Chapter 2 - The First Confession
Nathan stared at his brother.
“What is she talking about?”
Ethan answered immediately.
“She’s trying to distract you.”
Vanessa laughed bitterly.
“Of course you’d say that.”
Nathan slammed his palm against the table.
“Both of you stop.”
The sound echoed through the dining room.
Vanessa flinched.
Ethan did not.
Nathan pointed toward the silicone stomach still lying on the floor.
“We start with that.”
Vanessa closed her eyes.
When she opened them again, the anger had disappeared.
“I lost the baby.”
Nathan froze.
Ethan’s expression hardened.
Vanessa continued before either man could speak.
“Seven weeks ago.”
Nathan stared at her.
“What?”
“I miscarried.”
The words hit him with a force he had not expected.
For one terrible second, anger gave way to grief.
“When?”
“While you were in Boston.”
Nathan remembered the trip.
Three days of investor meetings.
Vanessa had called him every night.
She had told him the baby was kicking.
Nathan’s face slowly changed.
“You told me you felt movement.”
“I was scared.”
“You sent me a video.”
“I know.”
“You showed me your stomach moving.”
Vanessa began crying.
“I didn’t know what else to do.”
Nathan’s voice became quiet.
“So you lost our child and decided to pretend the baby was still alive?”
“I thought you would leave me.”
Nathan stared at her.
“What?”
“You had been distant for months.”
“That gives you the right to do this?”
“No.”
“Then why?”
Vanessa gripped the back of a chair.
“Because the pregnancy was the only thing keeping this marriage together.”
Nathan looked almost physically ill.
Ethan stepped forward.
“She’s still lying.”
Vanessa’s head snapped toward him.
“You don’t know that.”
“Yes, I do.”
Ethan reached into the inside pocket of his jacket.
He removed a folded envelope.
Nathan frowned.
“What is that?”
“I wasn’t going to show you until I had proof.”
Vanessa rushed toward him.
“Don’t.”
Ethan moved the envelope out of her reach.
Nathan took it.
Inside were several printed pages.
The first was a photograph of Vanessa entering a private medical building.
The second showed her leaving twenty minutes later.
The third contained a list of dates.
Nathan looked confused.
“What am I looking at?”
Ethan pointed toward the top of the page.
“That building doesn’t have an obstetrics clinic.”
Vanessa went still.
Nathan read the name.
“Harrington Cosmetic Institute.”
Ethan nodded.
“She told you she had prenatal appointments there.”
Nathan looked at Vanessa.
She said nothing.
Ethan continued.
“I called every obstetric practice within three blocks.”
Vanessa whispered,
“You had no right.”
“You fabricated an entire pregnancy.”
Ethan looked at Nathan.
“There was no miscarriage seven weeks ago.”
Nathan’s hand tightened around the pages.
May you like
Ethan delivered the sentence slowly.
“Because I don’t think there was ever a baby.”
