Chapter 13 - What My Father Bought
My father had been dead for three years.
For most of my life, Robert Hart had been the standard against which I measured myself.
Disciplined.
Generous.
Decent.
At least, that was the version I knew.
The bank records told another story.
I confronted my mother that afternoon.
Cecilia didn’t deny it.
“Your father knew.”
Mara stood beside me.
“How much?”
Cecilia looked tired.
“He knew after the first year.”
My hands curled into fists.
“And he paid Vivi?”
“He paid her to keep quiet.”
Mara laughed bitterly.
“About imprisoning me?”
“About everything.”
Cecilia stared at the floor.
“The fake charities were being used to conceal political donations and private payments.”
I shook my head.
“You destroyed Mara’s life to protect the family name.”
“I thought we could fix it.”
“When?”
No answer.
“After year two?”
Silence.
“Year three?”
Her eyes filled.
“Daniel—”
“No.”
I stepped away.
“You don’t get to use my name like we’re still on the same side.”
Mara touched my arm.
Not to comfort me.
To steady me.
My mother saw it.
Something like shame crossed her face.
“I’m sorry.”
Mara stared at her.
“I spent four Christmases in a room with a plastic mirror.”
Cecilia began crying.
“I know.”
“No, you don’t.”
Mara’s voice stayed calm.
“That’s the point.”
Her phone rang.
Detective Reyes.
Mara answered.
Her expression changed.
“What?”
She put the call on speaker.
Reyes spoke quickly.
“We went to arrest Vivienne.”
My pulse jumped.
“And?”
“She’s gone.”
The house had been empty.
Her passport was missing.
So was $400,000 from a private account.
But Vivi had made one mistake.
She had used her car.
Traffic cameras caught it traveling north.
Toward Briar Hill.
Mara went completely still.
“Why would she go there?”
Reyes answered.
“We think there are archived patient files she wants destroyed.”
Mara grabbed her coat.
I followed.
By the time we reached Briar Hill, smoke was pouring from a storage building behind the abandoned main facility.
Firefighters were already arriving.
Detective Reyes spotted us.
“You need to stay back.”
Then a woman emerged through the side doors.
Vivienne.
Her black hair was loose.
Her face was streaked with ash.
She was carrying a metal file box.
Police shouted.
She stopped.
Mara stepped forward.
Vivi laughed.
“You just couldn’t stay gone.”
Mara’s face hardened.
“No.”
Vivienne looked at me.
“You would have been happy if she had.”
“That wasn’t your choice.”
“It became my choice when none of you were strong enough to make one.”
Police moved closer.
Vivi suddenly dropped the box.
Files scattered across the pavement.
One folder opened at Mara’s feet.
She looked down.
Then froze.
“What is that?”
I followed her eyes.
The label read:
ELLIS, NOAH — PATERNITY REVIEW.
I stared at Vivienne.
She smiled.
May you like
“You still don’t know everything.”
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