Chapter 4: The Man Who Paid My Husband
The message on my phone wouldn't stop replaying in my head.
*Ask your husband why he was paid to marry you.*
I read it again.
Then I looked at Cole.
He stood beside the coffee table, staring at the photograph on my screen as though it were a loaded weapon.
Outside, Daniel Whitmore was walking toward the front door.
My biological father.
A stranger who had apparently known about me my entire life.
A man who had paid my mother to keep me away from him.
And now, according to an anonymous message, a man who had paid my husband to marry me.
"Emma," Cole said, "you need to listen to me before you do anything.""
I laughed once.
"That's interesting. Everyone seems very concerned about what I do before I know the truth.""
"That photograph doesn't tell you everything.""
"What does it tell me, Cole?""
He swallowed.
"That I met Daniel.""
"When?""
"Three years ago.""
"Before our wedding?""
He nodded.
I looked down at my ring.
We had been married for two years and eight months.
My fingers went numb.
"So you met my biological father before you proposed to me.""
"Yes.""
"And you didn't think that was something worth mentioning?""
"I couldn't.""
"Couldn't or wouldn't?""
His silence answered me.
The doorbell rang.
My mother made a strangled sound.
"Don't let him in.""
I turned toward her.
"You have spent years deciding what I should know. You're finished making decisions for me.""
I walked to the door.
Cole followed.
"Emma, please. He's not the person you think he is.""
I stopped with my hand on the doorknob.
"How would you know? You apparently know him better than I do.""
"Because I saw what he did to your mother.""
I turned slowly.
"What did he do?""
Cole opened his mouth.
The doorbell rang again.
Three short presses.
Then a man's voice came through the door.
"Emma? My name is Daniel Whitmore. I believe we have a great deal to discuss.""
I unlocked the door.
Daniel stood on the porch holding a leather briefcase. His charcoal suit was immaculate, and his silver hair had been combed neatly away from his forehead.
He looked like a man who had never needed to raise his voice to get what he wanted.
His eyes moved over my face.
For a moment, his expression softened.
"You look like your father," he said.
I felt something sharp twist inside me.
"Which one?""
His expression changed.
"Your mother told you.""
"My mother told me enough to make me sick. The rest seems to be arriving in installments.""
He glanced at my belly.
"You're expecting a little girl.""
"Don't pretend you know anything about her.""
"I don't.""
"Then stop looking at her like you have a right to.""
He lowered his eyes.
"I understand.""
"No, you don't. You don't understand what it's like to grow up believing one man is your father, only to discover that the entire foundation of your life was built on a lie.""
Daniel looked past me at Cole.
"May I come inside?""
"No.""
He nodded as though he had expected that answer.
"Then I'll say what I came to say here. Your husband was paid to marry you.""
Behind me, Cole whispered, "That's not true.""
Daniel's mouth tightened.
"Would you prefer that I show her the transfer records?""
My heart hammered against my ribs.
I looked at Cole.
"Tell me he's lying.""
Cole's eyes filled with tears.
"Emma, I never married you for money.""
"That isn't what I asked.""
He said nothing.
Daniel opened his briefcase.
Inside were several folders, each marked with a date. He removed a thin document and held it toward me.
I didn't take it.
"What is it?""
"A copy of the agreement I made with your husband three years ago.""
Cole lunged forward.
"Give me that.""
Daniel pulled the paper away.
"Don't touch me.""
The two men stared at each other.
Then Daniel turned back to me.
"Your husband was struggling financially. He had a business that was about to collapse. I offered him a way out.""
"What did you ask for in return?""
Daniel hesitated.
"Access to information about your life.""
I stared at him.
"What information?""
"Your financial circumstances. Your mother's contacts. Anything that might help me understand what she had told you about your biological father.""
I felt my knees weaken.
"You paid him to spy on me?""
"Initially, yes.""
The word struck harder than a shout.
Cole grabbed the back of the sofa.
"I was supposed to find out what Darla had told you. That's all. I didn't know he would keep escalating things.""
"Escalating?"" I repeated.
"You make it sound like a parking ticket.""
Daniel continued as though Cole hadn't spoken.
"When you and Cole began dating, I became concerned. I wanted to know whether your mother had contacted you about the money she received from me.""
"Then why didn't you contact me yourself?""
"Because I made a terrible decision years ago, and I was afraid of what would happen if you learned the truth.""
"So you paid the man who wanted to marry me to keep me in the dark?""
Daniel looked at the floor.
"Yes.""
My hand went to my stomach.
I could feel my daughter moving beneath my palm.
For months, I had imagined the first moment my husband held her. I had pictured his tears, his trembling hands, the way he would count her fingers and promise her that he would always be there.
Now I wondered whether he would be looking at her and calculating what another person might pay him to know.
"How much?"" I asked.
Daniel answered without looking away.
"Two hundred and fifty thousand dollars.""
My ears began to ring.
I turned toward Cole.
"Did you take it?""
He wiped his face.
"Yes.""
I stepped back.
He reached for me.
"I paid back most of it.""
"Most?""
"I returned the money when I realized what he was asking me to do.""
Daniel gave a humorless laugh.
"After you had already agreed to continue reporting on her.""
Cole turned on him.
"You told me the money was for research. You told me she was in danger.""
"And you believed me because you wanted to.""
"I loved her!""
"Then you should have told her the truth.""
"Stop!"" I screamed.
Both men fell silent.
I was shaking so hard that I had to grip the doorframe.
"You don't get to stand in my house and argue about which one of you betrayed me more.""
Daniel closed his briefcase.
"Emma, I know I have no right to ask you for anything. But there's another reason I came here.""
"Of course there is.""
"The original hospital file has been found.""
My mother appeared behind Cole.
She looked as though she might collapse.
"Where?"" she whispered.
Daniel turned toward her.
"In the private archive of the hospital that delivered you and my son.""
My son.
The phrase barely registered before another thought slammed into me.
"You said your son.""
Daniel's expression changed.
He looked at me carefully.
"Yes.""
"The baby who was born on the same night I was?""
He nodded.
I glanced at the letter on the coffee table, the one that referred to two children and a changed record.
"What does your son have to do with me?""
Daniel looked at Cole.
Then he looked at my mother.
Neither spoke.
Finally, he said, "Everything.""
I stepped out onto the porch, needing air.
Daniel lowered his voice.
"Your mother wasn't the only person who received money that night. Someone inside that hospital was paid to alter two records.""
"Why?""
He held my gaze.
"Because one of those babies was supposed to inherit everything I owned.""
"And the other?""
His face tightened.
"The other was supposed to disappear.""
A cold wind moved across the porch.
I stared at him.
"Which one was I?""
Daniel didn't answer immediately.
Then he reached into his briefcase and removed a photograph.
Two newborn babies lay side by side in clear hospital bassinets. One wore a blue identification band. The other wore pink.
On the back, someone had written two names.
My name.
And another name I had never heard before.
*Nathan Whitmore.*
Daniel held the photograph between us.
"Your husband knows who Nathan is," he said quietly.
I looked through the open doorway.
Cole stood motionless in the living room.
His face had turned white.
May you like
And when I called his name, he didn't deny it.
He simply whispered, "Emma, please don't let him tell you what happened to that baby.""
