Chapter 13 - The Proof Howard Had Before Conrad Left
The paternity report was found inside Warren Pike's old case archive.
He didn't give it willingly.
My new attorney obtained it after I threatened a malpractice lawsuit and reported the payments from Howard.
Within forty-eight hours, Warren's attorney delivered an encrypted folder containing everything.
The test was dated two days before Conrad packed his bags.
Probability of biological paternity:
99.98 percent.
Conrad stared at the report across Margaret's dining table.
"He knew."
I nodded.
Howard knew the baby—or babies—were Conrad's before Conrad left.
Which meant Howard didn't merely suspect the pregnancy was real.
He scientifically proved it.
Then lied anyway.
Conrad looked shattered.
But another signature appeared at the bottom.
Dr. Thomas Mercer.
My obstetrician.
I felt sick.
"Thomas participated?"
We called him.
He was retired in Oregon.
He answered after four rings.
When I identified myself, he became silent.
"I've expected this call for years."
That sentence told me everything.
Thomas admitted Howard approached him through an attorney.
Howard claimed Conrad needed confirmation because our marriage was ending.
Thomas agreed to release a prenatal genetic sample after receiving what he believed was my written consent.
The consent was forged.
When Thomas later discovered that, he threatened to report Howard.
Howard threatened his medical license.
Thomas backed down.
I wanted to hate him.
Part of me did.
But before the call ended, he said:
"I kept the original documentation."
"Why?"
"Because cowardice sometimes leaves people hoping evidence will do what they were too afraid to do themselves."
Another coward.
Another buried truth.
Still, his records gave us what we needed.
Howard's actions were now documented from beginning to end.
Conrad offered to pursue every legal option.
I surprised him.
"I don't want a war."
He stared at me.
"After everything?"
"I want accountability."
I placed my hand on the four trust documents.
"My children already lost eight years. I'm not spending the next eight fighting dead men and old lawyers."
Warren Pike surrendered his license before the disciplinary hearing.
He returned every dollar Howard had paid him plus damages through his malpractice insurer.
Thomas submitted a formal statement.
The Ashby family board voted unanimously to open all remaining historical records.
And Conrad did something Howard never would have done.
He publicly disclosed the fraud involving my father.
Samuel Bennett's name was cleared.
Twenty-seven years after Howard destroyed his reputation, the company issued a written apology.
I cried when I read it.
Not because my father needed a corporation's permission to be honorable.
Because the truth had finally caught up with the lie.
By New Year's Eve, we were preparing to return to Denver.
Conrad helped load our bags.
He didn't ask me to stay.
I respected him more for that.
Instead, he said:
"Can I come visit?"
"Ask them."
The children stood near the SUV.
Conrad approached them.
Noah said yes.
Ava said yes.
Miles asked whether Conrad would actually attend his chess tournament in February.
Conrad said yes.
Sophie crossed her arms.
"You live in Montana."
"I can fly."
"You work."
"I can move things."
She narrowed her eyes.
"Adults always say that."
Conrad smiled.
"Then don't believe me yet."
Sophie considered him.
"Okay."
As I opened the driver's door, Conrad touched my arm.
"Cecily."
I turned.
He didn't say he loved me.
He didn't ask for another chance.
He simply said:
"Thank you for bringing them."
I looked at him.
"I didn't bring them for you."
"I know."
That was the right answer.
We drove away.
Three weeks later, something arrived at my Denver office.
A cardboard box.
Inside were four framed photographs.
Conrad with each child during Christmas.
Beneath them was a fifth frame.
Empty.
A handwritten note was attached.
This space isn't for the past.
It's for whatever we earn next.
I stared at it for a long time.
Then my phone rang.
It was Sophie's school.
"Ms. Bennett, there's a man here for the parent-volunteer orientation. He says he's Sophie Ashby's father."
I looked through the office window.
Conrad was standing in the lobby.
May you like
Three weeks after promising not to disappear.
He had shown up.
