For several seconds after the call ended, nobody moved.
The cabin seemed unnaturally quiet. Rain tapped against the windows, and somewhere beneath the floorboards an old heating system clicked on and began pushing warm air through the vents.
Sarah was staring at the floor.
Ethan looked from her to me.
"Mom?"
She closed her eyes.
"Not here."
Her voice was barely audible.
I stepped closer.
"Sarah, whatever David was trying to use against you, you don't have to protect him anymore."
"I'm not protecting him."
"Then tell us."
She looked at Ethan.
Her face crumpled.
"I should have told you years ago."
Ethan swallowed.
"Told me what?"
Sarah sat down beside the fireplace.
I remained standing.
Chloe moved closer to her brother and took his hand.
Sarah finally looked at me.
"Ethan isn't David's biological son."
The words landed softly.
Almost too softly for what they meant.
Ethan stared at her.
"What?"
Sarah's eyes filled with tears.
"David knew."
"When?"
"Before you were born."
Ethan pulled his hand away from Chloe.
"Who is my father?"
Sarah didn't answer.
He stood.
"Mom."
"I was young," she whispered. "Your father and I were already having problems. David and I were separated for a while."
"You said Dad was my father."
"I know."
"All my life."
"I know."
Ethan's voice broke.
"Why?"
Sarah covered her face.
"Because I was afraid."
"Afraid of what?"
"Of losing you."
The cabin went silent again.
I looked at Jessica.
She was watching Sarah carefully, but she didn't interrupt.
Ethan paced toward the window.
"Who is he?"
Sarah finally said the name.
"Daniel Mercer."
I felt the blood drain from my face.
"The attorney?"
Sarah nodded.
I stared at her.
Daniel had been my father's attorney.
The man who had just helped us locate the cabin.
The man who had known about the hidden trust.
The man who had apparently known about Ethan.
Ethan looked confused.
"Daniel Mercer?"
Sarah nodded again.
"He and I were together before David and I reconciled."
"Does he know?"
"Yes."
"How?"
"Because I told him."
Ethan turned away.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"I was afraid David would take you."
"He wasn't even my father."
"He raised you."
Ethan laughed bitterly.
"He lied to me."
Sarah flinched.
"So did you."
"I know."
He walked outside.
Chloe followed him.
I remained inside with Sarah.
"Did David use this against you?"
She nodded.
"He found out years ago."
"How?"
"I don't know."
"Then why did he stay?"
Sarah looked toward the window.
"Because he needed you."
I didn't understand.
She continued.
"Your father had money. David knew it. He knew the house was protected. He knew your father didn't trust him."
"Then why marry me?"
She looked at me.
"I think that's what he was planning from the beginning."
The words were difficult to absorb.
I remembered the first time David had met my father.
My father had been polite.
Reserved.
Afterward, he had asked me one question.
"Does David have debts?"
I had laughed.
"Everyone has bills."
He hadn't laughed.
Now I wished I had listened.
Sarah wiped her eyes.
"David thought your father would eventually help him."
"He didn't."
"No."
"Instead, my father protected the house."
"Yes."
"And David blamed him."
Sarah nodded.
"Your father refused to give him more money."
I thought of the loan agreement in Jessica's hands.
"How much had David borrowed?"
"More than he could repay."
"How much?"
"Your father never told me the exact amount."
Jessica stepped closer.
"The documents do."
She opened the folder.
The amount was there.
I stared at it.
It was enough to explain everything.
David's first major debt had existed before our marriage.
The marriage had not created his financial problems.
It had given him access to the one asset he believed could solve them.
My house.
My father's trust had stood between him and that solution.
And when he couldn't break the trust, he tried to make it appear that I had broken it myself.
Outside, Ethan returned.
His face was wet from the rain.
He looked at Sarah.
"Does Daniel know?"
"Yes."
"Did he ever try to contact me?"
"Once."
"When?"
"When you were six."
"Why didn't you let him?"
"I thought David would take you."
Ethan stared at her.
Then he looked at me.
"Claire."
"Yes?"
"Did your father know?"
I couldn't lie.
"I think he did."
Ethan looked down.
"Then everyone knew except me."
"No," I said quietly.
"Your grandfather knew something about the situation. That doesn't mean he knew everything."
Ethan nodded, but I could see the hurt in his face.
Jessica received a call.
She listened.
Then she looked at me.
"The police have located David's vehicle."
"Where?"
"Near the river."
My stomach tightened.
"Is he there?"
"No."
"Then where is he?"
"They found his phone."
The officer beside us spoke.
"It appears he deliberately left it behind."
I looked at Sarah.
David wanted us to think he had disappeared.
But he had called me.
He had known exactly where we were.
Which meant he wasn't hiding because he was frightened.
He was watching.
Jessica opened the message history from the phone.
There was one unsent draft.
She read it silently.
Then she showed me.
You should ask Claire why her father kept the truth from her.
I frowned.
"That's it?"
"No."
Jessica scrolled.
Another draft appeared.
If she finds the second file, everything changes.
"Second file?"
I looked at the metal box.
There were only three folders inside.
"What second file?"
The officer searched the cabin.
Nothing.
Then Ethan spoke.
"There's another room."
We followed him down a narrow hallway.
At the end was a locked door.
He pointed.
"Dad told me never to open it."
Jessica looked at the lock.
"Do you have a key?"
Ethan shook his head.
The officer forced the door.
Inside was a small study.
Empty shelves.
A desk.
A single photograph.
My father.
David.
Daniel.
And Sarah.
All four stood together.
The date on the back was twelve years earlier.
I turned the photograph over.
There was handwriting.
He knows.
I stared at the words.
"Who wrote this?"
Sarah came forward.
Her face changed.
"I did."
I looked at her.
"Why?"
"Because Daniel told me David had been asking about Ethan's biological father."
"Why would David care?"
Sarah shook her head.
"I don't know."
Then she saw something beneath the photograph.
A small key.
Attached to it was a note.
Locker 219.
My heart began pounding.
Jessica picked it up.
"Northbridge?"
I nodded.
The same facility.
Another locker.
The second file.
David had been trying to make sure we never found it.
And now we knew why.
Because whatever was inside could reveal not only what he had done to me, but what he had been planning for Ethan.
Click here to continue reading: PART 10: The Second Locker Contained the Missing Piece of David’s Scheme, and I Finally Learned Why He Had Kept Sarah and Me Divided
My Husband Asked Me to Stay Away on Christmas Eve, but the Way He Said It Made Me Wonder What Had Already Been Decided Behind My Back
Part 9 of 12
