Chapter 13: The Brother I Buried Twice
For several seconds, I couldn't understand what Vanessa had said.
Ethan.
My younger brother.
The boy who used to follow me around our father's workshop, begging to hold the tools.
The teenager who stole my car keys and crashed Dad's old Mustang.
The young man who disappeared from our family after a terrible argument twelve years earlier.
Ethan had been gone from my life for so long that I rarely said his name.
And now Vanessa was telling me he might be the father of my daughter.
I looked at her.
“Take that back.””
Vanessa started crying.
“Marcus, please.””
“Take it back.””
“I didn't want you to find out like this.””
I looked down at the DNA report.
“Did you sleep with my brother?””
She closed her eyes.
“Yes.””
The word was barely audible.
I placed the baby carefully into the nurse's arms.
Then I stepped away from the bed.
“When?””
Vanessa wiped her cheeks.
“Before I became pregnant.””
“How long before?””
She looked toward the window.
“About three weeks.””
I laughed.
It was a horrible sound.
“You were sleeping with my brother while telling me you wanted to start a family?””
“I was confused.””
“You were sleeping with Ethan?””
She nodded.
I turned toward the door.
“Marcus, don't leave.””
I stopped.
“Why?””
“Because I need to explain.””
I looked at her.
“You've had eight months to explain.””
She began speaking rapidly.
“Ethan contacted me first. He said he wanted to reconnect with you, but he was afraid you wouldn't forgive him. We started talking.
He was lonely, and I was lonely. One thing led to another.””
I stared at her.
“Did you tell him we were married?””
“Yes.””
“Did he know we were trying for a baby?””
She nodded.
I felt physically sick.
“And you still went ahead?””
“I didn't plan for it to happen.””
I looked at the baby.
My daughter was sleeping peacefully in the nurse's arms.
Her tiny mouth moved as though she were dreaming.
“What did Ethan say when you told him you were pregnant?””
Vanessa hesitated.
“He wanted to be involved.””
“Did he know there was a chance the baby was his?””
“Yes.””
I pressed my fingers against my forehead.
“Then why did you put Adrian's name on the hospital paperwork?””
“Because Adrian was willing to help financially.””
“And Ethan?””
“He didn't have money.””
I looked at her.
“So you chose the man who could pay you.””
She began crying harder.
“I was trying to make sure the baby had a good life.””
“You were selling access to my child.””
“I wasn't selling her!””
I pointed at the DNA report.
“Then explain this.””
Vanessa looked away.
I turned toward the nurse.
“Can you take the baby to the nursery for a moment?””
She nodded and gently carried my daughter out.
Once the door closed, Vanessa whispered:
“Ethan didn't want me to tell you.””
I froze.
“What?””
“He said you'd never forgive him.””
I stared at her.
“And you agreed?””
She nodded.
I took out my phone.
I hadn't spoken to Ethan in twelve years.
I still had his old number saved, although I had never called it.
I pressed the contact.
The phone rang.
Once.
Twice.
Then someone answered.
“Hello?””
I couldn't speak.
The voice was older than I remembered, but unmistakable.
“Marcus?””
My throat tightened.
“Ethan.””
Silence.
Then he said something that made my blood run cold.
“Did she finally tell you?””
I gripped the phone.
“You knew?””
“Marcus, listen—”
“You knew she was pregnant?””
“Yes.””
“And you knew there was a chance the baby was yours?””
He exhaled.
“Yes.””
I closed my eyes.
“Why?””
“It's complicated.””
“No. It isn't.””
“Marcus, I wanted to tell you.””
“When?””
He said nothing.
“When were you planning to tell me?””
“After everything settled down.””
I laughed bitterly.
“Everything settled down? You slept with my wife, let me believe I was the father, and waited for the baby to be born.””
“That's not fair.””
“What's not fair?””
“I didn't know she was going to marry you.””
I froze.
“What?””
Ethan continued.
“When Vanessa and I first started seeing each other, she told me you two were separated.””
I looked at Vanessa.
She was staring at me.
“Separated?””
“Yes. She said the marriage was practically over.””
“Ethan, we were living together.””
“I know that now.””
“You came to our wedding.””
“I know.””
“You stood beside me when I said my vows.””
His voice cracked.
“I know, Marcus.””
I couldn't breathe.
Then Ethan said:
“There's something else you need to know. Vanessa told me you were the reason Dad died.””
I went completely still.
“What did you just say?””
“She said you forced him to change the family business arrangements. She told me you took everything that should have belonged to me.””
I looked toward Vanessa.
Her expression had changed.
For the first time, she seemed genuinely afraid.
“Ethan,” I said slowly, “where did you hear that?””
“From Vanessa.””
I looked at my wife.
She shook her head.
“Marcus, don't listen to him.””
I raised my hand.
“Keep talking, Ethan.””
He took a shaky breath.
“She said Mom had been hiding Dad's money. She said you and Mom had pushed me out of the family.””
I felt something cold settle inside me.
Vanessa hadn't just manipulated me.
She had used my family's old wounds to destroy the relationship between two brothers.
“Where are you now?”” I asked.
“Outside the hospital.””
I turned toward the door.
“Stay there.””
I ended the call.
Vanessa immediately grabbed my arm.
“Marcus, please. You don't understand.””
I looked down at her hand.
“Don't touch me.””
She released me.
I walked out of the room.
Ethan was standing near the hospital entrance.
He looked older.
His hair was shorter, his face thinner, and there were deep lines around his eyes.
For a moment, I saw the fourteen-year-old boy who used to wait for me outside school.
Then I remembered what he'd done.
He stepped toward me.
“Marcus.””
I punched him.
Not hard enough to knock him down, but hard enough to send him stumbling backward.
He touched his lip.
“I deserved that.””
I stared at him.
“You slept with my wife.””
“I know.””
“You knew she was married.””
“I thought you were separating.””
“You came to my wedding!””
He lowered his head.
“I know.””
I wanted to hit him again.
Instead, I asked the only question that mattered.
“Did you know the baby might be yours?””
He nodded.
“Yes.””
“Then why didn't you come forward?””
“Because Vanessa threatened me.””
“With what?””
He pulled a folded document from his jacket.
“Something she said she had found in Dad's old files.””
I took it.
It was a copy of a letter bearing my father's signature.
The letter claimed Ethan had been removed from the family trust because he had stolen company funds.
But something about the signature looked wrong.
I looked up.
“Where did you get this?””
“Vanessa.””
I stared at the paper.
May you like
Then I heard Ethan whisper:
“Marcus, she told me you were the one who forged it.””
