Claire’s face crumpled. “I know that now. I didn’t believe him completely, either — not at first.”
“Then why—”
“He showed me a letter. Supposedly from you. Signed by you.”
My knees actually buckled, and I grabbed the edge of the principal’s desk to stay upright. “What letter?”
She described it — a letter saying I trusted her, and only her, to raise one of the boys. Derek had promised her that once I recovered, everything would be explained properly, calmly, together.
“And you just took him?” I asked, my voice cracking straight down the middle.
Her eyes filled instantly. “I took my nephew because I believed his own mother was begging me to save him.”
It got worse from there. After I recovered, Derek told Claire I was too fragile emotionally to speak with her. Later, he told her I blamed her for taking my son and wanted nothing to do with either of them. Meanwhile, he told me Claire had abandoned our whole family because she couldn’t stand to be around Ethan.
