Chapter 4 - The Birth Mother Had Been Hiding From LenoraHarold Wren agreed to speak by video that afternoon with Naomi present.
Derek recorded nothing without permission.
Wren did not look like the confident adoption attorney Derek remembered.
He was eighty-one.
Thin.
An oxygen tube ran beneath his nose.
“I should have insisted on more safeguards,” he said.
Derek had no patience for vague regret.
“Start with Evelyn.”
Wren nodded.
“Evelyn Mercer contacted my office eleven years ago.”
“Before Caleb?”
“Yes.”
“She was pregnant?”
“Not when she first called.”
Derek frowned.
“Then why contact an adoption attorney?”
“She was seventeen and asking about emancipation.”
Derek sat back.
“She wanted to leave Lenora.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Wren chose his words carefully.
“She alleged emotional control, financial control, and threats.”
“Physical abuse?”
“She did not allege serious physical violence.”
That distinction mattered.
“But she was afraid?”
“Yes.”
Wren said Evelyn believed Lenora monitored her phone, opened mail, controlled her bank account, and threatened to have her declared unstable if she left.
Derek felt sick.
The behavior sounded eerily familiar.
Lenora’s immediate performance after being caught with Caleb:
I don’t remember.
Control through confusion.
“Did my father know?”
“Victor?”
“Yes.”
“Not initially.”
Derek’s father, Victor Holloway, had married Lenora when Derek was fifteen.
He was stern but generous.
He treated Evie as his own daughter, though she was Lenora’s child from a previous relationship.
“Did Evelyn become pregnant after contacting you?”
“Yes.”
“Who was the father?”
“I cannot disclose sealed information beyond what your current legal counsel obtains through proper process.”
Derek wanted to scream.
Naomi intervened.
“Was Derek Holloway’s family informed of the pregnancy before placement?”
Wren looked at Derek.
“Lenora knew.”
“When?”
“Very early.”
Derek felt cold.
“What did she do?”
“Evelyn said Lenora demanded termination.”
Derek flinched.
Wren continued carefully.
“Evelyn refused.”
“What happened?”
“She left home.”
“Where?”
“A youth transitional residence.”
Derek stared.
Lenora had told the family Evelyn moved to Arizona with a boyfriend.
“She was still in Illinois.”
“Yes.”
“Did Victor know?”
“Eventually.”
“When?”
“Near the end of the pregnancy.”
“What did he do?”
Wren looked troubled.
“He wanted Evelyn to return home.”
“Did she?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“She trusted Victor more than Lenora, but she believed he would pressure her to reconcile.”
Derek understood.
Victor hated family fracture.
Derek had inherited some of that.
“Then the adoption?”
Wren nodded.
“Evelyn decided she could not parent.”
“Why?”
“She had no stable income. No housing after the program ended. The father would not participate.”
“And she chose us?”
Wren hesitated.
“That part is complicated.”
Derek’s chest tightened.
“Did she know Melanie and I wanted to adopt?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“Lenora told her.”
Derek stared.
“Lenora was speaking to her?”
“Secretly.”
Despite telling everyone Evelyn had disappeared.
Wren continued.
“Lenora suggested you and Melanie.”
“Why?”
“She said it would keep the child inside a safe family.”
“That sounds almost reasonable.”
“It could have been.”
“But?”
“Evelyn refused.”
Derek’s stomach dropped.
“She did not want us?”
“She did not want her mother connected to the adoption.”
That made sense.
“What changed?”
“Lenora promised she would have no role.”
Derek laughed bitterly.
Lenora later babysat Caleb, attended birthdays, moved deeper into their household after Melanie’s death.
“No role.”
“I know.”
Wren looked ashamed.
“Evelyn eventually agreed to consider you and Melanie, but only under several conditions.”
“What conditions?”
“She wanted a closed placement for the first five years.”
“Okay.”
“She wanted you told she was a relative.”
Derek stared.
“What?”
“She did not want her exact identity disclosed immediately, but she insisted you know the baby came from within the extended family.”
“I was never told.”
Wren nodded.
“That is where the irregularity began.”
“Who changed it?”
“Lenora brought revised preference forms.”
Derek’s jaw tightened.
“You accepted documents from the mother of the birth mother.”
“I verified Evelyn’s signature.”
“Did you speak to Evelyn?”
“Yes.”
“And?”
“She said she had changed her mind.”
Derek stared.
“Did you believe her?”
“At the time.”
“Do you now?”
Wren’s eyes lowered.
“No.”
Silence.
“What changed your mind?”
“Years later, Evelyn contacted me.”
“When?”
“When Caleb was five.”
Derek stopped breathing.
“What did she say?”
“That she never signed the revised preference form.”
Naomi leaned forward.
“Did you compare signatures?”
“Yes.”
“And?”
“Similar.”
“Forged?”
“I cannot say conclusively.”
Derek already knew what Wren believed.
“What did you do?”
“I advised Evelyn to obtain counsel.”
“Did she?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did you contact me?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Confidentiality.”
Derek slammed his hand on the table.
Naomi looked at him.
He lowered his voice.
“My son was five.”
“I know.”
“You thought his adoption paperwork might contain fraud.”
“I knew the decree was valid and believed disclosure could create harm without evidence.”
“There it is.”
Derek laughed bitterly.
“Everybody decided what truth would hurt me.”
Wren accepted the accusation.
“Yes.”
Derek continued:
“What name did Evelyn use?”
“When she entered the transitional program, she used her middle name and the surname of her late biological father.”
“What was it?”
Wren looked at a document.
“Marissa Cole.”
Derek stopped.
The fake name wasn’t entirely fake.
It was Evelyn.
Just hidden.
“Why did Lenora tell us Marissa was a college student from Indiana?”
“I don’t know.”
“She created a person.”
“Yes.”
“Did Melanie ever contact you?”
Wren’s face changed.
Derek saw it.
“She did.”
“When?”
“Shortly before her death.”
“What did she ask?”
“Whether Evelyn Mercer was Caleb’s mother.”
Derek swallowed.
“And what did you say?”
“I told her I could not confirm without Derek and appropriate legal process.”
Derek looked away.
Melanie had been right.
“Did she tell you why she suspected?”
Wren hesitated.
“She had received a letter.”
Derek’s head snapped back.
“From Evelyn?”
“Yes.”
“What did it say?”
“I never saw the whole thing.”
“What did Melanie tell you?”
Wren’s voice became quiet.
“She said Evelyn claimed Lenora had lied to both families.”
Derek felt cold.
“Both?”
“Evelyn believed you and Melanie had been told she wanted no contact.”
“That’s true.”
“And Evelyn had been told you knew exactly who she was.”
Derek stopped breathing.
Wren continued.
“She believed you had agreed never to let her meet Caleb.”
Derek stared.
“I never knew.”
“I understand.”
“Then Lenora made both sides think the other chose silence.”
Wren nodded slowly.
The shape of the deception finally appeared.
Not one lie.
Two.
Derek and Evelyn had each been told the other wanted distance.
Lenora stood in the middle controlling every message.
Then Wren said:
“There’s one more thing you need to know.”
Derek almost laughed.
“What?”
“Evelyn tried to withdraw consent before the adoption was finalized.”
The room went silent.
Derek felt as though someone had punched him.
“What?”
“She changed her mind?”
“For several hours.”
“Why wasn’t the adoption stopped?”
Wren closed his eyes.
“Because someone told her Melanie had already been hospitalized from the stress and that taking the baby back might destroy your marriage.”
Derek stared.
“Who told her?”
May you like
Wren did not need to answer.
Lenora.
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