Chapter 2 — The Caller Knew Exactly What Lauren Had Been Hiding
Chapter 2 — The Caller Knew Exactly What Lauren Had Been Hiding
Lauren stared at the phone.
It rang again.
She didn’t answer.
Neither did I.
The name on the screen was Evelyn Carter.
I knew that name.
Not personally.
But I had seen it three days earlier in the folder at the coffee shop.
Lauren had never mentioned her.
The phone stopped ringing.
Five seconds later, a message appeared.
Lauren looked at it.
Then immediately locked the screen.
“Who is Evelyn?” I asked.
“No one.”
“You’re a terrible liar.”
Her eyes narrowed.
“You’ve been lying to me too.”
“About what?”
“That person you met.”
I said nothing.
She stepped closer.
“Who did you meet?”
I closed the laptop.
“Sit down.”
“No.”
“Then stand.”
She looked toward the hallway.
For the first time since she announced the pregnancy, she seemed genuinely frightened.
I picked up the phone.
“Evelyn called you.”
“She calls everyone.”
“Not according to the file.”
Her face changed.
“What file?”
“The one she gave me.”
Lauren’s breathing became shallow.
“She gave you a file?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Three days ago.”
“Where?”
“Ten miles from here.”
She stared at me.
Then she whispered:
“You weren’t driving to Cincinnati.”
“No.”
“You knew.”
“I knew something.”
“What?”
“That you were planning to tell me you were pregnant.”
Her hand moved instinctively toward her stomach.
“Who told you?”
I leaned against the counter.
“You first.”
She shook her head.
“No.”
“Then I don’t have much reason to trust anything you say.”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“You don’t understand.”
“I’ve been trying to.”
“You think this is about Mason.”
“Isn’t it?”
“No.”
“Then tell me what it is.”
She looked at the phone.
“It started before Mason.”
That sentence landed harder than I expected.
I waited.
Lauren finally sat down.
For several seconds, she didn’t speak.
Then she said:
“Six months ago, someone contacted me.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
“Evelyn?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
“A man.”
“What man?”
“I never met him.”
“Lauren.”
“He called from different numbers.”
I stared at her.
“What did he want?”
“At first, information.”
“About me?”
“Yes.”
My stomach tightened.
“What kind?”
“Your work. Your accounts. Your schedule.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“I didn’t understand it either.”
“Then why did you do it?”
She looked down.
“Because he threatened Mason.”
I went completely still.
“What does Mason have to do with this?”
“I don’t know.”
“You just said they threatened him.”
“I said they threatened him. I never said I understood why.”
I opened the laptop again.
The first page of the file contained a photograph.
Mason.
Lauren.
And a third person.
A man whose face had been deliberately blurred.
I turned the screen toward her.
“Who is this?”
Lauren stared at the photograph.
Her lips parted.
“I’ve never seen him.”
“You’re sure?”
“Yes.”
“Then why is he standing beside Mason?”
“I don’t know.”
I scrolled down.
The next page showed bank transfers.
Several payments had been made to Mason over the previous four months.
Small amounts at first.
Then larger ones.
Five thousand dollars.
Twelve thousand.
Twenty-five thousand.
Lauren covered her mouth.
“Mason didn’t tell me about those.”
“Apparently, he didn’t tell you a lot.”
She looked at me.
“Where did you get this?”
“Evelyn.”
“Why would she give you this?”
“I think she was trying to warn me.”
“About Mason?”
“No.”
I pointed at the photograph.
“About him.”
Lauren stared at the blurred face.
Then her phone rang again.
This time, the number was different.
She answered.
“Hello?”
A man’s voice came through.
I couldn’t hear the words clearly.
But I saw Lauren’s face change.
“No,” she whispered.
A pause.
“I told you I wouldn’t.”
Another pause.
Then:
“He doesn’t know.”
I stood.
Lauren looked at me.
The man said something else.
She closed her eyes.
“Please.”
Then the call ended.
I waited.
