Chapter 7 - The Son Who Hated Me
Jessica didn't go alone.
She stopped pretending she needed to obey Thomas's rules.
Federal agents surrounded the property before she approached.
Mike stayed behind the perimeter.
Emily stayed with him.
Jessica walked toward the small farmhouse.
No weapons.
No dramatic confrontation.
Just a mother meeting a son who had been taught to hate her.
Thomas opened the door.
"You brought police."
"Of course."
He smiled.
"You've learned."
"Where is Daniel?"
A boy appeared behind him.
Jessica's heart stopped.
The photograph hadn't prepared her.
Daniel had Mike's eyes.
But when he frowned, Jessica saw herself.
"That's her?" Daniel asked.
Thomas nodded.
Jessica crouched slightly.
"Hi, Daniel."
He didn't answer.
"You killed my mom."
Jessica's heart broke.
"No."
"Grandpa said you did."
Grandpa.
Thomas had raised him as his grandfather.
Jessica looked at Thomas.
"What did you tell him?"
"The version he could understand."
"Meaning a lie."
Daniel shouted, "Don't call Grandpa a liar!"
Jessica stopped.
This child loved Thomas.
That complicated everything.
She couldn't simply destroy the man in front of him.
"Okay," Jessica said calmly.
Daniel seemed surprised.
"I'm not here to make you believe anything today."
"Then why are you here?"
"Because I wanted to meet you."
"Why?"
Jessica's voice cracked.
"Because I'm your mother."
Daniel's face hardened.
"No, you're not."
Jessica nodded slowly.
"Okay."
Again, he looked surprised.
"I mean biologically," she continued. "But being a mother is more complicated than DNA."
Thomas watched.
Jessica ignored him.
"Sarah carried you. She deserves to be part of your story."
Daniel's eyes filled.
"Grandpa said Sarah died because of you."
Jessica looked at Thomas.
"How?"
Thomas answered.
"Complications after childbirth."
"That's not murder."
"You demanded the procedure."
"I didn't know Daniel existed."
Daniel looked at Thomas.
Thomas's silence mattered.
Jessica continued.
"I didn't know about you until three days ago."
"That's a lie."
"It's not."
"You abandoned me."
"No."
Daniel's anger cracked.
"You did!"
Jessica wanted to hug him.
She didn't.
He didn't know her.
She had no right.
"I would never have abandoned you if I'd known."
Daniel began crying.
Thomas put a hand on his shoulder.
Jessica saw genuine affection there.
That was perhaps the most disturbing thing of all.
Thomas had committed monstrous acts.
But he loved Daniel.
People weren't simple.
That didn't excuse anything.
It made the truth harder.
"Daniel," Jessica said, "there's someone else who wants to meet you."
"Who?"
"Your sister."
His expression changed.
"I don't have a sister."
"You do."
Thomas stiffened.
Jessica continued.
"Her name is Lily."
Daniel looked toward Thomas.
"Grandpa?"
Thomas said nothing.
Daniel's face changed.
"You knew?"
Thomas closed his eyes.
"Yes."
"You said I didn't have anybody."
"I was protecting you."
Jessica almost laughed at the familiar phrase.
Daniel pulled away from him.
"Where is she?"
"Safe."
"Can I see her?"
"Whenever you're ready."
Thomas stepped forward.
"That's enough."
Jessica looked at him.
"No. It's finally enough for you."
Federal agents entered.
Thomas didn't resist.
Daniel panicked.
"Don't take him!"
Jessica's heart broke again.
Thomas knelt.
"Daniel."
"No!"
"You have to be brave."
Daniel grabbed him.
Jessica turned away.
She hated Thomas.
But she wouldn't enjoy this.
An agent separated them gently.
Thomas looked at Jessica.
"Take care of him."
Jessica stared.
"You should have thought about that five years ago."
Thomas was handcuffed.
Daniel screamed.
"Grandpa!"
Thomas looked back once.
Then he was gone.
Daniel collapsed onto the floor.
Jessica sat several feet away.
She didn't touch him.
She simply stayed.
Eventually his crying slowed.
"Do I have to go with you?"
"No."
He looked up.
"What?"
"You don't know me."
"Then where will I go?"
"There are people whose job is to make sure you're safe while we figure everything out."
