Chapter 4: The Child She Never Had
For several seconds, Daniel didn't speak.
The phone remained pressed against his ear, and his eyes stayed fixed on the photograph of Claire sitting beside Marcus on a hospital bench.
Then he asked, very quietly, “What did you just say?””
Marcus inhaled shakily.
“Daniel, please let me explain.””
“No. You don't get to ask me for anything right now. You get to answer one question.”” My brother's fingers tightened around the phone.
“Did you sleep with my wife?””
Silence.
Daniel stood so abruptly that his chair struck the wall behind him.
“Answer me!””
“Yes.””
The word landed like a gunshot.
I covered my mouth.
Daniel stared at the wall, his expression strangely empty. I had expected rage. I had expected him to shout, to throw the phone, to say something he would regret.
Instead, he looked like someone who had just discovered that the floor beneath his feet had never been solid.
“How long?”” he asked.
Marcus began to cry.
“About a year.””
Daniel shut his eyes.
“A year?””
“It started before she told you she wanted a baby. We made a mistake, and we tried to end it.””
“A mistake?”” Daniel repeated.
“You were sleeping with my wife for a year, and you call it a mistake?””
“I know what I did.””
“No, you don't. You stood beside me at my wedding. You helped me carry furniture into my house. You sat at my father's funeral and told me I wasn't alone.””
“I know.””
“You were in my house while I was at work.””
“Yes.””
“You ate at my table.””
“Yes.””
“And all that time, you were sleeping with Claire?””
Marcus didn't answer.
Daniel laughed once, without humor.
“Of course you were.””
I reached for my brother's arm, but he stepped away. Not because he didn't want comfort, I thought, but because he couldn't bear to be touched while he was trying to understand what had happened to his life.
“Tell me about the hospital,” he said.
Marcus took a shaky breath.
“Claire called me that Saturday morning. She said she was bleeding and had severe cramps. She was terrified. I drove her to the emergency department because you were out of town.””
Daniel looked at me.
I remembered that weekend. He had been in Houston for a business conference. Claire had called him to say she was exhausted and wanted to sleep.
He had sent her flowers.
He had told me he felt guilty about being away from his pregnant wife.
Now I understood why his face had gone so pale when Marcus mentioned the hospital.
“Was she pregnant?”” Daniel asked.
Marcus hesitated.
“No.””
Daniel's jaw tightened.
“Then why was she bleeding?””
“She said she'd taken medication. Something she ordered online. She thought it would make the pregnancy disappear.””
I felt a cold shiver travel through me.
“Make what pregnancy disappear?”” Daniel demanded.
“The pregnancy she told me was mine.””
Daniel gripped the edge of the desk.
“Was she ever pregnant with your child?””
Marcus went silent again.
Then he said, “No. Not as far as I know.””
Daniel looked down at the notebook on the desk.
The carefully written baby names.
The planned explanations.
The dates.
Every page suddenly seemed more sinister.
“So she told you she was pregnant, then took medication to end a pregnancy that never existed?””
“That's what she told me afterward. She said she'd been convinced she was pregnant because she'd missed her period. She panicked when she started bleeding.””
“And you believed her?””
“I was scared. I thought I might have gotten her pregnant. I didn't know what was happening.””
“But you knew she was married to me.””
“Yes.””
“You knew I was your best friend.””
“Yes.””
“And you still went to that hospital with her.””
Marcus started crying harder.
“I'm sorry, Daniel.””
My brother turned away from the phone.
“Stop saying that.””
“I don't know what else to say.””
“Then say nothing.””
Daniel ended the call.
For a moment, the only sound in the office was the hum of the computer.
I moved toward him.
“Daniel, sit down.””
He shook his head.
“I gave him a key to my house.””
“What?””
“Marcus. I gave him a key when we were renovating the kitchen. I told him he could come over whenever he wanted. I trusted him enough to leave him alone with my wife.””
His voice broke on the last word.
I placed a hand on his shoulder.
“This isn't your fault.””
He turned toward me.
“Then whose fault is it?””
I didn't answer immediately.
Claire had made the choices. Marcus had made his own. Daniel's trust had not forced either of them to betray him.
But saying that wouldn't make the photographs disappear.
It wouldn't give him back the months he'd spent preparing for a child.
It wouldn't undo the way he'd talked to his father's old photograph in the nursery.
“It's theirs,” I said finally.
“They chose to lie to you.””
He looked at the notebook again.
Then he picked up the photograph and slipped it into the folder.
“I need to hear this from her.””
“Daniel, I don't think you should confront her alone.””
“I don't care what you think I should do.””
The words came out harshly.
He immediately looked ashamed.
“I'm sorry.””
“You don't need to apologize.””
He rubbed his face with both hands.
“I don't even know who I'm married to.””
My phone vibrated.
It was a message from my mother.
Claire has called me three times. She says Daniel is having some kind of breakdown and that we need to help her.
I showed him the screen.
He read the message and let out a bitter laugh.
“Of course that's what she's telling everyone.””
Another message arrived.
She says Sophie misunderstood something in the bathroom. Please tell Daniel to calm down before he ruins his marriage.
I stared at the words.
Even now, Claire was trying to control the story.
I typed a reply.
Mom, Sophie told us what she saw. Daniel has found evidence that Claire bought the fake pregnancy belly. We need to stop pretending this is a misunderstanding.
I pressed send.
Then I took Sophie's little cardigan from my bag and folded it over my arm.
“What are you going to do now?”” I asked.
Daniel stared through the office window at the darkening sky.
