Chapter 5 - THE TRUTH DANIEL SHOULD HAVE TOLD AT EIGHTEEN
Chloe came to Bayfront alone.
No Raymond.
No Linda.
She found Daniel repairing a loose hinge on the service door.
“You’re seriously working?”
He looked at her.
“It was broken.”
“My wedding is in four days.”
“I know.”
She stared at his torn jacket hanging over the back of a chair.
He had brought it to ask the venue seamstress whether it could be repaired.
Chloe looked away.
“Mom shouldn’t have done that.”
“No.”
“I shouldn’t have let her.”
“No.”
The second answer hurt her more.
Daniel put down the screwdriver.
“You want coffee?”
“I want answers.”
So he gave them.
Not all the answers in the universe.
The ones he actually knew.
He told her he had known she was Raymond’s biological child before she was born.
He told her Raymond consented to Daniel’s later adoption.
He told her Linda begged Daniel not to raise the subject again.
Then Chloe asked:
“Why didn’t you tell me when I turned eighteen?”
Daniel had no good defense.
“I was afraid.”
“Of what?”
“That you’d look for him.”
Her face changed.
Daniel continued.
“And that once you found him, biology would feel more important than twenty-nine years.”
Chloe laughed bitterly.
“So you lied because you were insecure.”
“Yes.”
No softening.
No heroic explanation.
Just yes.
Chloe’s eyes filled.
“You don’t get to act like the victim now.”
“I know.”
“You let me find out from a DNA website.”
“I know.”
“You watched me invite a stranger into my life without telling me what actually happened.”
Daniel frowned.
“I told you what your mother told me.”
“That he didn’t want me.”
“Yes.”
“Raymond says that isn’t true.”
Daniel went still.
“What does he say?”
“That Mom told him you would raise me and that he should stay away.”
Daniel stared.
“He signed the adoption consent.”
“He says he was pressured.”
“By who?”
“You.”
Daniel stepped back.
“I never spoke to Raymond about the adoption.”
Chloe’s face changed.
“Never?”
“Not once.”
Linda handled the communication through an attorney.
Daniel had believed Raymond voluntarily agreed.
Maybe he had.
Maybe not.
For the first time, Daniel saw a gap in the history he had trusted for decades.
Chloe took a breath.
“Raymond says you paid him.”
Daniel stared.
“What?”
“Twenty-five thousand dollars.”
Daniel’s expression must have convinced her.
“You really don’t know.”
“No.”
Chloe looked toward the water.
Then Daniel understood the next thing they needed to do.
May you like
Not fight about who deserved to walk Chloe down the aisle.
Find out which parent had been lying about the beginning.
