The Sister I Chose Not to Believe
Chapter 05 - The Sister I Chose Not to Believe
There are memories we bury because they hurt.
And there are memories we bury because they might prove we were wrong.
I remembered Caroline calling three nights before my wedding.
I had been exhausted.
Richard was beside me.
She said she needed to tell me something about him.
Before she could finish, the call disconnected.
Richard told me Caroline was drunk.
The next morning, my mother called crying.
Money was missing from the family foundation.
Caroline had disappeared.
Everything happened so quickly that I never questioned the order.
Until now.
Lucy wandered through the house as if visiting a museum.
She stopped in the kitchen.
"Mom used to tell me about this place."
I swallowed.
"What did she say?"
"She said there was a window over the sink where two sisters made promises."
I turned toward the old window.
Caroline and I had carved our initials into the wooden frame when we were teenagers.
E + C.
Always sisters.
I had forgotten.
Lucy hadn't.
My sister had told her.
That afternoon, I searched the county records from nine years earlier.
The alleged theft from my mother's foundation had been investigated.
But no charges had ever been filed.
Richard had told me there was a warrant.
There wasn't.
I called the retired detective whose name appeared in the file.
He remembered the case immediately.
"There wasn't enough evidence," he said.
"Why wasn't I told?"
A long pause.
"Mrs. Mercer, your husband said the family wanted the matter handled privately."
My husband.
Not my mother.
Not Caroline.
Richard.
When I returned home that evening, Richard was waiting.
He had packed a suitcase for me.
"I think you need some space."
I looked at the suitcase.
Then at him.
"This is my house."
His smile disappeared.
"It's our house."
"No, Richard."
I removed my wedding ring.
"Tonight it's the house where Lucy sleeps."
I placed the ring on the table.
"And you're the one leaving."
For a moment, I saw something beneath his polished exterior.
Rage.
Then it vanished.
He picked up his coat.
Before walking out, he turned to me.
"You have no idea what Caroline did."
"Then tell me."
His eyes moved toward the staircase.
"No."
His voice dropped.
"But you'll find out."
The following morning, Child Protective Services called.
Someone had filed an emergency petition seeking custody of Lucy.
The name on the petition was Richard Mercer.
May you like
And under relationship to child, he had written two words.
Biological father.
