Chapter 6: The Night Rebecca Couldn’t Remember
Rebecca stopped breathing.
Not metaphorically.
She actually stopped.
Her entire body froze.
Then she whispered, “What?””
Noah looked from the note to his mother.
“What does that mean?””
Rebecca shook her head.
“I don’t know.””
But she had gone pale.
Too pale.
Laura crouched beside her.
“Rebecca.””
“I said I don’t know.””
Her voice was louder now.
Sharp.
Panicked.
I looked again at Gloria’s handwriting.
What happened the night Noah was conceived.
The words felt wrong.
Dark.
Deliberate.
I folded the note.
“We’re done here.””
Noah stared at me.
“What?””
“We take everything and leave.””
“You’re not answering me.””
“Because I don’t know the answer.””
He pointed at the note.
“It says something happened.””
“I know.””
“To my mother.””
“I know.””
“And your father knows.””
“Yes.””
“Then we ask him.””
Rebecca suddenly shouted.
“No!””
Her voice echoed off the storage-unit walls.
We all turned.
She stood.
Her breathing was ragged.
“No.””
Noah stepped toward her.
“Mom?””
She backed away.
“I need air.””
She rushed outside.
Noah moved to follow.
Laura gently touched his arm.
“Give her one minute.””
“She’s my mother.””
“I know.””
He looked furious.
But he stopped.
I followed Rebecca instead.
She was standing beneath the security light in the rain.
Not enough rain to soak us.
Just enough to make everything colder.
She had both hands pressed against the hood of her car.
“Rebecca.””
“Don’t.””
“I’m not asking anything.””
“Good.””
I waited.
After several seconds, she whispered, “I always thought I remembered that night.””
My stomach tightened.
“What night?””
She looked at me.
“The night Noah was conceived.””
My chest went cold.
“Rebecca.””
“I thought it was you.””
The words hit me hard.
I stepped closer.
“It was.””
She closed her eyes.
“I don’t know.””
I felt the world tilt again.
“What do you mean you don’t know?””
She wrapped her arms around herself.
“We were at that party.””
I remembered.
Senior year.
Late June.
A graduation party at my friend Eric’s lake house.
Music.
Beer.
Too many people.
Rebecca wearing a white sweater because the evening had turned colder than expected.
We had argued.
Then made up.
I remembered us walking down toward the dock.
I remembered kissing her.
I remembered leaving before midnight because my father had called me home.
“What don’t you remember?”” I asked.
Rebecca stared into the darkness.
“After you left.””
I felt something inside me drop.
“You stayed?””
“Yes.””
“I thought your friend Sarah drove you home.””
“She was supposed to.””
“What happened?””
Rebecca shook her head.
“I woke up the next morning in Sarah’s guest room.””
My breathing slowed.
Deliberately.
Carefully.
“And?””
“And I couldn’t remember how I got there.””
A cold sensation moved through my chest.
“Were you drinking?””
“Two beers.””
“That wouldn’t—”
“I know.””
Her voice cracked.
“I knew then too.””
She turned to me.
“I felt sick. My head was pounding. I had bruises on my arm.””
I stared at her.
“Rebecca…”
“I told Sarah I thought someone put something in my drink.””
My jaw tightened.
“What did she say?””
“That I was embarrassed because I drank too much.””
“Did you believe her?””
“For years, I made myself.””
The storage-unit door opened behind us.
Noah came out.
He had heard enough.
His face was white.
“Mom.””
Rebecca closed her eyes.
“Noah, please.””
“No.””
He walked closer.
“You thought someone drugged you?””
“I didn’t know.””
“Did you go to the hospital?””
“No.””
“Police?””
“No.””
“Why?””
She laughed once.
Broken.
“Because I was seventeen. Because Sarah told me I was being dramatic. Because my mother said people would call me a liar.””
Noah looked sick.
I felt rage building.
Not wild rage.
Focused.
Cold.
“Who was at that party after I left?””
Rebecca looked at me.
“A lot of people.””
“Daniel?””
Her expression changed.
“I don’t know.””
That was enough.
I remembered Daniel asking me about that party weeks later.
Had Rebecca stayed?
Had we fought?
Had we been together?
I thought he was curious.
Now every memory looked poisoned.
Noah whispered, “That’s why they tested Daniel.””
Rebecca covered her face.
Maybe.
The possibility hung there.
We couldn’t treat it as fact.
Not yet.
I forced myself to say it.
“We don’t know that.””
Noah looked at me.
“They tested him.””
“Yes.””
“And they expected him not to be my father.””
“That’s what Gloria wrote.””
“Why test him at all?””
I had no answer.
Laura and Emily came outside carrying the box between them.
Laura looked at Rebecca.
“We need to go home.””
Rebecca shook her head.
“No. We need to go to my mother’s.””
“Noah agreed immediately.
“Yes.””
I looked at my watch.
Almost midnight.
Then I looked at the box.
At seventeen years of lies.
“We go together.””
Forty minutes later, we pulled into Gloria’s driveway.
Her house was dark.
Too dark.
Rebecca frowned.
“She always leaves the porch light on.””
Noah was out of the car before anyone could stop him.
“Grandma?””
He knocked.
No answer.
Rebecca unlocked the door with her spare key.
Inside, the living room was empty.
Charles wasn’t there either.
My stomach tightened.
“Dad?””
Nothing.
Rebecca walked toward the kitchen.
“Mom?””
No answer.
Then we heard a sound upstairs.
A drawer closing.
Noah looked at me.
I moved first.
At the top of the stairs, a bedroom door stood open.
Light spilled across the hallway.
I entered.
Charles was standing beside Gloria’s dresser.
He was holding a stack of papers.
I stopped.
“What are you doing?””
He turned.
His face changed when he saw the metal box in Noah’s hands.
