Chapter 11 - THE DIVORCE
Grant was served three days later.
Rachel did not hide it.
She handed him the papers herself.
He read the first page.
Then the second.
Finally he looked up.
“You’re sure?”
“Yes.”
He nodded slowly.
No shouting.
No threats.
No money transfer.
He had already returned every dollar.
“I won’t fight you on custody.”
Rachel was surprised.
Grant noticed.
“I know what I did.”
“What are you asking for?”
“Supervised visits at first. If Maddie wants them.”
Rachel watched him carefully.
“And later?”
“If she trusts me again, I’d like shared time.”
“Not fifty-fifty.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because this isn’t about what’s fair to me.”
That sounded like a new man.
Or maybe the beginning of one.
Rachel sat down.
“Grant, the divorce isn’t punishment.”
“I know.”
“I don’t trust you.”
“I know.”
“I don’t know if I ever will again.”
He nodded.
“I know.”
“That doesn’t mean I want to destroy you.”
“I know.”
She almost smiled.
“You have anything else to say?”
Grant looked down.
“I’m sorry I turned you into the villain so I could keep my secret.”
Rachel’s throat tightened.
“I’m sorry I let people attack your character.”
He continued.
“I’m sorry I hurt Maddie because I was ashamed of myself.”
Rachel looked away.
“And I’m sorry it took finding out my whole life was built on someone else’s lie before I understood what I did to you.”
That one landed.
Rachel’s eyes burned.
“Thank you.”
Grant signed the preliminary agreement.
Then stopped.
“There’s one thing.”
Rachel tensed.
“What?”
“I want to testify.”
“Against Vale?”
“Yes.”
“Your attorney may not like that.”
“I don’t care.”
“You should.”
Grant leaned back.
“You know what my father told me yesterday?”
“What?”
“He said testifying publicly would make the Whitmore family look unstable.”
Rachel laughed.
Grant smiled sadly.
“Yeah.”
“What did you tell him?”
“I told him that family image is what got us here.”
Rachel studied him.
“Grant.”
“What?”
“That’s the smartest thing you’ve said in months.”
“Low bar.”
“Extremely.”
For the first time in weeks, they both laughed.
It hurt.
But not in the worst way.
Two months later, a grand jury indicted Adrian Vale on multiple charges related to fraud, battery, falsification of medical records, and obstruction.
Civil cases followed.
Then congressional hearings.
Then documentary crews.
Rachel declined every interview.
Grant accepted one.
Only one.
On camera, the reporter asked him why he had initially accused his wife of cheating.
Grant looked straight into the lens.
“Because I was ashamed of being infertile, and instead of dealing with my shame, I handed it to my wife.”
The reporter paused.
“And your daughter?”
Grant’s jaw tightened.
“I hurt her.”
“Do you still consider her your daughter, given the genetic findings?”
Grant didn’t hesitate.
“Yes.”
Rachel watched the interview from home.
Maddie sat beside her eating apple slices.
On screen, the reporter pressed.
“But biologically, she’s your half-sister.”
Grant’s expression hardened.
“She is a five-year-old child. I changed her diapers. I held her when she was sick. I taught her how to write her name. I don’t care what a lab calls our genetic relationship. I am responsible for what I promised her.”
Maddie looked at Rachel.
“Daddy’s on TV.”
“Yes.”
“Is he telling the truth now?”
Rachel looked at her daughter.
“Yes.”
Maddie took another bite.
“Good.”
Rachel almost cried.
Then the reporter asked Grant one final question.
“Do you forgive Dr. Vale?”
Grant looked directly into the camera.
“No.”
The interview ended.
Rachel’s phone rang.
Evelyn.
Her voice was shaking.
“Rachel, we found something in Walter’s old files.”
“What?”
“A sealed envelope.”
“From Vale?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Thirty-eight years ago.”
Rachel’s chest tightened.
“What does it say?”
May you like
Evelyn began to cry.
“It says Grant wasn’t the only one.”
