Chapter 3: The Lie We Lived
They ended up in Renee's house just after sunset.
No one wanted to talk in the parking garage anymore.
Aaliyah sat at the dining table in her graduation gown, the folded DNA report in front of her.
Her diploma lay beside it.
Two pieces of paper.
One represented eighteen years of her life.
The other threatened to rewrite them.
Marcus stood by the window.
Derek sat across from Renee.
Nobody touched the coffee she had made.
Finally, Aaliyah spoke.
“Start from the beginning.””
Renee looked at her daughter.
“I was twenty-three.””
Aaliyah shook her head.
“No. Start with Marcus.””
Marcus turned.
Renee lowered her eyes.
“I met Marcus when you were four.””
“I know.””
“I told him your father had left.””
Aaliyah glanced at Derek.
“You said he didn't want me.””
Derek's face tightened.
“I never said that.””
Aaliyah stared at him.
“Then why didn't you come?””
Derek rubbed his hands together.
“Because I was told you were not mine.””
Aaliyah looked at Renee.
Renee began crying.
Marcus's voice was quiet.
“Who told him?””
Renee didn't answer.
Marcus already knew.
“You.””
Renee nodded.
“I told Derek that the test proved he wasn't your father.””
Derek interrupted.
“You didn't just tell me. You showed me paperwork.””
Aaliyah looked at him.
“What paperwork?””
Derek leaned forward.
“A lab report.””
Marcus's expression changed.
“Fake?””
Derek nodded.
“I believed it.””
Aaliyah stood.
“You let him believe he wasn't my father?””
Renee covered her face.
“I was scared.””
“Of what?””
“Of losing you.””
Aaliyah laughed bitterly.
“You weren't protecting me.””
“I thought I was.””
“No, Mom. You were choosing for everyone.””
Marcus walked toward the table.
“Why me?””
Renee looked up.
“Because you loved her.””
“That isn't an answer.””
“It is.””
Marcus's eyes hardened.
“Explain.””
Renee wiped her tears.
“After Derek left, you were the only person who stayed.””
Derek looked down.
Renee continued.
“You treated Aaliyah like she was your own. You never questioned her. You never demanded proof. You just loved her.””
Marcus stared at her.
“And that made you afraid?””
“It made me afraid that one day the truth would destroy everything.””
“So you buried it.””
“Yes.””
“For eighteen years.””
“Yes.””
Marcus picked up the DNA report.
“But this test was done three weeks ago.””
Renee nodded.
Aaliyah looked at her.
“Why?””
Renee hesitated.
“Because Aaliyah asked me a question.””
“What question?””
“She asked why you and Marcus didn't look alike.””
Marcus almost laughed.
“So that's when you decided to tell the truth?””
“No.””
Renee's answer was immediate.
“That wasn't why.””
Everyone looked at her.
Renee's hands shook.
“I found something.””
“What?””
“A box.””
“Where?””
“In the attic.””
She stood and walked toward the stairs.
Marcus followed.
Derek remained seated.
Aaliyah followed too.
They climbed into the attic, where dust covered old furniture and Christmas decorations.
Renee moved toward a wooden trunk.
She opened it.
Inside were photographs, hospital bracelets, old letters, and a sealed envelope.
She picked it up.
“This is why I did the DNA test.””
Marcus took the envelope.
His name was written on the front.
*Marcus Hale.*
His hands went cold.
“When did you write this?””
“I didn't.””
Marcus looked at her.
“Then who did?””
Renee shook her head.
“Open it.””
He tore the envelope.
Inside was a photograph.
Aaliyah was an infant.
Renee was standing beside a hospital bed.
And beside her was a man Marcus had never seen before.
On the back of the photograph was a handwritten note.
*If Marcus ever learns the truth, tell him the baby wasn't the only thing Renee was hiding.*
Marcus looked up.
“Who is this man?””
Renee's face crumpled.
Derek stood in the attic doorway.
“I was hoping you'd never find that.””
Marcus turned.
“You know him?””
Derek stared at the photograph.
“Yes.””
“Who is he?””
Derek's eyes shifted toward Renee.
Then toward Aaliyah.
“He's the reason the DNA test was done.””
Marcus's pulse raced.
“The reason?””
Derek nodded.
“Because years ago, Renee wasn't trying to hide Aaliyah's father.””
He pointed at Marcus's name on the envelope.
“She was trying to hide something much worse.””
Aaliyah whispered, “What?””
Derek took a breath.
“That DNA test wasn't ordered to find out whether Marcus was Aaliyah's father.””
He looked directly at Marcus.
“It was ordered to find out whether *you were her biological father all along*.””
Marcus stared at him.
May you like
And then Derek said the one sentence that made Marcus's blood run cold.
“Because Renee had already suspected the answer eighteen years ago.””
