Chapter 3: Unknown
The word remained on the screen.
*UNKNOWN.*
Aaliyah stared at it until the letters seemed to blur.
Then she laughed.
It was a small, broken sound.
“No.””
Derrick stepped toward her.
“Aaliyah, listen to me.””
She backed away.
“No.””
“Aaliyah—”
“You're my father.””
Derrick's face twisted.
“I raised you.””
“That wasn't what I asked.””
He stopped.
The auditorium remained painfully quiet.
Monique stood near the podium, gripping the edge with both hands.
Renee stared at the floor.
Aaliyah pointed at the screen.
“It says unknown.””
Calvin nodded.
“The original record lists your biological father as unidentified.””
Derrick turned on him.
“Then why was I listed as her father on every other document?””
“Because someone changed the records.””
Aaliyah's eyes widened.
“Who?””
Calvin looked toward Renee.
Renee shook her head.
“No.””
Derrick turned slowly.
“Renee?””
“No.””
“Did you change my daughter's records?””
“I didn't—”
“You just said no.””
Renee's breathing became uneven.
“I said I didn't do that.””
Aaliyah stepped closer.
“Then why are you scared?””
“I’m not scared.””
“You are.””
Renee looked at her.
For the first time in Aaliyah's life, she saw something she had never seen in her stepmother's face.
Not control.
Not confidence.
Desperation.
Renee whispered, “You don't understand.””
“Then explain it.””
“I can't.””
“Why?””
“Because your mother—”
Renee stopped.
Monique stepped forward.
“Go ahead.””
Renee looked at her.
“You were never supposed to come back.””
Monique's face hardened.
“I know.””
Derrick looked between them.
“What does that mean?””
Monique didn't answer.
Instead, she opened the evidence folder again.
This time she pulled out a smaller envelope.
Aaliyah watched her fingers tremble.
“What is that?””
Monique held it against her chest.
“A DNA report.””
Derrick went completely still.
Renee whispered, “No.””
Aaliyah stared at the envelope.
“DNA?””
Monique nodded.
“The truth about who your father is.””
Derrick shook his head.
“Don't.””
Aaliyah looked at him.
“Why?””
“Because this isn't the place.””
“This became the place when she walked onto my graduation stage.””
Derrick's jaw tightened.
“I love you.””
“I know.””
“Nothing on that paper changes that.””
Aaliyah's eyes filled with tears.
“Then why are you afraid of it?””
He had no answer.
Monique looked at him.
“Because he already knows.””
Aaliyah turned.
“Who?””
Monique's lips trembled.
“The man whose name is on the original report.””
Calvin reached for the folder.
“I should handle this.””
“No,” Aaliyah said.
Everyone looked at her.
She wiped a tear from her cheek.
“I want to see it.””
Monique hesitated.
Then she handed her the envelope.
Aaliyah took it.
The paper felt strangely heavy.
She looked down at the seal.
It had been broken once before.
Then resealed.
Aaliyah noticed.
“Someone opened this.””
Calvin's expression changed.
“Yes.””
“Who?””
He didn't answer.
Aaliyah looked at Renee.
Renee's eyes filled with tears.
“I was trying to protect you.””
Aaliyah's voice became colder.
“That's what everyone keeps saying.””
She tore the envelope open.
Derrick suddenly grabbed her wrist.
“Wait.””
Aaliyah looked at him.
His eyes were wet.
“Please.””
She slowly pulled her hand away.
“Why?””
Derrick swallowed.
“Because once you read it, you can't unread it.””
Aaliyah looked at the paper.
“Neither can you.””
She unfolded it.
The first page contained a laboratory header.
The second contained the test results.
Aaliyah's eyes moved down the page.
Then stopped.
Her face changed.
She looked at Monique.
“Mom?””
Monique couldn't speak.
Aaliyah looked at Derrick.
His face had gone gray.
“What does this mean?””
Calvin stepped closer.
“Read the final line.””
Aaliyah's eyes dropped.
She read it silently.
Then again.
Her hand began shaking.
“No.””
Renee whispered, “Aaliyah…”
“No.””
She held up the page.
“This says…”
Her voice broke.
Derrick closed his eyes.
Aaliyah stared at him.
“This says you're not my biological father.””
Derrick didn't deny it.
The silence that followed felt louder than the graduation ceremony ever had.
Aaliyah looked at Monique.
“Then who is?””
Monique began crying.
“I wanted to tell you differently.””
“Who?””
Monique looked toward the auditorium doors.
Nobody understood why.
Then the doors opened.
Aaliyah's breath caught.
A Black man in his late forties stood in the entrance.
Dark suit.
Gray at the temples.
His eyes locked immediately onto Monique.
Then Aaliyah.
Then the DNA report in her hand.
Derrick whispered,
“No…”
The man walked slowly toward the stage.
Aaliyah couldn't move.
Monique covered her mouth.
Renee backed into the podium.
And the stranger said,
“Aaliyah…”
She stared at him.
“How do you know my name?””
He stopped beneath the stage lights.
“Because I've been looking for you for twenty-two years.””
Derrick stepped in front of Aaliyah.
“Stay away from my daughter.””
The man's eyes hardened.
“She's not your daughter.””
He looked past Derrick.
Straight at Aaliyah.
“She is mine.””
And then he added the one sentence that made Renee collapse into the nearest chair.
“Your mother didn't disappear because she wanted to leave you.””
May you like
He glanced at Renee.
“She disappeared because she found out what Renee had done.””
