Chapter 6
I didn’t sleep.
Every time I closed my eyes, I heard Claire’s voice.
Michael has a twelve-year-old son.
A child.
A whole human being.
Hidden from me for six years.
At seven the next morning, Emma woke and climbed into my bed at Marissa’s house.
“Are we going home?”
I brushed her hair from her face.
“Not today.”
“Is Dad mad?”
“I don’t know.”
“Are you mad?”
“Yes.”
She considered that.
“Because of Aunt Lauren?”
“And some other things.”
She leaned against me.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.”
My heart broke.
“You never apologize for something an adult told you to hide.”
“But Dad said—”
“Michael was wrong.”
She looked surprised that I used his name.
I kissed her forehead.
“You are not responsible for keeping adults happy.”
She nodded slowly.
At eight thirty, Marissa took Emma to school.
I drove to Evanston.
Claire was already waiting.
She was forty, maybe forty-one.
Dark coat.
Hair pulled back.
No makeup.
She looked less like the monster Michael had described and more like a woman who had spent years looking over her shoulder.
I sat across from her.
“Where is his son?”
“School.”
“What’s his name?”
“Noah.”
I swallowed.
“Does Michael see him?”
“Sometimes.”
“Thursdays?”
Claire shook her head.
“No.”
That confused me.
“Then what is Thursday?”
“I don’t know.”
I studied her.
“Why should I trust you?”
“You shouldn’t.”
The answer surprised me.
“Not yet. Check everything I tell you.”
She slid a folder across the table.
Inside were copies of Noah’s birth certificate, divorce records, and a court order.
Michael’s name appeared everywhere.
I stared at the birth certificate.
Father: Michael Collins.
My stomach twisted.
“He told me you never had children.”
Claire nodded.
“He told his next girlfriend that too.”
“Next girlfriend?”
“The woman before you.”
My eyes lifted.
Claire gave me a sad smile.
“There’s a lot you don’t know.”
I closed the folder.
“Why did you hide Noah?”
“I didn’t.”
“Then why have I never seen him?”
“Because Michael signed away most of his parenting time after the divorce.”
“Why?”
“He didn’t want you asking questions.”
“About what?”
Claire looked at me carefully.
“Money.”
Of course.
She explained that during their marriage, Michael had worked for his father’s construction company.
Claire discovered accounts she didn’t recognize.
Payments moved between businesses.
Loans taken in relatives’ names.
When she questioned Michael, he blamed his father.
When she threatened to leave, Diane attacked her character.
“It sounds familiar,” I said.
Claire nodded.
“Diane slapped me too.”
I looked at her.
“When?”
“The night I told them I was filing for divorce.”
My cheek almost burned again.
“What did Michael do?”
Claire didn’t answer immediately.
Then she said, “He watched.”
I looked away.
Of course he did.
“What is Diane paying for Noah?”
“Tuition and support.”
“Why her?”
“Because Michael stopped paying consistently.”
I frowned.
“Then why are the transfers secret?”
“Because Diane doesn’t want you knowing Noah exists.”
“That makes no sense.”
“It does if she thinks you’ll start looking into why the divorce happened.”
I stared at her.
“What did you find?”
Claire leaned forward.
“Michael and his father took a business loan using my information.”
My fingers tightened around my cup.
“My signature was forged.”
The café seemed to disappear around me.
“How much?”
“One hundred and sixty thousand.”
“And what happened?”
“I proved enough to force them to repay it, but Michael’s father begged me not to involve police.”
“You agreed?”
“I had a four-year-old son and no money. They offered a settlement and full custody.”
She looked ashamed.
“I took it.”
“I understand.”
“I shouldn’t have protected them.”
“You protected your child.”
Claire’s eyes filled.
“That’s what I told myself.”
I showed her photographs from Michael’s office.
She studied the refinance paperwork.
Her face went pale.
“This is almost identical.”
She pointed at one section.
“Same wording.”
My hands shook.
“So he did it again.”
“Yes.”
Then she noticed the Oak Brook lease.
Her eyebrows drew together.
“What?”
“I know this company.”
“How?”
“Michael’s cousin owns it.”
I remembered Kevin avoiding my eyes at dinner.
My stomach dropped.
“So the family is involved.”
“At least some of them.”
My phone buzzed.
A message from Michael.
WE NEED TO TALK BEFORE YOU DO SOMETHING WE CAN’T FIX.
Claire saw my expression.
“Don’t meet him alone.”
“I won’t.”
Another message.
MOM IS IN THE HOSPITAL.
I stared.
Then he called.
I answered.
“What happened?”
“Mom collapsed.”
Despite everything, my anger paused.
“Is she okay?”
“They think it’s stress.”
I almost laughed at the cruelty of that sentence.
“Which hospital?”
He told me.
Then he said, “She wants to see you.”
“No.”
“Sarah.”
“She hit me yesterday.”
“She says she needs to explain.”
“Then she can explain when she’s discharged.”
Michael lowered his voice.
“She knows you met Claire.”
I looked at Claire.
“How?”
“I don’t know.”
But I knew he was lying.
I ended the call.
Claire looked uneasy.
“Diane always knows more than she should.”
I gathered the papers.
“There’s one more thing.”
Claire reached into her bag.
She handed me an old photograph.
Michael stood beside his father and Diane.
Another man stood beside them.
I recognized him.
He had attended my wedding.
He had called himself a family friend.
Claire tapped his face.
“This is Raymond Pike.”
“Who is he?”
“He arranged the loan they took in my name.”
My stomach tightened.
“Why are you showing me this?”
“Because three weeks ago he called me.”
“What did he want?”
“He asked questions about you.”
My blood turned cold.
“What questions?”
Claire’s voice dropped.
“Whether you still owned the lake property your father left you.”
I stared at her.
My father’s lake property was worth more than half a million dollars.
Michael had asked me about selling it twice that month.
I had said no.
Claire looked directly into my eyes.
May you like
“Sarah, they weren’t just trying to borrow against your house.”
“They were after the lake property too.”
