Chapter 8 - The Truth About My FatherMargaret Cole was seventy now.
So naturally, my mother confronted us.
She appeared outside the hotel the following afternoon.
Security blocked her.
I saw her through the lobby window.
She looked smaller than I remembered.
Gray cardigan.
Pearl earrings.
Hands folded over her purse.
Rachel stood beside me.
“You don’t have to talk to her.”
“Yes, I do.”
We moved into a private conference room.
Security remained outside.
Mom entered alone.
Her eyes went immediately to Rachel.
Then me.
“Where are the children?”
“Safe.”
“I would never hurt them.”
Rachel laughed once.
My mother winced.
“I deserve that.”
“You deserve considerably worse,” Rachel said.
Mom sat.
“I came to apologize.”
I remained standing.
“For which decade?”
“Daniel.”
“No. Be specific.”
Her eyes filled.
“I lied.”
“About?”
“Rachel.”
“Keep going.”
“I forged the letter.”
Rachel’s hands tightened.
“I interfered with her communication.”
“Keep going.”
“I convinced myself it was necessary.”
“That’s an excuse.”
“Yes.”
Mom swallowed.
“It was wrong.”
The room stayed quiet.
I expected relief.
Instead I felt empty.
“Did you hire Frank Delaney?”
Her face changed.
“No.”
“Someone broke into Rachel’s room.”
“I didn’t authorize that.”
“Did you tell Frank to contact her?”
“No.”
“Did you buy her apartment building?”
“Yes.”
Rachel stared at her.
“At least you admit it.”
Mom looked at her.
“I intended to offer you another property.”
“You made us homeless.”
“I didn’t know the eviction would happen immediately.”
“You bought the building through a shell company.”
“So you couldn’t contact Daniel.”
“Exactly.”
Mom’s voice cracked.
“I thought if enough time passed—”
“What?” I asked. “I’d stop being their father?”
She covered her face briefly.
“I don’t know.”
That was the first answer from her I believed completely.
She didn’t know.
Fear had turned into obsession years ago.
Then obsession became habit.
“What about the call with Noah?”
Mom started crying.
“I think about it every night.”
“You told a seven-year-old child I might have been happier if he didn’t exist.”
“I panicked.”
Rachel’s voice went quiet.
“So did he.”
Mom looked devastated.
“Can I see him?”
“No.”
The answer came from Rachel and me simultaneously.
Mom nodded.
“I understand.”
“No,” I said. “I don’t think you do.”
I placed Dad’s letter on the table.
Her face changed.
“He warned me.”
“I know.”
“He knew what you were.”
“Daniel—”
“He loved you and still knew.”
My mother looked at the envelope.
“Your father wasn’t perfect.”
“I never thought he was.”
“He had an affair.”
I froze.
Rachel looked at me.
“What?”
Mom stared at the table.
“He planned to leave us.”
Suddenly Dad’s warning letter made sense differently.
“He was leaving you?”
“Yes.”
“And you intercepted his correspondence.”
“Yes.”
“To whom?”
“Her name was Margaret Cole.”
I didn’t recognize it.
“She was someone he knew from college.”
Mom continued.
“When your father traveled for work, they reconnected.”
“How long?”
“Almost a year.”
I struggled to absorb it.
“You found out.”
“Yes.”
“I begged him to stay.”
“And?”
“He said he loved her.”
Pain crossed Mom’s face even after twenty years.
“So you started intercepting their mail.”
“Yes.”
“I called Margaret and told her your father had chosen me. Then I told him Margaret had changed her mind.”
I stared at her.
“Did he ever find out?”
“Before surgery.”
“That’s why he wrote the letter.”
Mom nodded.
“He was furious.”
“But he stayed.”
“He didn’t have time to leave.”
The surgery came three weeks later.
Complications.
Death.
My mother had spent twenty years with no resolution.
Then when Rachel appeared, she recreated the same battle.
Except this time she became the person standing between two people who loved each other.
“You became what you were afraid Margaret would be.”
Mom whispered, “I know.”
A knock came at the door.
Meredith entered.
She looked serious.
“Daniel, I need to speak with you.”
“Say it here.”
She glanced at Mom.
“Frank Delaney was arrested thirty minutes ago.”
My mother stood.
“What?”
“He attempted to access Rachel’s storage unit.”
Rachel went pale.
“My storage unit?”
“What’s there?” I asked.
She looked at me.
“Everything.”
Old letters.
Medical records.
Noah and Ethan’s birth documents.
Receipts.
Photographs.
Evidence accumulated over seven years.
Meredith looked at Mom.
“Mr. Delaney claims Richard hired him.”
Mom’s eyes widened.
“No.”
We all stared at her.
“He’s lying.”
“Why should we believe you?” Rachel asked.
Mom grabbed her purse.
“Because Richard is the one who has been controlling this from the beginning.”
Silence.
I laughed bitterly.
“Now you blame him?”
“You don’t understand.”
She looked terrified.
“The forged letter was my idea, yes. But Richard arranged everything else.”
Rachel’s expression changed.
“What everything?”
“The addresses.”
“The legal threats.”
“The investigator.”
Mom’s voice shook.
“And the first time Rachel disappeared, it wasn’t because I scared her.”
Rachel stood.
“What are you talking about?”
Mom looked directly at her.
“Richard paid your landlord to terminate your lease seven years ago.”
Rachel froze.
“That wasn’t you?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because he was afraid you would expose him.”
“Expose what?”
Mom looked at me.
“Your uncle stole money from your father.”
I stared.
“What?”
“Nearly three hundred thousand dollars.”
She continued quickly.
“Your father discovered it before his death. Richard knew I had the records. When Rachel became pregnant, he realized a marriage would bring her close to family finances.”
“This makes no sense.”
“It does if Richard thought Rachel would encourage you to reopen your father’s estate.”
Rachel shook her head.
“I knew nothing about his estate.”
“He didn’t care.”
Mom looked toward the door.
“Richard didn’t protect me because I blackmailed him.”
She laughed bitterly.
“He helped me because our secrets protected each other.”
The door opened again.
A security officer stepped inside.
“Major Carter?”
“Yes?”
“There’s someone in the lobby asking for Rachel Bennett.”
“Who?”
The guard handed me a business card.
MARGARET COLE
CPA, FORENSIC ACCOUNTING
My father’s former lover.
I looked at Mom.
She had gone completely white.
May you like
Then a voice came from the doorway.
“I think it’s time somebody told Daniel why his father actually died.”
