Nobody moved after the call ended.
Lacey stared at Evan's phone.
“Call her back.”
Evan did.
The number rang once.
Then twice.
A woman answered.
“Lacey?”
“Yes.”
“Is Jeremy there?”
Lacey looked at him.
“Yes.”
A pause.
“Then I need to see all of you.”
Jeremy took the phone.
“Rebecca?”
The woman's breathing changed.
“Jeremy.”
He sat down.
“I thought you were dead.”
“So did I.”
His face tightened.
“What does that mean?”
“It means the people who controlled my records wanted you to believe I was gone.”
Lacey took the phone back.
“Mom, where are you?”
“Virginia.”
“Why?”
“I've been sick.”
Lacey's voice broke.
“Are you dying?”
“I don't know.”
Jeremy looked at me.
I could see something shift in him.
Not relief.
Fear.
Rebecca continued.
“I have been waiting for someone to find you.”
“You knew where I was?”
“Yes.”
“Then why didn't you come?”
“I tried.”
“You could have called.”
“I did.”
Lacey looked confused.
“I never got a call.”
“I know.”
“Who stopped you?”
Rebecca was silent.
Then she said, “Your grandfather.”
Jeremy closed his eyes.
Lacey looked at him.
“My grandfather?”
“Yes.”
“He's dead.”
“I know.”
“Then why are we still living inside his lies?”
Rebecca's answer came softly.
“Because he built them carefully.”
I looked at Jeremy.
“What happened to Samuel?”
There was silence.
Rebecca asked, “Who is this?”
“Jill.”
A longer silence.
“Jeremy's wife.”
“I know who you are.”
The words unsettled me.
“How?”
“Because I wrote you a letter.”
I looked at the envelope in my hand.
“You did.”
“And you found it.”
“Yes.”
“Then you know I never blamed you.”
I looked at Jeremy.
“I know.”
Rebecca's voice weakened.
“Bring my daughter.”
Lacey cried.
“I'll come.”
“No.”
“What?”
“Bring everyone.”
She paused.
“Even Aaron?”
Rebecca's voice became cold.
“Yes.”
Aaron closed his eyes.
The call ended.
We drove to Virginia the next morning.
Nobody slept.
At a roadside motel, we stopped for coffee.
Jeremy stood beside the vending machine.
“You should go home,” he told me.
I looked at him.
“No.”
“You've been dragged through enough.”
“You don't get to decide that anymore.”
He nodded.
“I deserve that.”
I watched him stir sugar into coffee he didn't drink.
“Do you still love me?”
He looked up.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
He hesitated.
“Because I know you.”
“That isn't enough.”
“No.”
He stared at the floor.
“Because you stayed when I didn't deserve it.”
I didn't answer.
“I don't know whether our marriage survives this,” I said.
“I understand.”
“But I'm going to hear the whole truth before I decide.”
He nodded.
“Okay.”
We continued north.
Virginia was gray under a low ceiling of clouds.
Rebecca lived in a small assisted-living facility outside Roanoke.
Lacey walked through the entrance first.
Evan followed.
I stayed beside Jeremy.
Aaron came last.
A nurse led us to a private room.
A woman sat beside the window.
Her hair was white.
Her face was thin.
But when she looked at Lacey, something unmistakable passed between them.
“My baby.”
Lacey began crying.
She crossed the room.
Rebecca reached for her.
Lacey fell into her arms.
They held each other.
Jeremy turned away.
I watched him wipe his face.
Aaron stood frozen.
Rebecca looked at him.
“You.”
Aaron nodded.
“I am sorry.”
She shook her head.
“You were afraid.”
“Yes.”
“You were also weak.”
He lowered his head.
“Yes.”
She looked at Jeremy.
“And you.”
Jeremy stepped forward.
“I thought you were dead.”
“I know.”
“I didn't know.”
“I know.”
He knelt beside her.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
Rebecca looked at him.
“Because every time I tried, someone intercepted me.”
“Who?”
“Your father.”
“He's dead.”
“He was not the only one.”
Jeremy froze.
“Who else?”
Rebecca looked toward Aaron.
“Aaron knows.”
Aaron looked at the floor.
“I do.”
Jeremy turned.
“Tell me.”
Aaron swallowed.
“Your father had help.”
“From whom?”
“Your uncle.”
Jeremy stared.
“My uncle died years ago.”
“Before he died, he destroyed the original records.”
Rebecca nodded.
“He wanted control of the family company.”
I frowned.
“What company?”
Jeremy looked at me.
“My father's construction business.”
Rebecca continued.
“Your father believed Jeremy would inherit everything.”
“And Lacey?”
“She was leverage.”
Jeremy's face hardened.
“How?”
“Because she was my child.”
“You're saying he used her existence to control me.”
“Yes.”
“Why would my own father care whether I married Rebecca?”
“Because Rebecca knew about the missing money.”
Jeremy went still.
“What missing money?”
Rebecca looked at me.
“The company had been moving money through shell accounts.”