“You found it.””
Noah stepped forward.
“We found Daniel’s DNA test.””
Charles went still.
“And the note.””
Nothing.
“And Michael’s test.””
My father looked at me.
Then Rebecca appeared behind us.
Her voice shook.
“What happened at the lake house?””
Charles looked confused.
“What?””
“Seventeen years ago.””
His confusion disappeared too quickly.
Rebecca saw it.
“You know.””
“No.””
“You do.””
Charles placed the papers down.
“Rebecca, this is not the time.””
She laughed bitterly.
“You sound exactly like my mother.””
“Where is Gloria?”” I asked.
He looked toward the hallway.
“She left.””
“With you?””
“No.””
“Where did she go?””
“She wouldn’t say.””
Noah stepped closer.
“Was Daniel at the party?””
Charles stared at him.
“Noah—”
“Answer.””
Charles looked at me.
I nodded once.
No escape.
He finally said, “Yes.””
Rebecca’s legs nearly gave way.
Laura grabbed her.
I felt my hands clench.
“Did you know?””
Charles shook his head.
“Not then.””
“When?””
“Months later.””
“How?””
He looked toward the dresser.
“Daniel told his father something happened.””
Rebecca made a sound like she had been punched.
Noah whispered, “Something?””
Charles swallowed.
“He said he helped Rebecca after she became sick.””
Rebecca stared at him.
“I never saw Daniel.””
“He claimed you wouldn’t remember.””
Silence.
My heart pounded.
“Why?””
Charles’s face tightened.
“He said you were barely conscious.””
Noah turned away.
Emily covered her mouth.
Laura wrapped an arm around her.
I stepped toward my father.
“And you did nothing?””
“I didn’t know what had happened.””
“You knew enough to test him.””
“Yes.””
“You tested Daniel because you thought he might be Noah’s father.””
“Yes.””
“And when it came back negative?””
Charles looked at me.
“I arranged your test.””
Rebecca whispered, “Without Michael knowing?””
He nodded.
“How?””
Charles looked ashamed.
“Hair from his brush.””
I stared at him.
“You tested me without consent.””
“I needed to know.””
“And?””
He didn’t answer.
Noah stepped forward.
“What was the result?””
Charles looked at him.
His face broke.
For the first time all night, my father looked like an old man.
“Noah…”
“What was the result?””
Charles whispered, “Michael was your father.””
Nobody moved.
Noah’s eyes closed.
Emily began crying again.
Rebecca put both hands over her mouth.
I couldn’t speak.
I had wanted confirmation.
Now that I had it, I felt no relief.
Only grief.
Seventeen years.
Gone.
My son stood six feet from me.
My son.
Noah opened his eyes.
“So you knew.””
Charles nodded.
“For seventeen years.””
“Yes.””
“And you still kept us apart.””
“Yes.””
Noah laughed once.
Then wiped his eyes.
“You’re worse than she is.””
Charles looked down.
I stepped toward him.
“Where’s the missing result?””
“I destroyed the original.””
“Why keep part of it?””
“I didn’t.””
“Gloria did?””
“Yes.””
Rebecca whispered, “Why?””
Charles looked toward her.
“Insurance.””
I frowned.
“Against what?””
“Me.””
Before I could ask more, Noah noticed the papers Charles had placed on the dresser.
He picked them up.
My father immediately reached for them.
“Noah, don’t.””
Too late.
Noah read the first page.
Then froze.
“What is this?””
Charles’s face changed.
“Give it to me.””
Noah stepped back.
“No.””
I took the papers.
They were old legal documents.
A private agreement between Charles Bennett and Gloria Dawson.
Monthly payments.
Confidentiality.
Non-disclosure.
Then a final paragraph.
I read it twice.
Rebecca saw my face.
“What?””
I handed her the page.
Her eyes moved down.
Then stopped.
“No.””
Noah looked over her shoulder.
The agreement stated that if Noah ever attempted to contact the Bennett family before his eighteenth birthday, all remaining funds would be forfeited.
But one sentence beneath it changed everything.
In the event Michael Bennett becomes aware of biological paternity, Gloria Dawson agrees to disclose the identity of the individual responsible for the incident occurring June 28 at the Mercer lake residence.
I looked at Charles.
“You knew there was an incident.””
He said nothing.
“You paid her to stay quiet about it.””
“It wasn’t that simple.””
Rebecca shook violently.
“Who was responsible?””
Charles looked at her.
“I never knew.””
“Liar.””
“I didn’t.””
“You paid her!””
“Because Daniel’s father begged me to.””
The room went silent.
I stared at him.
“Daniel’s father?””
Charles nodded.
“He said his son had made a terrible mistake.””
Rebecca whispered, “But Daniel wasn’t Noah’s father.””
“No.””
“Then what did he do?””
Charles looked toward the floor.
“I don’t know.””
Noah pointed at the agreement.
“Gloria does.””
“Yes.””
“Then we find her.””
Charles shook his head.
“You don’t understand.””
Noah stepped closer.
“Then make me.””
My father looked at him.
“Gloria called me twenty minutes before you arrived.””
My stomach tightened.
“What did she say?””
“She said the storage box was gone.””
“And?””
“She said if Rebecca found the papers, she would finally have to tell her what happened after the lake house.””
Rebecca whispered, “After?””
Charles nodded.
“She said the party wasn’t the real secret.””
Noah went pale.
“What was?””
Charles looked directly at Rebecca.
His next words barely came out.
“You weren’t taken straight home that night.””
Rebecca stopped breathing.
“What?””
Charles swallowed.
“According to Gloria, you were driven somewhere else first.””
And before any of us could speak, Rebecca’s phone rang.
She looked at the screen.
May you like
Her face drained of color.
“It’s my mother.””
