people trusted!""
Ethan shook his head.
"You were jealous because Mom trusted me with the family business?""
Daniel laughed.
"Because you were the perfect one. The responsible one. The son who never made mistakes.""
Margaret interrupted.
"Daniel, that's enough.""
He turned toward her.
"You helped me!""
Margaret looked devastated.
"I thought I was helping you uncover the truth.""
"You paid the laboratory.""
"Because you told me it was a legitimate test!""
Ethan pulled another document from his jacket.
"Then perhaps you should explain this.""
He placed a bank statement on the table.
It showed three separate transfers.
One to the laboratory administrator.
One to a private investigator.
And one to an account registered under a company called Parker Holdings.
I recognized the company name.
It was the business Daniel had told me he was building with his brother.
I looked at Ethan.
"What is Parker Holdings?""
Ethan's face hardened.
"Our father's company.""
Margaret looked away.
Daniel folded his arms.
Ethan continued.
"After Dad died, he left the company equally to us. But Daniel wanted control of everything.""
Daniel scoffed.
"I built that company.""
"With Dad's money.""
"And my work!""
Ethan ignored him.
"Last year, I discovered several unauthorized transfers. Money was disappearing from the company account.""
I stared at Daniel.
"How much?""
"Almost four hundred thousand dollars," Ethan replied.
My mouth fell open.
Margaret sat down.
Daniel looked furious.
"You had no right to investigate me.""
"I was a director of the company.""
"You were supposed to be my brother!""
"And you were supposed to be my brother!""
For a moment, the two men simply stared at each other.
Then Ethan turned toward me.
"Daniel needed a reason to remove me from the company. If he could make it look like I'd been involved in an affair with his pregnant wife, he could destroy my reputation.""
I felt cold all over.
"So the affair with Victoria...""
"Was real," Ethan said.
"But the story about me and you was manufactured.""
Victoria suddenly spoke.
"Not entirely.""
I turned toward her.
"What do you mean?""
She looked at Daniel.
Then she looked at Ethan.
"Daniel told me that if I helped him, he'd leave Claire and marry me. He also told me we'd have a child together.""
Daniel shook his head.
"Victoria, stop.""
She ignored him.
"But after I became pregnant, he started avoiding me. He said the baby might not be his. He said he needed a paternity test.""
Her voice cracked.
"I believed him. I believed everything.""
I stared at her.
"You knew he was married.""
She nodded.
"You knew I was pregnant.""
Another nod.
"And you still did it.""
She began sobbing.
"I know.""
For the first time, I didn't feel angry.
I felt exhausted.
I had spent my entire life defending Victoria.
When she stole money from our parents, I said she was going through a difficult time.
When she lied about her relationships, I covered for her.
When she disappeared, I spent months worrying about whether she was safe.
And this was what she'd done with the trust I'd given her.
I looked at Daniel.
"And you?""
He wiped his eyes.
"I was trying to fix things.""
"By sleeping with my sister?""
"I loved her.""
I stared at him.
"Did you ever love me?""
He looked up.
For a moment, he seemed genuinely unable to answer.
Then he whispered, "I did.""
I nodded slowly.
"That's the saddest part.""
I turned away.
Rachel wrapped her arms around me.
But before I could leave, Margaret stood.
"Claire, please. There's something else.""
I stopped.
"What now?""
She looked at the silver gift box.
"I brought this for the baby.""
"I don't want it.""
"It's not just a gift.""
She opened the box.
Inside was a small velvet pouch.
She removed a folded document.
It was an old legal agreement bearing my late father-in-law's signature.
I recognized the letterhead from Parker Holdings.
Margaret handed it to me.
"Your father-in-law changed his will shortly before he died.""
I glanced at Daniel.
He had gone completely still.
Margaret continued.
"He left something specifically for his first grandchild.""
I looked at the document.
There was a clause highlighted in yellow.
It stated that the child would receive a substantial trust, provided the child's parentage was legally established and the child was born into the family.
My eyes moved to the next paragraph.
Then I understood why Daniel had been so desperate to control the paternity results.
The trust was worth nearly three million dollars.
I slowly looked at him.
"That's why?""
Daniel didn't answer.
Margaret began crying.
"Claire, your father-in-law wanted the baby to be protected. He never wanted this.""
I folded the document.
"Then why didn't you tell me?""
She hesitated.
"Because Daniel asked me not to.""
I looked at my husband.
"So you wanted to make me look like an unfaithful wife, remove Ethan from the company, divorce me, and take control of the baby's inheritance?""
Daniel finally shouted.
"That's not what happened!""
Ethan pointed toward the bank statements.
"Then explain the money.""
Daniel looked around desperately.
Nobody moved to help him.
Then Victoria stepped forward.
"There's one more thing.""
I closed my eyes.
I couldn't take another revelation.
But she continued anyway.
"The baby I'm carrying isn't part of that inheritance.""
I opened my eyes.
"What?""
She looked at Daniel.
"He told me the baby was his. But three weeks ago, I had my own paternity test done.""
Daniel's face changed.
Victoria pulled a folded paper from her purse.
"I was tired of being lied to.""
She placed it beside the legal agreement.
Then she looked at me.
"Claire, Daniel isn't the father of my baby either.""
The entire garden fell silent.
Daniel grabbed the edge of the table.
"That's not possible.""
Victoria's eyes filled with tears.
"I know.""
Ethan stared at the report.
"Then who is?""
Victoria slowly turned toward him.
And this time, she didn't smile.
She didn't make excuses.
She simply whispered:
"That's what I came here to tell you.""
She pointed at the laboratory report.
"The father of my baby is someone who has been standing in this garden the entire time.""
My heart began racing.
Ethan looked at Daniel.
Daniel looked at Margaret.
And Margaret suddenly dropped the silver gift box.
Because the name printed on Victoria's paternity report wasn't either brother's.
It was the name of their father.
*Robert Parker.*
The man who had supposedly been dead for three years.
And just as everyone stared at the impossible result, a black car pulled up outside the garden.
The passenger door opened.
An elderly man stepped out.
He looked directly at Victoria.
Then at me.
May you like
And said:
"Girls, I think it's time you both heard what really happened the night I died.""
