Chapter 9 - RYAN FACED THE MOTHER WHO RAISED HIMRyan agreed to meet Diane once.
Attorneys nearby.
No children.
He walked into the room holding the photograph of Caroline with newborn him.
Diane saw it.
Her face changed.
Ryan placed it on the table.
“Why?”
She looked away.
“I raised you.”
“That is not an answer.”
“I was your mother.”
“You were.”
Diane looked up, surprised.
Ryan continued:
“And Caroline was too.”
Her eyes filled.
“You don’t know her.”
“No.”
“Because she died.”
“No.”
His voice shook.
“Because you erased her.”
Diane cried.
“I protected you from the Vales.”
“At first?”
“Yes.”
“Fine.”
He leaned forward.
“Explain the death certificate.”
Silence.
“Explain the money.”
No answer.
“Explain testing Lily.”
Diane said:
“I needed to know.”
“Know what?”
“If Claire had…”
She stopped.
Ryan’s face hardened.
“If Claire had cheated?”
Diane looked away.
“Why?”
“Because Lily looks like Caroline.”
There it was.
The resemblance triggered fear.
Diane hoped Lily wasn’t Ryan’s biological child.
Because if she wasn’t, perhaps one branch of the trust claim weakened.
Instead, the test confirmed Lily’s connection to the Vales.
Ryan whispered:
“So you threw my daughter’s food away because she proved I wasn’t yours biologically.”
Diane’s face collapsed.
“I never said you weren’t mine.”
Ryan shook his head.
“That’s the whole problem.”
She stared.
“You think ‘mine’ means ownership.”
Silence.
He stood.
“I am your son because you raised me.”
Diane began crying.
“But that does not mean you own my history.”
Then:
May you like
“And you do not get my children because you raised me.”
He left.
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