Chapter 2 - The Letters
I turned to Chloe. “You knew?”
She looked at my father instead. “You said Carter’s driver was taking the earlier route.”
My father came closer. “This is a private family matter.”
“It became mine when you put me on that plane,” Chloe said.
Valerie gave a short, humorless laugh. “You tried to keep us from crossing paths?”
“Lucy shouldn’t have to hear this,” I said.
For the first time since I’d approached her, Valerie’s expression softened. She took Lucy to a seating area a few steps away, gave her a tablet and headphones, and returned where she could still see her.
“Four months after we broke up,” Valerie told me, “I went to your office. I had an ultrasound photo.”
“I never saw you.”
“I know. Security took me upstairs to see your father.”
Richard folded his arms. “She arrived making demands.”
“I asked to speak to Carter.”
“You asked for money.”
Valerie reached into her bag and pulled out a folded envelope. My name was written across the front in ink I recognized from every birthday card she’d ever given me.
“I wrote six letters,” she said. “That’s a copy of the first.”
I opened it. The date was there. So was her direct, careful handwriting.
I’m pregnant. You deserve to know. I don’t want money, Carter. I want us to talk about what happens next.
The page shook in my hand.
“Where’s the original?”
“Your father kept it.”
Richard’s jaw tightened. “I had reason to question her story.”
“You could have asked me,” I said.
“I knew what you’d do. You’d run back to her and throw away everything we’d built.”
Valerie’s voice cut through his. “Lucy was born in February. I sent him a photo. Did you question that too?”
My father didn’t answer.
A lounge attendant approached and politely asked if everything was all right. Chloe told him we needed a minute.
“You sent a photo?” I asked Valerie.
“And a birth announcement. Then I called your office. After that, a lawyer contacted me.”
Richard finally spoke. “My lawyer advised that we handle an unverified claim through counsel.”
“Your lawyer told me,” Valerie said, “that if I contacted Carter again, the Sterling family would seek custody.”
The floor seemed to shift beneath me.
“I never authorized that.”
“I know,” she said. “That’s why I kept trying.”
Chloe took a small step back from my father. “Richard told my parents the claim had been resolved.”
“What claim?” I asked.
She met my eyes. “He said a woman might come forward after the wedding.”
Lucy pulled off one headphone. “Mommy? Are we still going to see Aunt Nina?”
Valerie turned at once. “Yes, honey.”
She started toward her daughter. My father reached for her arm.
“Don’t,” I said.
He stopped.
May you like
My phone buzzed. A message from my father’s chief of staff lit the screen:
Press photos at the gate in twenty minutes. Make sure Ms. Rios is gone.
