Chapter 3 - The Child That Changed Everything
I read Daniel's message six times.
Vanessa is pregnant.
Those three words seemed to float above the phone.
I couldn't make them fit inside my head.
My wedding had ended hours earlier.
My father had revealed a fortune I never knew existed.
My signature had apparently been forged.
And now my best friend was telling me my bride was expecting a baby.
I looked at my father.
"She's pregnant."
He studied my face.
"Did she tell you that?"
"No."
"Has she mentioned trying to have children?"
I shook my head.
"We talked about having a family someday."
"Someday?"
"After we settled down."
My father didn't respond.
But his expression told me he was thinking the same thing I was.
Something wasn't right.
I called Daniel.
He answered immediately.
"Nick, thank God."
I stood beside the conference table.
"How do you know Vanessa is pregnant?"
Silence.
Then he cleared his throat.
"She told me."
"When?"
"Tonight."
"Before or after the wedding?"
Another pause.
"Nick, look, everyone is emotional right now."
"Answer the question."
"Before."
My stomach tightened.
"How long before?"
"A few days."
I closed my eyes.
She had told Daniel.
Not me.
My best friend knew my wife was pregnant before her husband did.
"Why didn't she tell me?"
Daniel sighed.
"She wanted to surprise you."
"At our wedding?"
"Exactly."
I looked toward Evelyn.
She was listening carefully.
"Then why are you telling me?"
"Because you're making a huge mistake."
There it was.
Not concern for the baby.
Not concern for Vanessa.
A warning.
"Come back to the hotel," Daniel continued. "You can fix this."
I glanced at my father.
"Where is Vanessa?"
"Upstairs in the bridal suite."
"Put her on the phone."
"Nick—"
"Now."
I heard movement.
Then muffled voices.
A moment later, Vanessa answered.
"Nick?"
Her voice was trembling.
For an instant, my heart reacted before my mind could stop it.
I had loved that voice.
I had imagined hearing it beside me every morning for the rest of my life.
"Are you pregnant?" I asked.
She began crying.
"Yes."
I stared at the wall.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"I wanted tonight to be perfect."
I almost laughed.
"Perfect?"
"Nick, please."
"Your mother humiliated my father, you laughed, and now you're telling me we're having a baby?"
"Don't say it like that."
"How should I say it?"
She sobbed harder.
"I know I made a mistake."
For the first time, she sounded genuinely frightened.
But I couldn't tell whether she feared losing me or losing something else.
"How far along are you?"
Silence.
"Vanessa?"
"Eight weeks."
I mentally counted backward.
Eight weeks.
Two months earlier.
I had been traveling for work during part of that time.
But I had also spent several nights with her.
The timing didn't prove anything.
It simply left questions.
"Have you seen a doctor?"
"Yes."
"Which doctor?"
"Why does that matter?"
"Because I want to understand what's happening."
Her tone sharpened.
"You think I'm lying?"
"I think you've hidden things from me."
"Nick, that's cruel."
I looked at the forged agreement lying on the conference table.
"Cruel?"
My voice rose.
"You want to talk about cruel?"
My father gently touched my shoulder.
I took a breath.
"Tomorrow, we'll talk with a lawyer. If there is a child, I'll make sure the child is cared for. But I'm not returning tonight."
Vanessa stopped crying.
"You can't do that."
"Watch me."
I ended the call.
For a moment, nobody spoke.
Then Evelyn closed the file.
"We need to address something immediately."
I sat down.
"What?"
"Your wedding ceremony may have legal consequences, depending on whether the marriage license was properly executed and filed."
I nodded.
"We signed it after the ceremony."
"Do you have a copy?"
"Vanessa handled everything."
Evelyn made a note.
"Then we'll verify the record first thing tomorrow. We can pursue appropriate legal remedies, but we shouldn't assume the marriage is automatically void."
I rubbed my forehead.
Everything felt unreal.
My father pulled out the chair beside me.
"Nick, you don't have to make every decision tonight."
I looked at him.
"Dad, I don't even know who I married."
His expression softened.
"I know."
A few minutes later, Evelyn's assistant entered carrying a sealed envelope.
"This arrived by private courier."
Evelyn checked the address.
Then looked toward my father.
"It's for Nicholas."
I opened it.
Inside was a photograph.
Vanessa and Daniel.
They were sitting close together at an outdoor restaurant.
Daniel's hand rested against her cheek.
On the back was a handwritten message.
Ask him about the lake house.
I read it twice.
"What lake house?"
My father frowned.
"Do you recognize the handwriting?"
"No."
I passed him the photograph.
Evelyn examined it.
"This may be important, but we need to confirm when and where it was taken."
I stared at Daniel's face.
For fifteen years, I had called him my brother.
We had met during high school basketball practice.
He had been there when I graduated college.
He had helped me move into my first apartment.
When I proposed to Vanessa, he was the first person I told.
And all that time, he had been smiling in my face.
"Find the lake house," I said.
Evelyn nodded.
"We'll look into it."
My father stood.
"Enough for tonight. Nicholas is coming home with me."
I expected him to mean our old house.
Instead, Marcus drove us to a quiet property outside the city.
A large stone home stood behind iron gates.
It was beautiful without being ostentatious.
Inside, the rooms smelled faintly of cedar and fresh coffee.
My father showed me a guest bedroom.
"You can stay here as long as you need."
I looked around.
Then turned toward him.
"Do you have a different life everywhere I look?"
He gave me a sad smile.
"Apparently."
I sat on the edge of the bed.
Suddenly, exhaustion hit me.
"Dad?"
"Yes?"
"Do you think Mom would have liked Vanessa?"
He didn't answer immediately.
Then he sat beside me.
"Your mother believed people showed their true character by how they treated someone who couldn't give them anything."
I lowered my head.
"Then no."
He put his arm around me.
And for the first time since the wedding, I cried.
Not quietly.
Not gracefully.
I cried like the little boy who had lost his mother.
My father held me until I could breathe again.
Later that night, I couldn't sleep.
I walked downstairs and found a light on in his study.
He was speaking on the telephone.
I stopped outside the doorway when I heard Vanessa's name.
"Yes," he said. "Verify the property records. I want independent confirmation."
A pause.
Then his voice changed.
"What do you mean the lake house belongs to Daniel Carter?"
My heart began pounding.
He listened.
Then asked another question.
"When did Vanessa start staying there?"
I stepped into the doorway.
My father turned.
His expression told me everything.
He slowly lowered the phone.
"Nick."
I stared at him.
"Tell me."
He hesitated.
Then spoke the sentence that destroyed the last piece of hope I had left.
"Son, security records suggest Vanessa has been spending weekends at Daniel's lake house for almost a year."
I grabbed the back of a chair.
A year.
We had been engaged for eleven months.
While I was choosing flowers and planning a future, she had been visiting another man's home.
My father approached.
But before he reached me, his phone rang again.
He answered.
Listened.
Then looked at me with sudden alarm.
"Marcus, repeat that."
I could hear the urgency in Marcus's voice through the speaker.
My father straightened.
"Call emergency services and secure the area."
I stepped closer.
"What happened?"
He ended the call.
For several seconds, he simply stared at me.
Then he said, "Someone just broke into your apartment."
My chest tightened.
"Who?"
"We don't know."
He reached for his jacket.
"But whoever it was, they weren't looking for money."
I followed him toward the door.
"What were they looking for?"
May you like
My father looked back.
"The documents your mother left you."