“I'm going to find out everything. Every lie. Every dollar. Every person she involved.””
He paused.
“And then I'm going to decide what to do with the truth.””
At eight that evening, someone knocked on the front door.
Daniel was standing in the kitchen, pouring water into a glass. He froze at the sound.
I was upstairs helping Sophie wash the frosting out of her hair.
Another knock came.
Then a familiar voice called through the door.
“Daniel? It's me.””
Marcus.
Daniel set down the glass.
He walked to the front door and looked through the peephole.
For several seconds, he didn't move.
Then he unlocked the door.
Marcus stood on the porch with his hands raised slightly, as if approaching a frightened animal. His face was pale, and his eyes were red.
Daniel didn't invite him inside.
“You have sixty seconds,” he said.
Marcus swallowed.
“I deserve that.””
“You don't get to tell me what you deserve.””
“I know.””
“Then talk.””
Marcus looked over Daniel's shoulder.
“Can we do this somewhere private?””
“No.””
“Daniel, please.””
“You've spent a year sneaking around behind my back. You can tell the truth on my front porch.””
Marcus looked down.
“All right.””
He took a breath.
“The affair started after your promotion. Claire said she felt like you were building a life that didn't include her. She told me you were distant, that you were always working, and that she was lonely.””
Daniel folded his arms.
“So you slept with her to make her feel better?””
“No. I told myself I was helping her, but that was an excuse. I wanted her, and I knew it was wrong.””
“At least that's honest.””
Marcus nodded.
“Then she told me she might be pregnant. I panicked. I asked whether she'd taken a test, and she said she had. She told me the result was positive.””
“And you believed her.””
“Yes.””
“Did you ever see the test?””
“No.””
“Did you ever go to a doctor with her?””
“No.””
Daniel stared at him.
“You didn't see a test, you didn't attend an appointment, and you didn't know whether she was pregnant. But you decided to carry on the affair anyway.””
Marcus looked as though he'd been slapped.
“I know how it sounds.””
“It sounds exactly like what it was.””
Marcus reached into his jacket and removed a small envelope.
“I brought something.””
Daniel didn't take it.
“What is it?””
“Messages between Claire and me. The ones about the pregnancy.””
“Why?””
“Because you deserve proof. I should have given you this months ago.””
Daniel finally accepted the envelope.
He pulled out several printed pages.
The first contained a message from Claire.
I took another test. It's positive. I'm terrified.
Marcus's response appeared beneath it.
Have you told Daniel?
Claire had replied:
No. I need to figure out what I'm going to do.
Further down, the messages became more disturbing.
If I tell Daniel, he'll ask for a test.
I know.
He'll want to go to the doctor with you.
I know, Marcus.
Then what are you going to do?
Claire's response was only one sentence.
I'll make sure he believes me before he starts asking questions.
Daniel stopped reading.
He looked up.
“What did she mean by that?””
Marcus hesitated.
“She told me she wanted to get pregnant eventually. She said if Daniel believed they were expecting a child, he would stop traveling so much. She thought he'd prioritize their marriage.””
“So she planned to get pregnant?””
“I think she planned to try. But when she believed she was pregnant by me, she panicked.””
“And when she realized she wasn't?””
“She started talking about the fake belly.””
Daniel's eyes narrowed.
“When?””
“About five months ago.””
The date matched the receipt in the desk drawer.
Marcus continued.
“She said she needed time to convince Daniel that she was pregnant. She wanted to make it believable. She bought the belly, researched pregnancy symptoms, and started telling people her due date.””
Daniel looked down at the papers.
“Did you help her?””
Marcus closed his eyes.
“Yes.””
The confession was quiet.
It was also final.
Daniel folded the papers carefully.
Then he stepped aside and opened the front door wider.
“Come inside.””
Marcus looked surprised.
“Daniel—”
“Don't mistake this for forgiveness. I want you to sit down and answer every question I ask.””
Marcus nodded.
As they walked toward the kitchen, I came downstairs.
I stopped when I saw Marcus.
He looked at me with the expression of a man who knew he had destroyed something he could never rebuild.
“I'm sorry,” he said.
I thought about Sophie pointing at Claire's stomach.
I thought about Daniel's face when he'd read the label.
I thought about the nursery upstairs.
“Don't apologize to me,” I replied.
“I'm not the person you betrayed.””
Marcus lowered his eyes.
Daniel placed the printed messages on the kitchen island.
Then he looked at his former best friend.
“One last question.””
Marcus swallowed.
“Okay.””
“Why did you come here tonight? Why not yesterday? Why not three months ago? Why wait until my wife was exposed in front of my entire family?””
Marcus's expression changed.
For the first time, he seemed more frightened than ashamed.
“Because Claire told me something today,” he whispered.
Daniel leaned forward.
“What?””
Marcus looked directly at him.
“She said that if you ever found out the pregnancy was fake, she'd tell you the baby was yours.””
Daniel went still.
“But there was no baby.””
“I know.””
“Then what could she possibly mean?””
Marcus looked toward the staircase.
Then he lowered his voice.
“Because there's another lie, Daniel. One that has nothing to do with the pregnancy.””
He reached into his pocket and placed a second photograph on the island.
It showed Claire standing outside a medical office, holding a document.
Beside her stood a woman Daniel had never seen before.
On the back, someone had written a date and a single sentence.
The day Claire found out who really owned the money.
Daniel stared at it.
“What money?””
Marcus shook his head.
“I don't know how much she took. But I know she didn't buy that fake pregnancy belly with her own money.””
May you like
He paused.
“She used yours.””