“Who was that?”
She didn’t answer.
“Lauren.”
“He knows.”
“Who?”
“The man who contacted me.”
“What does he know?”
“That you have the file.”
I felt a chill move through me.
“How?”
“He knows everything.”
“Then tell me his name.”
“I don’t know his name.”
“Where does he live?”
“I don’t know.”
“What does he want?”
She looked at me.
“You.”
I laughed once.
“That seems to be everyone’s answer.”
“No.”
Her voice cracked.
“He doesn’t want your money.”
“Then what?”
She reached for my hand.
I pulled it away.
She flinched.
“He wants you to remember.”
I frowned.
“Remember what?”
“Your father.”
The room went silent.
My father had been dead for eleven years.
I hadn’t spoken about him in months.
Lauren knew that.
“Why would a stranger care about my father?”
“Because your father knew him.”
I stared at her.
“How?”
“I don’t know.”
“You’re lying again.”
“I swear I’m not.”
I opened the folder and pulled out the document I’d been avoiding.
The one with the highlighted sentence.
I placed it between us.
“Read it.”
Lauren didn’t move.
“Read it.”
Her eyes dropped to the page.
Then widened.
The highlighted sentence was simple.
Lauren was instructed to keep Daniel unaware of the pregnancy until Mason confirmed paternity.
She stopped breathing.
I watched her carefully.
“What does that mean?”
She looked at me.
“I didn’t write that.”
“I know.”
“I never agreed to that.”
“Then who did?”
She shook her head.
“I don’t know.”
I pointed at the date.
“This was written eight weeks ago.”
Lauren’s eyes moved across the page.
“That isn’t possible.”
“Why?”
“Because I didn’t know I was pregnant eight weeks ago.”
“You took the test six weeks ago.”
“Yes.”
“So why does this document mention it?”
She couldn’t answer.
I pushed another page toward her.
This one contained medical appointment records.
Not mine.
Not hers.
Mason’s.
I looked at her.
“Why was Mason being tested?”
She went pale.
“I don’t know.”
“You told me the baby was mine.”
“It is.”
“You’re certain?”
“Yes.”
“Then why was Mason tested?”
She started crying.
“I don’t know.”
I leaned back.
For the first time, I wasn’t angry.
I was confused.
Deeply confused.
Because the evidence wasn’t pointing toward a simple affair anymore.
Someone had known about the pregnancy before Lauren did.
Someone had arranged for Mason to undergo a medical test.
Someone had been tracking me.
And someone had convinced Lauren to keep all of it secret.
Then I noticed the final page in the folder.
It contained one sentence.
I read it aloud.
“Do not let Daniel discover what happened to his father’s company.”
Lauren looked at me.
“Your father’s company?”
I stared at the words.
“My father didn’t own a company.”
“Yes, he did.”
“How do you know?”
She wiped her eyes.
“Because that’s where I met Mason.”
I felt my entire body go still.
“You met Mason through my father?”
Lauren nodded.
“Before we ever met.”
I stared at her.
“How long before?”
“Two years.”
My mind raced.
Mason wasn’t just an ex.
He had been connected to my family before Lauren ever entered my life.
And if that was true, then our marriage hadn’t begun with a betrayal.
It had begun with a secret.
The phone rang again.
This time, neither of us moved.
Then a voicemail notification appeared.
Lauren looked at me.
“I don’t want you to hear that.”
“Why?”
“Because once you do, there is no going back.”
I pressed play.
A man’s voice filled the kitchen.
Calm.
Older.
Familiar.
“Daniel, if Lauren has told you about the pregnancy, then she has already failed.”
Lauren covered her face.
The voice continued.
“And if you’re listening to this, you need to understand one thing.”
A pause.
“Your father didn’t die because of an accident.”
My blood ran cold.
The recording ended.
I looked at Lauren.
She was shaking.
I played it again.
And this time, I recognized the voice.
It belonged to the man whose funeral I had attended eleven years earlier.
My father.