“You don’t know,” I said, letting the words sit there.
“I suspected.”
“Then start with that.”
He reached into a locked drawer with trembling hands and removed a thin manila envelope. “I kept copies. I shouldn’t have. But after I realized the photos had been staged, I thought…” He stopped, ashamed. “I thought one day I might need protection.”
“You thought of protecting yourself.”
His eyes dropped.
I opened the envelope. Inside were printed emails, courier receipts, hospital discharge records, and a copy of a nondisclosure agreement bearing Megan’s signature.
Not Megan Bellamy.
Megan Bellamy Ward.
My chest tightened. She had taken back her mother’s maiden name.
I forced myself to read.
The hospital listed was outside Nashville. Delivery date: seven months and nine days after I had thrown her out of our home.
Triplets.
Two discharged under Megan’s care after extended observation.
The third transferred.
