Chapter 5: The Man in the Photograph
Marcus couldn't stop staring at the photograph.
“That isn't possible.””
Renee's voice was barely audible.
“It is.””
Marcus looked at her.
“I would remember.””
“You remembered the storm.””
“I remember leaving.””
“You remember more than you think.””
He looked down again.
There he was.
Younger.
Standing beside Renee outside a hospital room.
His hand rested protectively on her shoulder.
And Renee was holding a newborn baby.
Aaliyah.
Marcus's knees weakened.
He grabbed the edge of an old table.
“Why don't I remember this?””
Renee stood.
“Because you were drugged.””
Marcus looked up.
“What?””
“You'd been drinking that night.””
“I didn't drink at the hospital.””
“You did before you came.””
Derek shook his head.
“Renee, stop.””
Marcus turned toward him.
“No. Let her talk.””
Renee's tears rolled down her cheeks.
“You came to the hospital because I called you. You were angry. Confused. You said you didn't understand why I hadn't told you about the pregnancy.””
Marcus's breathing became shallow.
“What happened?””
“You held Aaliyah.””
He stared at her.
“You held her for almost an hour.””
Aaliyah cried.
“You held me?””
Renee nodded.
“You kept saying, ‘She's mine.’”
Marcus closed his eyes.
A faint image surfaced.
A tiny hand.
A pink blanket.
A newborn's cry.
His own voice whispering something.
Then darkness.
“What happened after that?””
Renee looked toward Derek.
“He came.””
Derek stepped closer.
“I didn't know what was happening.””
“You saw Marcus holding the baby.””
“Yes.””
“And you became angry.””
Derek's jaw tightened.
“I thought Renee had cheated on me.””
“She hadn't,” Marcus said.
“No.””
Derek looked at him.
“But I didn't know that.””
Marcus stared at the photograph.
“Then why did I leave?””
Renee's face crumpled.
“Because your wife arrived.””
Marcus's heart stopped.
“My wife?””
“She came into the hospital.””
Derek nodded.
“She had followed him.””
Marcus shook his head.
“She wasn't supposed to know about Renee.””
“She knew enough,” Renee said.
Aaliyah looked between them.
“What did she do?””
Renee hesitated.
“She threatened me.””
“With what?””
“She said she'd destroy my life.””
Marcus clenched his fists.
“What else?””
“She said she'd make sure you never found out about Aaliyah.””
Marcus stared at Renee.
“And you let her?””
“I was twenty-three, pregnant, alone, and terrified.””
He couldn't argue with that.
But he still felt betrayed.
“You should have told me.””
“I tried.””
“When?””
“The next morning.””
“What happened?””
“You were gone.””
Renee walked to the attic window.
“I called your office. Your phone. Your apartment.””
Marcus whispered, “I changed my number.””
“I know.””
“Why?””
“Because your wife told me you'd chosen her.””
Marcus looked stunned.
“I didn't.””
“I know that now.””
Derek stepped forward.
“And that's where I made my mistake.””
Marcus looked at him.
“What mistake?””
“I believed Renee had betrayed me with you.””
“You didn't ask?””
“I was angry.””
“So you left.””
“Yes.””
“And then?””
Derek's voice cracked.
“Years later, I found out Renee had never cheated on me.””
Aaliyah stared at him.
“Then why didn't you come back?””
Derek looked at her.
“Because by then, Marcus was raising you.””
Marcus swallowed.
“You knew about me?””
“I saw you once.””
“When?””
“Your eighth birthday.””
Marcus remembered that day.
Aaliyah had wanted a princess cake.
She'd worn a paper crown.
He had spent two hours assembling a bicycle in the garage.
Derek had watched from across the street.
“You were there?””
“Yes.””
“Why didn't you come inside?””
“Because she told me you were her father.””
Marcus turned to Renee.
“You told him that?””
“I was trying to keep everyone safe.””
Marcus shook his head.
“You keep using that phrase.””
Renee stared at him.
“Because it's true.””
“No.””
His voice hardened.
“You weren't keeping us safe. You were controlling what we knew.””
Aaliyah stood.
“Enough.””
Everyone turned.
She picked up the DNA report.
“I don't care who was angry eighteen years ago.””
Her eyes moved from Renee to Derek.
“I care about what happened to me.””
She looked at Marcus.
“And what happened to him.””
Marcus's throat tightened.
Aaliyah continued.
“You were there.””
Marcus nodded.
“I was.””
“You loved me.””
“I still do.””
“You paid for everything.””
“Yes.””
“You knew I wasn't your biological daughter, but you stayed anyway.””
Marcus shook his head.
“No. I didn't know.””
Aaliyah looked confused.
“You didn't?””
“I thought I wasn't your biological father.””
The words hurt him as he said them.
“I thought I chose to love you despite not sharing your blood.””
He looked at her.
“But apparently, I never had to choose.””
Aaliyah began crying.
“I called you my stepdad.””
Marcus looked down.
“You did.””
“I shouldn't have said what I said today.””
He stepped toward her.
“You were angry.””
“I hurt you.””
“Yes.””
She nodded.
“I did.””
Then she whispered, “I'm sorry.””
Marcus wanted to forgive her.
But something stopped him.
Not anger.
Fear.
Because if the DNA test was real, there was still one question nobody had answered.
Why had Renee waited eighteen years to confirm what she already suspected?
Marcus picked up the original envelope.
There was a laboratory name at the bottom.
He stared at the date.
Three weeks ago.
Then he noticed something else.
The test wasn't ordered by Renee.
It wasn't ordered by Aaliyah.
And it wasn't ordered by Derek.
Marcus looked up.
“Who submitted the samples?””
Renee's face went pale.
Derek looked toward the stairs.
Aaliyah whispered, “Mom?””
Renee finally said,
“Your grandmother.””
Marcus froze.
“She's dead.””
“I know.””
Aaliyah's eyes widened.
“Then how could she order it?””
Renee stared at Marcus.
“She didn't.””
Marcus looked at the report again.
A second name was printed beneath the laboratory authorization.
A name he hadn't seen in eighteen years.
His former wife's name.
And beneath it was a handwritten note:
*Test the daughter against Marcus. Then test Marcus against the baby listed in the original hospital records.*
Marcus's blood ran cold.
“There's another child?””
Renee didn't answer.
And from downstairs, the front door suddenly slammed open.
A woman's voice called out.
“Renee?””
Everyone froze.
May you like
Marcus knew that voice.
It belonged to the woman he had believed was dead.
