Chapter 5 - THE MAN IN THE DOORWAY
Adrian moved instinctively, pushing Julia and me behind him as the apartment door swung open. Sarah grabbed Tommy, pulling the little boy tight against her chest.
A tall man in a tailored gray suit stepped into the room. He looked wildly out of place against the peeling wallpaper and thrifted furniture. He closed the door calmly behind him and locked it.
It was Richard Vance.
“Well,” Richard said, adjusting his cuffs. He looked at Adrian with a mixture of pity and annoyance. “Eleanor said you caused a scene at dinner, but I didn’t think you’d unravel the thread this quickly.”
“You bastard,” Adrian snarled, stepping forward.
Richard didn’t flinch. He reached into his coat pocket. Adrian braced for a weapon, but Richard pulled out a thick envelope and tossed it onto the coffee table.
“Your mother’s monthly payment,” Richard said to Sarah. He looked at Tommy. “He’s getting big.”
“Don’t look at him,” Adrian shouted, stepping between Richard and the child. “You’re going to jail, Richard. For what you did to Elena. For the cover-up.”
Richard sighed, looking genuinely exhausted. “Adrian, grow up. Do you really think your mother would let me walk around with a liability like this hanging over my head? She owns me.”
“You assaulted her daughter!” Julia said, her voice trembling with disgust.
“It wasn’t an assault,” Richard said quietly.
“Don’t you dare defend yourself,” Adrian warned, his fists clenched so tight his knuckles were white.
“I’m not defending myself. I’m telling you the truth,” Richard said. He looked at me, standing in the back of the room. “Nora knows. Ask her.”
The room went dead silent. Everyone turned to look at me.
My heart hammered against my ribs like a trapped bird. “I… I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Don’t you, Nora?” Richard stepped closer. “You packed Elena’s bags. You walked her to the bus stop. You’re the one who told Eleanor she was pregnant in the first place.”
“No!” I cried out, stepping back. “That’s a lie! I never told her!”
“Then how did Eleanor find out?” Richard asked smoothly. “Elena was hiding it. I was paying for a private doctor. Nobody knew but you.”
Adrian turned to me, his eyes wide with betrayal. “Nora? Did you tell my mother?”
“I swear to you, Adrian, I didn’t!” I was crying now, the tears hot and fast. “Elena confided in me. I promised I would never tell. I would never hurt her!”
“Then who did?” Julia asked, looking between me and Richard.
Richard smiled, a sad, broken thing. He reached into his pocket again and pulled out a small, folded piece of paper. A child’s drawing.
He handed it to Julia.
Julia unfolded it. It was a crayon drawing of a house, a tree, and a family. But at the bottom, written in a child’s messy handwriting, was a name.
To Aunt Julia, Love Leo.
Julia stopped breathing. She stared at the paper as if it were a venomous snake.
“Why does Tommy’s drawing have the name Leo on it?” Adrian asked, confusion warring with the anger in his voice.
“Because Tommy isn’t Elena’s son,” Richard said softly. “Tommy is my grandson. My daughter’s child. Sarah is a paid actress Eleanor hired to keep you all distracted.”
The reversal hit like a physical blow. The boy playing with blocks wasn't Elena's son.
“Where is Elena?” Adrian demanded, grabbing Richard by the lapels of his expensive suit. “Where is my sister?”
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Richard didn’t fight back. He looked straight at Julia.
“Ask your fiancée, Adrian,” Richard whispered. “Ask her why her family in upstate New York has a four-year-old boy named Leo who looks exactly like you.”
