Chapter 5 - THE BABY THAT NEVER EXISTED
The photograph changed everything.
Vanessa had told me she had never been married and had no children. She said she had spent most of her adult life working in event management and caring for an elderly aunt.
But the picture showed her holding a newborn.
I asked Nora where she had found it.
“In Vanessa's desk. I was looking for paper to draw a birthday card.”
“Did she see you take it?”
“No. I put it in my book.”
I showed it to Detective Bennett.
She sent it to an investigator who could verify the hospital and date.
Two hours later, we had an answer.
The baby had been born at a private clinic in Dayton. The mother was listed as Vanessa Cole. The father was listed as Adrian Shaw.
The child had been placed with a relative through a private guardianship arrangement.
Vanessa had not told me she had a child.
She had not told me she had a history with Adrian.
And she had certainly not told me that the man helping her fake a pregnancy was the father of a child she had already given up.
I felt a strange mixture of anger and pity.
“Why would she pretend to be pregnant?” I asked Michael.
“To gain your trust, perhaps. To make you believe you were building a family. Or to make the trust amendment seem reasonable.”
Detective Bennett added another possibility.
“If she had convinced you she was pregnant, she could have argued that the baby needed financial protection. That might explain the pressure to increase your insurance and change the trust.”
The fake pregnancy was not a single lie.
It was the center of the entire scheme.
I returned home with the police officer assigned to watch the property. Vanessa was in the kitchen, speaking on the phone.
She ended the call when she saw me.
“Where have you been?”
“Taking care of something.”
She studied my face.
“You've been acting strange.”
“Have I?”
“Ever since Nora went to Claire's, you've barely spoken to me.”
I placed my keys on the counter.
“She's my daughter. She needs her father.”
“Of course she does. But you can't let her control our marriage.”
I stared at her.
“What do you mean?”
Vanessa sighed.
“She's been difficult. She doesn't want this baby. She doesn't want me. I know losing Rachel was hard, but you can't let Nora keep you trapped in the past.”
The words were carefully chosen.
They were also cruel.
“Don't talk about Rachel.”
“I'm only saying what everyone can see.”
I stepped closer.
“Nora is eight years old. She is frightened because her life is changing. She needs patience, not blame.”
Vanessa looked away.
Then she touched her stomach.
“Maybe the stress is affecting the baby.”
I watched her hand.
“Have you felt Grace move today?”
Her expression froze.
“Why?”
“I'm asking.”
“She moves when she wants to.”
“Can we go to the hospital? I'd like to hear the heartbeat.”
Vanessa's face hardened.
“Ethan, stop.”
“Why?”
“Because you're making me feel like you don't trust me.”
I held her gaze.
“I want to meet my child.”
She stared at me for several seconds.
Then she smiled.
“Of course. Tomorrow.”
But I knew there would be no tomorrow.
That night, Detective Bennett called.
The hospital had confirmed that the photograph was genuine. Vanessa had given birth three years earlier. The child was healthy and living with Adrian's sister.
More importantly, the investigator had found a record of a recent purchase.
A realistic silicone pregnancy prosthesis had been delivered to an address connected to Adrian Shaw.
The purchase date was five months earlier.
The same month Vanessa had told me she was pregnant.
I sat in the dark, listening to the house settle around me.
May you like
Tomorrow was Friday.
And Vanessa believed I was still the man who trusted her completely.
