Chapter 5 - MARTHA KNEW THE NAME
“Martha.”
Richard said her name again.
She refused to look at him.
David did.
“Mom, don’t.”
Two words.
That was all I needed.
Rebecca stared between them.
“What is M.L.T.?”
Martha sat down.
For the first time that evening, she looked old.
Not elegant.
Not composed.
Just tired.
I lowered the tablet.
“I’d like to know too.”
David stepped between us.
“This has nothing to do with Claire.”
“That sentence is becoming less convincing every minute,” Richard said.
Martha closed her eyes.
Then she spoke.
“Michael Langley Trust.”
Rebecca frowned.
“We don’t have a Michael Langley.”
Nobody moved.
Martha looked at David.
“Yes, we do.”
The silence changed.
This was no longer about an affair.
Richard’s voice came slowly.
“Who is Michael?”
Martha began to cry.
Not dramatically.
Just two quiet tears she wiped away immediately.
“Your grandson.”
Rebecca sat down hard.
My stomach tightened.
David had no brother.
Rebecca had two daughters.
David and I had never had children.
At least that was what I believed.
Richard looked at his son.
David said nothing.
Martha continued.
“Michael is twelve.”
I looked at David.
Every sound in the room became distant.
Twelve.
David and I had been married eleven years.
My mind immediately did the arithmetic.
Elena whispered, “David?”
His head snapped toward her.
And suddenly I understood.
This was news to Elena too.
Martha looked at me with something approaching shame.
“Claire, I wanted him to tell you.”
“Who is Michael’s mother?”
No one answered.
I repeated it.
David finally spoke.
“It happened before we married.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
His eyes shifted.
Martha covered her face.
Richard stepped toward his son.
“Who is the mother?”
David swallowed.
Then Elena made a strange sound behind him.
Not quite a gasp.
Not quite a sob.
Everyone turned.
Her face had gone completely white.
She looked at David as if she had finally solved an equation she had been staring at for years.
“No,” she whispered.
David did not deny it.
And that was when Elena understood the secret before I did.
May you like
Michael’s mother was not some woman from David’s past.
It was her.
