【I dug into Joe's travel records for the past seven years.】
【Starting five years ago, he was flying to Paris constantly. Hundreds of round trips in total.】
【Up until a year ago, when Lillian came back to the States. After that, he never went to Paris again.】
Five years ago?
I stared at those words, and something detonated inside my skull.
Five years ago, I was pregnant with Sunny. The morning sickness was so bad I ended up hospitalized for dehydration.
Joe told me the company was expanding overseas. Said he had to travel constantly for work.
Then I fell at home and went into premature labor.
Joe was still abroad, supposedly closing deals.
He only made it back when I was on the verge of dying.
His hands shook when he signed the consent forms.
He gripped my hand so hard his knuckles went white, his eyes red-rimmed.
“Sarah, don't you dare die on me.”
“If you die, I'm going with you.”
That was the first time I'd ever seen Joe lose his composure because of me.
I held on for that promise. Gritted my teeth through every second of it.
In the end, Sunny and I both pulled through.
Every time I thought back on that night, I told myself all the suffering had been worth it.
Even if he'd been absent for my entire pregnancy, at least when it mattered most, he was afraid to lose me.
But now, staring at the flight records Jordan had sent, my blood ran cold.
The day I went into premature labor was March seventeenth.
Joe's flight records showed he'd flown back from Paris that day. Not Mexico, where he'd told me he was on a business trip.
My hands were shaking, but I forced myself to type the next line.
【What else did you find?】
Jordan's reply came fast.
【Five years ago, Lillian moved out of her host family's place into a mansion in a gated community.】
【Rent was about $10,000 a month. The account paying for it belonged to someone with the last name Delgado.】
The phone nearly slipped from my fingers.
Ten thousand dollars a month.
Four years. Twelve months a year. That was four hundred eighty thousand dollars.
During those same four years, I was living in a basement apartment smaller than three hundred square feet, too guilty to spend fifty bucks on a winter coat.
When I was pregnant with Sunny, I craved cherries. I saw the price tag and put them back.
I drew a long breath and crushed every feeling back down where it belonged.
【Hold on to all of this. I'll decide what to do after I meet with Mr. Whitney.】
I closed the chat and checked the date.
I'd been unconscious for two full days.
Less than four days left.
Time was running out. I pulled the IV from my arm and got up.
On my way out, I caught a glimpse through the doorway of the room next to mine. Lillian's room.
Joe scooped up a spoonful of porridge and blew on it gently.
“Careful, it's hot.”
Lillian was propped against the headboard, a coy little pout on her lips.
“Joe, I can feed myself.”
“Your hand's scraped up. Don't move it.”
Sunny sat at the foot of the bed, watching them with wide, eager eyes.
Joe scooped another spoonful, this time sprinkling some dried pork floss on top.
“Eat more. The doctor said you and the baby are both underweight.”
Lillian opened her mouth obediently, then whined：“Just spend more time with me. When I'm happy, I eat more.”
“So are you staying with me tonight?”
Joe paused for a beat. “I'll stay a little longer.”
Sunny piped up from the side. “Don't leave, Daddy! Let's all stay with Aunt Lillian!”
Joe smiled and agreed right away：“Okay.”
He set the bowl down and reached over to tuck the blanket around Lillian's shoulders.
I bit down on my lip until I tasted iron and swallowed it back.
Then Sunny seemed to remember something.
“Daddy, I haven't seen Mommy in two days. Where did she go?”
My feet froze to the floor.
Joe answered without looking up：“Your mom got a little scratch. She'll be fine in a few days.”
Seven stitches across my back. Nearly lost the pregnancy.
A little scratch.
Or maybe Joe had been so busy taking care of Lillian that he'd never bothered to look at my chart at all.
Sunny let out a disinterested "oh" and turned back to make Lillian laugh.
My fists clenched, nails digging crescents into my palms.
Lillian looked up and met my eyes. She mouthed the words slowly：
【Your man. Your kid. They're both mine now.】
I smiled, cold and sharp, and mouthed right back：
【A deadbeat dad and his brainwashed kid. They're all yours.】
