Chapter 1 - “Mommy!”Eli trusted Monica completely.
That was what made the sound of his laughter so difficult for Adrian to remember later.
The two-year-old stood in Monica’s arms in the enormous foyer of their Virginia mansion, his small hands reaching toward her face.
“Mommy!”
Monica lifted him higher.
Eli squealed.
To him, it was a game.
He had been calling Monica Mommy for almost six months.
Adrian had never instructed him to do it. Eli had simply started one morning at breakfast, and Monica had smiled.
At least Adrian thought she had.
Now there was no smile.
Monica’s expression flattened.
Something cold entered her eyes.
Then, without warning, she turned toward the large household trash bin near the living area.
She lowered Eli into it roughly enough that his laughter stopped at once.
For one confused second, the toddler simply stared up at her.
Then the smell, the food scraps smeared across his shirt, and the realization that Monica was not reaching back for him hit all at once.
His mouth opened.
A scream tore through the foyer.
“Mommy!”
Monica looked down.
“You’re such a nuisance.”
Eli’s little hands reached upward.
“Mommy! Mommy!”
She did not bend.
The front door opened.
Adrian stepped inside.
He had just ended a ten-hour day at Mercer Development Group and was halfway through removing his suit jacket when he heard Eli screaming.
His entire body changed.
“Eli?”
The crying came from the living area.
Adrian dropped his briefcase.
He rounded the corner.
Stopped.
For one impossible second, he could not understand what he was looking at.
His son was sitting inside a trash bin.
There was food on his cheek.
His blond T-shirt was stained.
His face was red from crying.
“ELI!”
Adrian crossed the foyer almost at a run.
The second Eli saw him, his arms stretched forward.
“Daddy!”
Adrian lifted him out.
Eli wrapped both arms around his father’s neck so tightly Adrian could feel the toddler’s fingers catching his collar.
“I’ve got you.”
Eli sobbed against him.
Adrian wiped a smear from his cheek.
“Hey. Look at Daddy.”
Eli would not let go.
Adrian’s panic became something colder.
He turned.
Monica stood exactly where she had been.
No apology.
No fear.
No rush to explain.
“Oh my God,” Adrian whispered. “What did you do to my son?”
Monica’s face barely changed.
“He’s not my son.”
Adrian froze.
Eli’s crying continued against his neck.
Adrian pulled him closer.
“But he is mine.”
Footsteps sounded above them.
Adrian looked toward the grand staircase.
Helena appeared at the top.
Monica’s mother descended slowly, one manicured hand resting on the railing.
She looked at Eli.
Then Monica.
Then Adrian.
“What did Monica say that was wrong?”
Adrian stared at her.
Helena reached the bottom step.
“That boy isn’t even related to her by blood.”
Silence swallowed the foyer.
Adrian looked from Helena to his wife.
Monica did not object.
Did not correct her mother.
She simply stood there.
And suddenly Adrian understood that he was not looking at one cruel moment.
He was looking at a belief.
A belief that had apparently existed inside his home without him knowing.
Eli buried his face against Adrian’s shoulder.
Adrian whispered, “Take your mother upstairs.”
Monica’s eyes narrowed.
“What?”
“Now.”
“This is my house too.”
Adrian looked at her.
“Not another word while he’s here.”
Helena stepped forward.
“Adrian, don’t turn a childish tantrum into—”
“Stop.”
His voice was quiet.
Helena actually stopped.
Adrian carried Eli toward the kitchen.
He cleaned his face gently, changed his shirt, checked his arms and legs, then called the pediatrician.
Physically, Eli appeared unharmed.
Emotionally, he would not release his father.
Twenty minutes later, while Adrian sat with him on the sofa, Eli finally stopped crying.
He kept whispering one word.
“Mommy.”
Not lovingly now.
Questioningly.
As though trying to understand why the person he had called Mommy had suddenly become someone else.
That broke Adrian more than the crying.
His phone vibrated.
A message from his longtime housekeeper, Rosa Delgado.
Mr. Mercer, I need to tell you something about Mrs. Monica and Mrs. Helena. I should have told you sooner.
Adrian stared at the screen.
Another message appeared.
This was not the first time I heard them talk about Eli like he did not belong here.
May you like
Adrian slowly lifted his eyes toward the staircase.
And for the first time, he wondered how much had been happening in his own home while he was at work.
Related Stories