"You don't want me?"
Jessica's heart cracked.
"I want you more than you could possibly understand."
"Then why can't I go with you?"
"Because what I want isn't more important than what you need."
Daniel stared.
That was the first moment he truly looked at her.
Not as the villain Thomas had described.
As a person.
"I want to meet Lily."
Jessica smiled through tears.
"She wants to meet you too."
The legal process took weeks.
Jessica applied for temporary guardianship.
So did Mike.
They did something nobody expected.
They applied together.
Not as husband and wife.
Not even as a couple.
As Daniel's biological parents willing to cooperate.
Emily supported them.
Claire testified.
The evidence against Thomas grew.
Fraud.
Kidnapping.
Illegal medical procedures.
Identity theft.
Conspiracy.
And Richard Bennett's murder.
Thomas's empire collapsed piece by piece.
Then came the day Daniel met Lily.
Jessica worried for hours.
Lily didn't.
She ran straight toward him.
"You're my brother!"
Daniel stared at her.
"Apparently."
Lily hugged him.
Daniel stood stiffly.
Then slowly hugged her back.
Jessica cried.
Mike pretended he didn't.
Emily openly did.
For the first time, the strange family created through cruelty began creating something good on its own terms.
But one problem remained.
Claire.
Mike ended their relationship.
Not dramatically.
There was too much history for shouting.
Claire accepted it.
"I never expected forgiveness," she told Jessica.
Jessica studied her.
"Do you love him?"
Claire looked toward Mike.
"Yes."
"Then why lie?"
"Because I thought keeping him alive mattered more than keeping his trust."
Jessica nodded.
"I understand why you thought that."
Claire looked hopeful.
Jessica continued.
"I still think you were wrong."
"I know."
Claire eventually moved away.
She continued cooperating with prosecutors.
Emily began therapy.
So did Lily.
Daniel resisted until Lily announced therapy was "basically talking with snacks."
He reconsidered.
Jessica began rebuilding her life around two children she hadn't known she had.
It was chaotic.
Beautiful.
Terrifying.
Mike was there constantly.
School appointments.
Lawyers.
Family counseling.
Breakfasts.
Arguments about bedtime.
One evening, three months after the wedding, Jessica found him fixing Lily's bicycle.
"You don't know how to fix that."
Mike looked offended.
"I watched three videos."
"That confirms my concern."
He laughed.
Jessica realized she hadn't heard that laugh in years.
Something shifted.
Dangerous.
Familiar.
She stepped backward emotionally before she moved physically.
Mike noticed.
"I'm not asking for anything."
"Good."
"I mean it."
Jessica nodded.
Their past wasn't erased because they had children.
Mike had cheated.
Jessica had hated him.
Trust couldn't be resurrected like Emily.
It had to be rebuilt.
Slowly.
If at all.
Then Jessica's phone rang.
Her attorney.
She answered.
"What's wrong?"
"We received the final trust documents."
Jessica frowned.
"And?"
"There's a problem."
Mike stood.
"What problem?"
The attorney continued.
"Richard Bennett changed the trust three weeks before he died."
Jessica waited.
"He didn't leave control to Mike."
"Then Lily?"
"No."
"Daniel?"
"No."
Jessica's stomach tightened.
"Who?"
"Jessica, he left controlling authority to you."
She stared at Mike.
"Why?"
"There's a letter explaining it."
"When can I see it?"
"It's being delivered now."
The doorbell rang.
Jessica looked toward the hallway.
Mike looked at her.
Neither moved.
The bell rang again.
Jessica opened the door.
A courier handed her an envelope.
Her name was written across the front in Richard Bennett's handwriting.
She opened it.
Inside was a letter.
And beneath it, a photograph.
Jessica looked at the photograph first.
Her breath stopped.
It showed Richard Bennett standing beside Thomas.
Between them stood Claire.
The photograph was dated six years earlier.
Before Jessica's divorce.
On the back, Richard had written one sentence:
CLAIRE WAS NEVER WORKING FOR THOMAS.
Jessica slowly looked up.
Mike whispered, "Then who was she working for?"
Before Jessica could answer, someone knocked again.
May you like
This time, Claire's voice came through the door.
"Jessica, don't read Richard's letter until I tell you what really happened."