Aaron spoke.
“Millions.”
Jeremy stared.
“And my father?”
“He was responsible.”
Rebecca nodded.
“He used family members as names on documents.”
I understood.
“Was Jeremy one of them?”
Rebecca hesitated.
“Not knowingly.”
Jeremy looked relieved for a second.
Then Rebecca added, “But his name was used.”
“By whom?”
“Your father.”
Jeremy sat down.
“So the payments to the Burchams…”
“Were company money.”
Lacey looked stunned.
“My entire childhood was funded by stolen money?”
“Not your childhood,” Rebecca said. “Your grandfather's cover story.”
Evan stepped forward.
“And my mother?”
Rebecca looked at him.
“She was never meant to know.”
Evan swallowed.
“I need to ask you something.”
“Ask.”
“Who is my biological father?”
Rebecca looked at Aaron.
Then at Lacey.
Then back at Evan.
“Aaron.”
Evan nodded slowly.
“I already know.”
Rebecca closed her eyes.
“I am sorry.”
He looked at her.
“You didn't do it.”
“No.”
“You tried to protect my mother.”
“I tried.”
He nodded.
“I believe you.”
Lacey looked at Aaron.
“I don't.”
Aaron accepted it.
“You don't have to.”
Rebecca reached for Lacey's hand.
“You need to know something else.”
“What?”
“You were not taken because your father wanted you gone.”
Lacey frowned.
“Then why?”
“Because your grandfather believed you were dangerous.”
“Why would a baby be dangerous?”
Rebecca looked at Jeremy.
“Because you were proof.”
“Proof of what?”
“That your grandfather had falsified company records before you were born.”
Jeremy's expression changed.
“How?”
Rebecca's voice weakened.
“He used your birth date.”
I stared.
“What does that mean?”
“He created accounts under your name.”
Jeremy looked horrified.
“Before I was even born?”
“Yes.”
“That doesn't make sense.”
“It will when you see the ledger.”
Rebecca pointed toward a locked drawer.
Aaron opened it.
Inside was a black ledger.
Jeremy took it.
Pages of names.
Dates.
Amounts.
Accounts.
Then he saw his own name.
Under it was a date twenty-five years earlier.
A transaction.
A large amount.
And beside it, a notation.
Lacey Burcham — transfer complete.
Jeremy stared.
“That was her adoption.”
Rebecca nodded.
“And the money?”
“Payment for silence.”
I looked at the next page.
There was another name.
Evan.
His birth date.
Beside it, a different notation.
Paternity disputed.
Jeremy's face went pale.
“What is that?”
Rebecca looked at him.
“Your father knew Evan was not your biological son.”
Jeremy stared at the page.
“How?”
“Because Aaron told him.”
Aaron looked away.
Jeremy's voice became cold.
“You told my father?”
“I was desperate.”
“For what?”
“He threatened me.”
“With what?”
“My sister.”
Lacey looked at him.
“You threatened me?”
“No.”
Aaron shook his head.
“Your grandfather threatened to expose me.”
Jeremy closed the ledger.
“So everyone knew.”
Rebecca looked at him.
“Not everyone.”
“Who didn't?”
“You.”
He laughed bitterly.
“That sounds about right.”
Rebecca reached for his hand.
“You were the one person he needed to remain innocent.”
Jeremy looked at her.
“And what did that cost?”
Rebecca answered softly.
“Everything.”
I looked at Jeremy.
He looked at me.
For the first time since the courthouse, there was no excuse left between us.
Only the truth.
And I realized something else.
The original marriage record had been the first clue, but it had never really been the heart of the story.
It had been the door.
Behind it were decades of forged records, stolen money, hidden children, and people who had mistaken secrecy for protection.
I touched my wedding ring.
Then removed it.
Jeremy saw.
His face fell.
“I need time,” I said.
“I know.”
“I am not saying we're finished.”
He nodded.
“But I'm not wearing this while I decide.”
I placed the ring in my palm.
Rebecca watched us.
Then she said something that made me look up.
“There is one final record.”
Jeremy frowned.
“What record?”
“The original marriage record.”
“What about it?”
“It contains a name that was removed.”
“Whose?”
Rebecca looked at me.
“Yours.”
I stared.
“What?”
She nodded.
“Your marriage to Jeremy was altered after the ceremony.”
Jeremy went still.
“Why?”
“Because your grandfather needed Jeremy's legal status changed.”
I felt the room go cold.
“What did he change?”
Rebecca looked at me.
“The date.”
My stomach tightened.
“Why?”
“Because your marriage happened three years later than the date everyone believes.”
Jeremy stared at her.
“That can't be.”
Rebecca whispered:
“You were already married when you met Jill.”
Click here to continue reading: PART 8: The Altered Marriage Record Forced Me to Question the First Day I Ever Met Jeremy and the Story He Had Told Me About It
The Errand That Should Have Taken Ten Minutes Turned Into a Question I Could No Longer Pretend Not to Understand
Part 7 of 8
