Chapter 2: The Boy Who Knew Too Much
The wedding ended before the first guest even left the garden.
Nobody knew what to say.
The same people who had been smiling and taking pictures were now standing in small groups, whispering behind their hands.
Victoria kept crying.
Not because she was sorry.
Because she had been exposed.
“Daniel, please,” she said as I stood near the empty ceremony stage.
“You don’t understand.””
I stared at her.
“You’re right.””
My voice sounded unfamiliar.
“I don’t understand how someone I trusted could do this.””
She reached for my hand.
I stepped back.
That small movement hurt her more than any angry words could have.
“Daniel, I was going to explain everything.””
“When?””
She looked away.
“When the time was right.””
I laughed bitterly.
“The time was right after I married you?””
She didn’t answer.
That was answer enough.
Ethan stood several feet away, holding his phone tightly.
I walked toward him.
“Buddy.””
He looked up.
“I’m sorry.””
His eyebrows pulled together.
“For what?””
“For not believing you.””
His eyes filled slightly.
“I tried to tell you.””
“I know.””
“No, Dad.””
His voice cracked.
“You didn’t listen.””
That hurt because he was right.
I had spent months telling myself I was protecting him from change.
But maybe I was protecting myself from the possibility that I had chosen the wrong person.
I knelt down.
“How did you find out?””
Ethan looked at Victoria across the garden.
“Because she told me herself.””
My stomach tightened.
“What?””
He nodded.
“Three weeks ago.””
That night, after everyone left, Ethan and I sat in the living room of our house.
The wedding decorations were still everywhere.
Flowers.
Cards.
Gifts.
A future that no longer existed.
“Tell me everything,” I said.
Ethan hugged a pillow against his chest.
“She called me into her room.””
“What did she say?””
He looked uncomfortable.
“She said she needed my help.””
“With what?””
“She told me the baby was going to make us a real family.””
I felt anger rising.
“She said that?””
Ethan nodded.
“She said if I loved you, I wouldn’t ruin things.””
My hands tightened.
“What did she mean by ruin things?””
He looked down.
“She asked me if I knew the baby wasn’t real.””
The room became silent.
“She knew you suspected?””
“Yes.””
“How?””
Ethan swallowed.
“Because I saw her take the belly off.””
A cold feeling moved through me.
“When?””
“One night. She thought everyone was asleep.””
I remembered that night.
Victoria had claimed she was tired and went to bed early.
I had believed her.
Of course I had.
“What happened after you saw?””
Ethan’s voice became smaller.
“She found me.””
I froze.
“She found you?””
He nodded.
“She told me I was confused. She said if I told you, you would think I was jealous because you loved her.””
My chest tightened.
A child should never have to carry that kind of fear.
“What else did she say?””
Ethan hesitated.
Then he pulled something from his backpack.
A small notebook.
“I wrote things down.””
I opened it.
Inside were dates.
Times.
Short sentences written in a child’s handwriting.
“Victoria received a phone call at midnight.””
“She said Daniel can’t know.””
“She talked about money.””
“She said the house will be mine soon.””
I turned the page.
And there was one sentence written darker than the others.
“She said Dad’s son is the only problem.””
My hands shook.
Victoria didn’t just want to marry me.
She saw my son as an obstacle.
At that moment, I heard a sound from the hallway.
A phone vibrating.
I looked toward the entrance.
Nobody was supposed to be there.
I slowly walked over.
The screen of Victoria’s forgotten phone lit up.
One message appeared.
From an unknown number.
“Did the boy tell him everything?””
My blood turned cold.
Before I could touch the phone, another message arrived.
“You need to leave before Daniel finds out the truth about the accident.””
I stared at those words.
The accident.
What accident?
Then the phone rang.
The caller name appeared.
I didn’t recognize the number.
But I recognized the photo attached to it.
It was Victoria.
Standing beside a man I had never seen before.
A man holding something that looked like my wife’s old necklace.
The necklace my first wife wore the night she died.
My hand went numb.
Because suddenly, this wasn’t just about a fake pregnancy.
May you like
This was about my past.
And the person on the other end of the phone knew something I was never supposed to discover.
