Chapter 5: The Groom's Name on the Report
Maya couldn't hear the wedding guests anymore.
She could see their mouths moving. She could see Lorraine wiping her cheeks, Attorney Carter lowering the phone, and Isaiah gripping the edge of the ceremony table.
But all she could hear was Daniel Brooks repeating one name.
Marcus Reed.
Her fiancé.
The man who had held her through nightmares about the father who abandoned her. The man who had sat beside her while she searched old photographs for clues about Isaiah's disappearance. The man who had promised, beneath the same chandeliers, that their marriage would never be built on secrets.
Maya slowly turned toward him.
“Tell me he made a mistake.””
Marcus's face had gone pale.
“Maya, I can explain.””
She stepped away from him.
“That's not what I asked.””
He looked at the phone, then at the DNA report.
“I didn't know everything.””
Isaiah let out a bitter laugh.
“You knew enough.””
Marcus spun toward him.
“Don't you dare talk to me about secrets.””
“Then tell her what you did with the report.””
“Stop!”” Maya shouted.
Both men fell silent.
She stared at Marcus, waiting for him to meet her eyes.
“Did you know about this test before today?””
He hesitated.
“Yes.””
The answer was barely audible.
Maya took another step backward.
“How long?””
Marcus rubbed his palms against the sides of his tuxedo trousers.
“Since before I proposed.””
A gasp rose from the guests.
Maya's hand went to her mouth.
“Before you proposed?””
“I was going to tell you.””
“When?””
“After the wedding.””
She stared at him as though the words had physically struck her.
“You planned to marry me first and explain my own family afterward?””
“No. That's not how it was.””
“Then explain it!””
Marcus looked down at the ring on her finger.
“I found a sealed copy of the report in a collection of legal documents my father kept. I recognized your name because we'd already been dating. At first, I didn't understand what it meant.””
“What did the report say?””
“I didn't read the result.””
Isaiah slammed his palm against the table.
“Liar!””
Marcus stepped toward him.
“You don't get to decide what I saw.””
“Then tell her!””
Maya moved between them, her ivory gown brushing against the fallen white rose.
“Marcus. Look at me.””
He did.
“Did you know Isaiah was the man named in the report?””
“Yes.””
“Did you know he might be my biological father?””
“Yes.””
Her eyes filled.
“And you still asked me to marry you.””
Marcus's jaw trembled.
“Because I fell in love with you before I knew any of this. And when I found the report, I was terrified that telling you would destroy the life we were building.””
“You decided that for me?””
“I made the wrong decision.””
“You didn't make a decision about dinner plans, Marcus! You made a decision about my entire life!””
He flinched.
“I know.””
“No, you don't.”” She pulled her hand away when he tried to reach for it.
“You don't know what it's like to spend your childhood believing your father didn't want you, only to discover that the man you're marrying knew there might be another side to the story.””
Marcus looked stricken.
“I never wanted you to feel unwanted.””
“But you let me keep believing it.””
He had no answer.
Attorney Carter placed the phone on the table, keeping Daniel on speaker.
“Marcus, where did you find the document?””
He swallowed.
“In my father's home office.””
“Your father's name?””
“Richard Reed.””
The attorney went still.
Isaiah stared at Marcus.
“Richard was your father?””
Marcus nodded.
Something changed in Isaiah's face. The anger remained, but beneath it was a deep, unmistakable fear.
“Did your father ever mention Denise Bennett?””
Marcus looked between them.
“Not to me.””
“Did he mention me?””
“No.””
“Then why did you have a copy of a report that was supposed to remain confidential?””
Marcus shook his head.
“I don't know. My father kept boxes of contracts, court records, and old correspondence in his office. I found the envelope while looking for documents related to his estate.””
“When?”” Maya asked.
“About a year ago.””
She closed her eyes.
A year.
Twelve months of anniversaries, Sunday dinners, wedding fittings, and whispered promises.
A year in which Marcus had carried a secret that could have changed everything she believed about her childhood.
“Why didn't you destroy it?”” she asked.
“Because I thought it might be important.””
“And why didn't you show it to me?””
“Because I was afraid of what it would do to us.””
Maya laughed once, painfully.
“Look around, Marcus. Do you think hiding it saved us?””
He looked at the floor.
“No.””
Daniel's voice came through the phone.
“Maya, I need you to hear something before you decide what this means.””
She turned toward the speaker.
“Another secret?””
“An explanation.””
“You've all had twenty years to explain yourselves. Why should I believe you now?””
“You shouldn't believe anyone blindly. That's why you need to see the original records.””
Attorney Carter nodded slowly.
“Daniel is right about one thing. We need the complete file.””
She opened her briefcase again and removed a thin stack of documents held together with a metal clip.
“This is a separate collection,” she explained.
“It was delivered to me three days ago by a courier acting on behalf of the original records custodian.””
Isaiah stared at the stack.
“You didn't tell me there was another file.””
“I didn't know what it contained until this morning.””
Maya stepped closer.
“Open it.””
Attorney Carter removed the clip.
The first page was a legal inventory. The second was a handwritten note. The third was a photocopy of a document bearing several signatures.
Maya leaned forward.
One signature belonged to Isaiah Carter.
Another belonged to Richard Reed.
And the third belonged to Denise Bennett.
The date at the top was twenty years old.
Maya looked up.
“Why would my mother sign something with Marcus's father and Isaiah?””
Nobody answered.
She turned the page over.
A handwritten sentence appeared beneath the photocopied signatures.
If the child ever discovers the truth, the original agreement must be produced.
Maya's breath caught.
“An agreement about me?””
Attorney Carter nodded.
“It appears so.””
Marcus stared at his father's signature.
“I've never seen that document.””
Isaiah's face had drained of color.
“Richard told me he destroyed it.””
Daniel's voice came through the phone, low and urgent.
“He didn't destroy it. He kept it because he was afraid someone would use it against him.””
Maya gripped the table.
“What agreement?””
Daniel hesitated.
Then he said, “The agreement that determined who would raise you, who would stay away, and who would have the right to tell you the truth.””
Maya looked at Isaiah, then at Marcus.
Her whole life seemed to stand between them, divided by two men who had both claimed to protect her.
“Who signed away my right to know my own father?”” she whispered.
Attorney Carter turned the final page.
At the bottom was a line labeled *WITNESS TO THE AGREEMENT*.
The signature beside it belonged to Lorraine.
Maya slowly turned toward her mother's oldest friend.
Lorraine began shaking her head before Maya said a word.
May you like
“Please,” Lorraine whispered.
“You have to let me explain.””
