Chapter 2
I couldn't move.
The birth certificate trembled in my hands.
Across the gym, hundreds of people waited for someone to explain why a scholarship ceremony had turned into a family confrontation.
But I barely noticed them.
All I could see was one name.
Samuel Elijah Bennett.
Principal Bennett's full name.
I looked from the paper to the man standing in front of me.
"Is this you?"
He closed his eyes.
Diane whispered, "Don't answer her."
I turned toward her.
"Why?"
She looked away.
I faced him again.
"Principal Bennett, is this your name?"
He nodded.
My chest tightened.
"Then why is it on my birth certificate?"
He swallowed.
"Because I knew your mother."
I stared at him.
"That's not what I asked."
Marcus squeezed my hand.
"Nia, you don't have to do this here."
But I couldn't stop.
For twenty years, I'd wondered what kind of man could disappear from his daughter's life.
Now the possibility that he had been standing in front of me for six weeks made my stomach turn.
"Are you my father?"
Principal Bennett looked toward the audience.
His lips trembled.
Then he whispered, "I believed I was."
My breath caught.
"Believed?"
Diane suddenly laughed.
A sharp, bitter sound.
"Samuel, don't start telling stories."
He turned toward her.
"Not another word."
I'd never heard him speak so firmly.
Diane stepped back.
The principal looked at me again.
"Nia, there's a great deal you don't know."
I felt tears running down my face.
"Then tell me."
He glanced toward the students.
"This isn't fair to them."
For the first time, I realized he was right.
Teenagers were watching adults expose decades of pain in the middle of a school celebration.
I lowered the microphone.
"Then let's finish the ceremony."
Diane looked surprised.
Principal Bennett nodded quickly.
Marcus guided me toward a chair near the stage.
I sat with the envelope pressed against my chest while another administrator continued announcing scholarships.
I tried to listen.
I couldn't.
My entire childhood was rearranging itself inside my head.
When I was ten, I used to imagine my father finding me.
Sometimes I pictured a firefighter.
Other times a doctor.
Sometimes just an ordinary man who'd been searching for me as desperately as I'd searched for him.
I imagined he'd hold me.
Tell me he was sorry.
Promise we'd never be separated again.
But reality was sitting twenty feet away, avoiding my eyes.
After the ceremony, Marcus escorted me to Principal Bennett's office.
Diane followed.
So did the attorney who'd first contacted me, Raymond Ellis.
Raymond was fifty-seven and had handled estate matters for several families in the district.
He'd already told me there were inconsistencies in the records.
Now I understood how serious they might be.
The moment we entered the office, Diane crossed her arms.
"This has gone far enough."
Marcus shut the door.
"No, it hasn't."
Principal Bennett sat behind his desk.
He looked exhausted.
I remained standing.
"Tell me the truth."
He looked at the certificate.
Then at me.
"Your mother was named Evelyn Williams."
I nodded.
"I know."
"She was a guidance counselor here."
"I know that too."
He took a shaky breath.
"We were involved before you were born."
My stomach twisted.
"Married?"
He shook his head.
"No."
"Did you know she was pregnant?"
He nodded slowly.
I felt something inside me break.
"You knew about me?"
"Yes."
I stepped backward.
For twenty years, I'd believed my father was dead.
Now this man was admitting he'd known I existed.
"Why didn't you come for me?"
He covered his face.
Diane spoke before he could answer.
"Because your mother made choices that hurt everyone."
I turned toward her.
"Stop blaming my mother."
She looked furious.
"You have no idea what Evelyn did."
Principal Bennett slammed his palm against the desk.
"Diane!"
The room went silent.
He stared at her.
"You promised me you'd never speak about her that way again."
My pulse raced.
Promised?
What had happened between them?
Raymond opened his briefcase.
"Nia, we should examine these records carefully before assuming what they establish."
I looked at him.
"Is this certificate real?"
He nodded.
"It appears to be a certified copy of an older registration document. We need to verify it with the state."
Principal Bennett reached toward the envelope.
I pulled it away.
He stopped.
"I'm not trying to take it."
I stared at him.
"Everyone keeps telling me to trust them."
My voice broke.
"But nobody will tell me why I grew up alone."
He lowered his eyes.
Then whispered, "I thought you were safe."
I laughed through my tears.
"Safe?"
He flinched.
"I was moved through six foster homes."
His eyes widened.
"What?"
"I spent my thirteenth birthday sitting in a social worker's office because my foster placement ended that morning."
He began crying.
"I didn't know."
I shook my head.
"How could you not know?"
He looked toward Diane.
She stared at the floor.
Something cold settled inside me.
"Diane."
She wouldn't meet my eyes.
"What did you tell him?"
She lifted her chin.
"Nothing that wasn't necessary."
Principal Bennett stood.
His chair scraped against the floor.
"You told me Nia had been adopted by Evelyn's relatives."
My heart stopped.
Diane said nothing.
He continued.
"You told me she was living in North Carolina."
I stared at her.
"That never happened."
Principal Bennett looked devastated.
"You said she didn't want contact."
I felt sick.
At eight years old, I had been too young to make that decision.
I had been begging social workers to find my family.
I looked directly at Diane.
"You knew I was in foster care?"
She finally met my eyes.
Her expression was cold.
"You were better off away from this family."
I couldn't breathe.
Marcus stepped beside me.
"That's enough."
But Diane wasn't finished.
She pointed toward Principal Bennett.
"Ask him why your mother left him."
He looked shattered.
I stared at both of them.
"What happened?"
Diane folded her arms.
"Ask him about the money."
Raymond suddenly looked up.
"What money?"
Principal Bennett went pale.
I gripped the envelope.
Diane smiled bitterly.
"Your precious father wasn't just hiding a daughter."
She looked at me.
"He was hiding what happened to your mother's inheritance."
I felt the room tilt.
Before anyone could stop her, Diane reached into her handbag.
She pulled out an old photograph.
It showed my mother standing beside Principal Bennett and another woman.
The third woman looked almost exactly like Diane.
But younger.
I frowned.
"Who is that?"
Diane's smile disappeared.
Then she whispered, "My sister."
I stared at the photograph.
"And where is she now?"
Nobody answered.
Finally, Principal Bennett sank into his chair.
His voice was barely audible.
"She died the year before you were born."
I looked at him.
"How?"
He closed his eyes.
May you like
Then whispered something that made Diane drop the photograph.
"She was my wife."
