Chapter 2 - The Woman I Was Told to Hate
Mara was waiting outside the restaurant.
The four boys stood around her.
Noah held her left hand.
Lucas held her right.
Eli and Owen stood behind her.
They looked nervous.
I understood why.
I was a stranger.
Their mother was clearly terrified of what might happen next.
I approached slowly.
"Mara."
She didn't look at me.
"Do you remember the night you left?"
"Every second."
"Do you remember what you told me?"
She finally looked up.
"I told you I loved you."
"You said you were innocent."
"I was."
"You said the man in the photograph wasn't your boyfriend."
"He wasn't."
"You said your father was sick and you'd been meeting him because you needed money."
She nodded.
"He was dying."
I stared at her.
"My grandfather told me you'd stolen money from him."
Mara gave a small, humorless smile.
"Your grandfather told you a lot of things."
The boys were listening.
I lowered my voice.
"Why didn't you contact me after they were born?"
Her expression hardened.
"I tried."
"What?"
"I called your old number."
"I changed it."
"I emailed you."
"I never saw them."
"I mailed letters."
"Where?"
"Your grandfather's office."
I went still.
"How many?"
"Seven."
Seven.
"Seven letters?"
"Seven."
I felt sick.
"Did you tell him about the boys?"
"Yes."
"And he never gave them to me."
"No."
I looked away.
For six years, I'd thought Mara had vanished.
She hadn't.
Someone had made sure she disappeared.
I turned back.
"Why didn't you go public?"
She laughed quietly.
"You think I could walk into a Boston newspaper and say, 'I'm pregnant with the heir to the Whitmore family fortune'?"
She shook her head.
"Do you know what would have happened?"
"I don't know."
"They would have called me a gold digger."
I couldn't argue.
"They would have taken the boys."
My stomach tightened.
"Could they have?"
"Your grandfather had lawyers before I had diapers."
She looked at her sons.
"I had no money. No family willing to fight them. And I knew what your family was capable of."
I looked at the boys.
"Do they know who I am?"
She hesitated.
"No."
The answer cut deeper than I expected.
"Why?"
"Because I wanted them to grow up without knowing their father abandoned them."
"I didn't abandon them."
"You abandoned me."
"I didn't know you were pregnant."
"I know."
Her voice softened.
"That's what makes it worse."
I looked at Noah.
He was staring at me.
"What are you looking at?" I asked gently.
"My face."
I almost smiled.
He touched his cheek.
"You have the same face."
Lucas interrupted.
"Mom says we're special."
I looked at Mara.
"She didn't tell you why?"
"No."
Eli frowned.
"Are you famous?"
I laughed unexpectedly.
"No."
"Are you rich?"
I hesitated.
"Unfortunately."
Owen's eyes widened.
"How rich?"
Mara sighed.
"Enough, Owen."
The boys giggled.
For the first time, the tension broke.
Then Mara's phone rang.
She looked at the screen.
Her face changed immediately.
"Who is it?"
She didn't answer.
The phone rang again.
She finally accepted.
"Hello?"
I watched her listen.
Her expression grew paler.
"What do you mean?"
Silence.
"Who found it?"
Another pause.
"No."
Her eyes flicked toward me.
"Do not send anyone to my house."
She ended the call.
"What happened?"
She didn't answer.
"Mara."
She whispered:
"They know."
"Who?"
"My attorney."
She looked at the boys.
"Someone found the old medical records."
"What records?"
"The hospital records from when they were born."
My pulse quickened.
"Why does that matter?"
"Because the records contain your name."
I stared at her.
"What?"
"You signed the original paperwork."
"I wasn't there."
"You were."
"No."
"You were unconscious."
I shook my head.
"That makes no sense."
Mara stepped closer.
"You were in a car accident six years ago."
I remembered.
A rainy night.
A crash on Route 2.
Three days in the hospital.
But my family told me it had happened weeks before Mara disappeared.
Mara saw the realization hit.
"They lied about the timeline."
My throat tightened.
"What happened?"
"You were supposed to come to the hospital."
"For what?"
"To see your sons."
I couldn't speak.
Mara continued.
"You'd just found out I was pregnant."
My mind raced.
"I don't remember."
"You were in that accident."
"And then?"
"Your family told me you had died."
The world seemed to tilt.
"What?"
"They told me you had died."
She wiped a tear from her cheek.
"I was six months pregnant. I was alone. I thought the man I loved was dead."
I stared at her.
"Adrian?"
She swallowed.
"Three months later, I saw your picture in a business magazine."
My heart stopped.
"Alive."
She gave a broken laugh.
"That's when I realized your family had lied to both of us."
I couldn't breathe.
My grandfather.
My father.
My mother.
All of them.
A cold realization settled over me.
This wasn't about Sloane.
It wasn't about an engagement.
It wasn't even about Mara.
Something much bigger had been hidden from me.
And someone had spent six years making sure I never looked closely enough to find it.
My phone rang.
My grandfather.
I stared at his name.
Mara watched me.
"Answer it."
I did.
"Adrian."
His voice was calm.
Too calm.
"Where are you?"
"With Mara."
Silence.
Then:
"Come home."
"No."
"Adrian, you don't understand what you're dealing with."
"I have four sons."
Another silence.
"Do not call them that."
My blood turned cold.
"What did you say?"
"They are not your children."
Mara's eyes widened.
I stared at the phone.
"You just told me they're not mine."
"I told you to come home."
"Why?"
"Because if you want to know the truth, you need to hear it from me."
I looked at Mara.
Then the four boys.
"Fine."
My grandfather exhaled.
"Come alone."
I smiled without humor.
"No."
"Adrian—"
"I'm bringing Mara."
His voice changed.
For the first time in my life, I heard fear in it.
"Don't."
The call ended.
I looked at Mara.
"What does he know?"
She shook her head.
"I don't know."
I took a breath.
"Then we're going to find out."
She stared at me.
"You don't understand."
"What?"
"Your grandfather isn't afraid of the boys."
May you like
She looked toward the street.
"He's afraid of what their existence proves."
