Colin stood at the bottom of the basement stairs, staring at me as if he could somehow choose different words and make the past less terrible. Above us, the office remained silent. Ethan had stopped speaking. Even the faint hum of the building’s ventilation seemed to have disappeared.
“The trust wasn't created for Brynn,” Colin repeated. “It was created for the child we thought we'd lost.”
Brynn looked from him to me. “What child?”
I couldn't answer.
I knew what he meant.
Years earlier, before Brynn was born, Colin and I had lost a pregnancy. It had happened so early that there had barely been time to tell anyone. We had spent one night in a hospital room listening to a monitor that had become unbearably quiet. By morning, there was nothing left to prepare us for except an empty drive home.
But there was something Colin had never told me.
“What are you saying?” I asked.
He rubbed his hands together.
“The pregnancy wasn't as simple as we thought.”
I stared at him.
“You told me we lost the baby.”
“We did.”
“You said there was nothing more to investigate.”
“I believed that.”
“Then why was there a trust?”
Colin looked at Brynn.
“Because the doctors weren't certain.”
My chest tightened.
“Not certain about what?”
“Whether the pregnancy had ended completely.”
The words made no sense.
“What does that mean?”
Colin swallowed.
“It means there was a possibility another procedure would be necessary. There were complications. The hospital recommended additional testing.”
“You never told me that.”
“I was afraid.”
“Of what?”
“That you would blame yourself.”
I felt anger rising through the shock.
“You didn't get to decide what I could handle.”
“I know.”
“No. You don't.”
I looked at Brynn.
She was listening quietly, her face pale.
“Why would there be a trust for a child who wasn't born?”
“Because there was a legal dispute,” Colin said.
“About what?”
“Medical records.”
I frowned.
He continued carefully.
“One of the doctors was connected to a private research group. They were interested in a rare genetic condition that had appeared in your family history.”
“My family?”
“Yes.”
“What condition?”
“I never found out exactly.”
“Then how did the trust become part of it?”
Colin looked at Marcus.
The investigator had remained silent, but now he stepped closer.
“The trust was established because someone expected a child to be born who might eventually be entitled to compensation.”
“Compensation for what?”
Marcus answered.
“A confidential medical settlement.”
I stared at him.
“Who was paying?”
“We haven't confirmed that yet.”
“But someone knew about the pregnancy.”
“Yes.”
“And they knew the name we planned to use?”
Colin shook his head.
“No. Not exactly.”
I remembered what we'd said in the hospital.
Before the loss, we'd talked about names.
Brynn had been one of them.
It hadn't been final.
But we had liked it.
I looked at Colin.
“You told someone.”
“I told Ethan.”
“Who else?”
“My mother.”
“Anyone at the hospital?”
“I don't know.”
Brynn whispered, “Was I supposed to be that child?”
Colin closed his eyes.
“No.”
She looked hurt.
“Then why was my name on the trust?”
“Because after you were born, someone changed the beneficiary.”
I felt cold.
“Who?”
“Mallory.”
Marcus nodded.
“We found the amendment.”
He pulled another document from his folder.
The beneficiary had originally been listed under a temporary designation.
After Brynn's birth, the name had been changed.
Brynn Reynolds.
The date was six weeks after her birth.
I stared at the document.
“That wasn't my signature.”
“No,” Marcus said.
“Whose was it?”
He pointed to the witness line.
“David Mercer.”
Colin went rigid.
“The outside accounts manager.”
“Yes.”
“So David changed the trust.”
“Apparently.”
“Why?”
“We don't know.”
I looked at Colin.
“Did you know about this amendment?”
“No.”
“Then who did?”
“Mallory.”
The name sat between us like a stone.
Brynn suddenly looked toward the stairs.
“What about Ethan?”
Marcus glanced up.
“He's still there.”
I remembered the voice from above.
“You said he wasn't part of the group.”
“He may have been trying to get out.”
Colin called upward.
“Ethan!”
Silence.
Then Ethan answered.
“I’m here.”
“Come down.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because I don't know if I can trust you.”
Colin laughed bitterly.
“You're the one hiding upstairs.”
“I have reasons.”
“So do we.”
Ethan remained silent.
I stepped forward.
“Ethan, my daughter is standing beside me.”
There was a pause.
“I know.”
“She has been used.”
“I know.”
“Then come down and tell us why.”
Another pause.
Finally footsteps sounded.
Ethan appeared at the top of the stairs.
He looked older than the photographs.
Thinner.
Exhausted.
His eyes went immediately to Brynn.
“I’m sorry.”
She didn't answer.
He descended slowly.
Marcus watched him carefully.
“You've been alive this whole time.”
“Yes.”
“Why disappear?”
“Because David found me.”
“Where?”
“Everywhere.”
Ethan gave a humorless smile.
“He had people watching my apartment, my office, even my sister.”
Colin stared.
“You could have contacted me.”
“I did.”
“The message.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you explain?”
“Because Mallory was already inside your house.”
I felt my stomach drop.
“How long?”
“Before she married Colin.”
Colin looked devastated.
“You knew?”
“I suspected.”
“And you let me marry her?”
“I tried to stop you.”
“You sent one message.”
“Because I was being followed.”
Ethan looked at me.
“I thought if I gave you one warning, maybe Colin would understand.”
“He didn't.”
“I know.”
I looked at Ethan.
“Who paid Mallory?”
He hesitated.
“David.”
The name landed hard.
“David Mercer?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because David wasn't working for a competitor.”
Colin's expression changed.
“Then who?”
Ethan looked toward Brynn.
“The people who wanted the medical settlement.”
Nobody spoke.
Marcus slowly lowered his folder.
“What settlement?”
Ethan's voice became quiet.
“The settlement connected to the child who was supposed to be born before Brynn.”
I felt the floor disappear beneath me again.
“You're saying the pregnancy was worth money?”
“No.”
“Then what?”
“The records were.”
He explained that the research group had wanted access to medical information connected to my family. When the pregnancy was lost, the agreement became complicated. When Brynn was born healthy, the group feared the information might become public.
“So they created the trust,” I said.
“Yes.”
“Then why did they need Mallory?”
“To control the documents.”
“Why involve my daughter?”
Ethan looked ashamed.
“They needed access to you.”
I understood.
The missing folder.
My bedroom.
The questions.
Mallory had been searching for proof.
But there was still one piece missing.
“Where is the original?”
Ethan looked at Colin.
“Tell her.”
Colin shook his head.
“I don't have it.”
Ethan's face hardened.
“You do.”
“No.”
“You gave it to her.”
I stared at Colin.
“What did you give me?”
He looked at me.
“The original medical agreement.”
I felt my pulse hammer.
“When?”
“Before our divorce.”
“The sealed envelope?”
He nodded.
“But it wasn't in the envelope.”
“No.”
“Then where?”
Colin looked toward the boxes.
“I hid it.”
“Where?”
He hesitated.
“Inside the wall of our old house.”
My stomach turned.
“That house was sold.”
“I know.”
Ethan whispered, “Then we have a problem.”
The basement door above us slammed.
Everyone looked up.
A woman's voice floated down.
“Actually, you have two.”
Mallory.
Brynn grabbed my hand.
Colin stepped in front of us.
And for the first time, Mallory stopped pretending she was afraid.
Click here to continue reading: PART 10: Mallory Walked Into the Basement Without Fear, and the Evidence She Carried Changed Who We Thought Had Been Controlling the Entire Scheme
My Daughter Came Home Hiding Her Face, and One Sentence About Her Father’s New Wife Changed Everything I Thought I Knew
Part 9 of 20
