CHAPTER 4 — A SECRET TWENTY-THREE YEARS OLD
CHAPTER 4 — A SECRET TWENTY-THREE YEARS OLD
Richard lunged toward the bed.
Grace pulled the paper against her chest.
"Don't touch me."
His breathing became uneven.
"You weren't supposed to find that."
Meredith stepped between them.
"What is going on?"
Grace handed her the report.
Meredith read two lines.
Then three.
Her knees nearly gave out.
"Oh... my God."
Richard lowered his head.
"It wasn't that simple."
Grace stared.
"Then explain."
Twenty-three years of silence pressed against the walls.
Finally...
He spoke.
"When your mother was pregnant..."
He swallowed hard.
"...I found out she'd had an affair."
Grace's chest tightened.
"I didn't believe it."
"I wanted to believe you were mine."
"So after you were born..."
"I ordered the test."
His voice cracked.
"It came back negative."
Grace couldn't feel the tears running down her face.
"You hated me..."
"...because of something my mother did?"
Richard looked away.
"I tried."
"No."
"You punished me."
"I fed you."
"You abandoned me while I was alive."
Meredith suddenly spoke.
"Emily never cheated."
Richard froze.
Grace looked toward her aunt.
"What?"
Meredith's face had turned pale.
"I never wanted you to know."
Richard whispered,
"Don't."
But Meredith continued.
"The blood sample used for the DNA test..."
"...was Olivia's."
Silence.
Grace blinked.
"What?"
"You were only six months old."
"Richard collected the samples himself."
"But he mixed them up."
Richard closed his eyes.
Meredith's voice shook.
"The laboratory compared Richard's DNA..."
"...to Olivia."
"...not you."
Grace's world stopped.
Richard slowly sat down.
"I found out years later."
Grace whispered,
"You knew..."
He nodded.
"I repeated the test after Olivia was born."
"And?"
His shoulders collapsed.
"You are my daughter."
The room became deathly quiet.
Grace felt physically sick.
Twenty-three years.
Twenty-three birthdays.
Twenty-three years without hearing "I love you."
All because of one mistake.
One careless mistake.
"You knew I was yours..."
"...and you still treated me like I didn't matter?"
Richard couldn't answer.
Because there was no answer.
Only shame.
A knock echoed from the doorway.
Officer Hayes stood there.
His face was serious.
"Mr. Bennett..."
"We've received the forensic report."
Richard slowly stood.
"The brake line wasn't simply cut."
Hayes looked directly into his eyes.
"It was cut inside your home garage."
"And someone cleaned the tools afterward."
Grace watched her father's hands.
They were shaking.
Then Officer Hayes delivered the sentence that changed everything.
"We also recovered fingerprints."
He paused.
"They belong to someone in your family."
Grace slowly turned toward the hallway.
Standing there, unnoticed by everyone until now...
was Olivia.
Tears streamed down her face.
She whispered just four words.
May you like
"I didn't mean to."
The room exploded into stunned silence.
