Chapter 4 - GEORGE’S LAST MESSAGE
Ethan arrived at Robert’s house an hour later.
I hadn’t invited him.
Robert had.
The second Ethan walked through the doorway, he froze.
Robert froze too.
Father and son.
Forty years apart.
Same face.
Same stunned expression.
Ethan looked at me.
“What is this?”
“Sit down.”
“No.”
His eyes moved to Robert.
“Are you my father?”
Robert answered simply.
“Yes.”
Ethan laughed.
It wasn’t humor.
It was disbelief trying to survive.
“No.”
“I understand.”
“No, you don’t.”
Ethan turned toward me.
“This is insane.”
I handed him Vivian’s letter.
He read it once.
Then again.
The color drained from his face.
“This could be fake.”
Robert nodded.
“It could.”
“You expect me to believe you?”
“No.”
“Then why are you here?”
“Because you asked.”
“I didn’t ask you anything.”
Robert’s voice remained calm.
“You’ve been asking your whole life. You just didn’t know it.”
Ethan stepped forward.
I moved between them.
“Stop.”
He looked at me.
“My daughter gets humiliated and suddenly you’re investigating my family?”
“Your family started investigating mine.”
That shut him up.
I placed the flash drive on the table.
“This came from George.”
Ethan stared at it.
Robert brought out his laptop.
Nobody spoke as he inserted the drive.
One video file appeared.
GEORGE_FINAL.mp4.
Ethan sat down.
Robert pressed play.
George Mercer appeared on the screen.
Older.
Thin.
Tired.
Alive.
Ethan whispered, “Dad.”
George looked directly into the camera.
“If you’re watching this, Ethan, then I probably didn’t get the courage to tell you myself.”
Ethan covered his mouth.
George continued.
“You are my son.”
Ethan’s eyes filled.
“Nothing you hear after this changes that.”
He paused.
“But biologically, Robert is your father.”
Ethan closed his eyes.
George explained everything.
The affair.
The pregnancy.
Vivian’s lie.
Robert’s attempts to contact Ethan.
Then George said something none of us expected.
“Your mother convinced me Robert would destroy our family. For years, I believed her. I regret that.”
Robert looked away.
George leaned closer to the camera.
“But there is another reason I’m recording this.”
My stomach tightened.
“Vivian has spent most of our marriage terrified of secrets. Not because she fears shame. Because secrets give her power.”
George picked up a folder.
“I discovered financial accounts in her name that I never knew existed.”
Ethan looked up.
“What?”
“Money has been moved from Mercer Construction for years.”
Ethan stared at the screen.
George continued.
“I confronted Vivian. She denied everything. Then she threatened to tell you that I wasn’t your father unless I stopped investigating.”
Robert cursed under his breath.
Ethan didn’t move.
George’s voice softened.
“I was going to tell you anyway.”
Then the recording shifted.
“If something happens to me before I finish this, speak to Daniel Cross.”
“Who?” Ethan whispered.
Robert answered.
“George’s accountant.”
George continued.
“Daniel knows where the records are.”
The video ended.
Silence.
Ethan sat motionless.
Finally he asked, “Why didn’t Dad call the police?”
Robert shook his head.
“I don’t know.”
Ethan turned toward me.
“Does my mother know you’re here?”
“Probably not yet.”
His phone rang.
Vivian.
We all looked at the screen.
Ethan answered.
“Mom.”
Her voice came through immediately.
“Where are you?”
Ethan stared at Robert.
“With family.”
Vivian went silent.
Then she whispered, “You went to him.”
Ethan’s face hardened.
“You knew.”
“Come home.”
“You knew Robert was my father.”
“Ethan—”
“You watched me accuse my wife of cheating while you knew your entire marriage was built on the same lie.”
“That is not the same.”
“It’s exactly the same!”
“COME HOME.”
“No.”
Her breathing became sharp.
Then Vivian said something none of us understood.
“Ethan, listen to me carefully. Whatever Robert showed you, do not contact Daniel Cross.”
Robert and I exchanged a look.
Ethan slowly stood.
“Why?”
“Because Daniel is dead.”
The line went silent.
Robert grabbed his phone.
“That’s impossible.”
He searched.
Then his face changed.
Daniel Cross had died the previous evening.
May you like
Less than twelve hours after the laboratory released Emmie’s DNA results.
And for the first time, none of us believed in coincidence.
