The Signature
Chapter 05 - The Signature
I took the letter home.
Grant read it twice.
Then a third time.
"I didn't write this."
"That's what I thought."
He looked up sharply.
"You believe me?"
"I believe the signature isn't yours."
That wasn't the same thing.
Grant understood.
He reached for his phone.
"I'm calling my mother."
"No."
"Claire—"
"Not yet."
For fifteen years, Margaret Bennett had treated me with the polished affection of a woman who considered warmth another form of social etiquette.
She sent birthday flowers.
Hosted Christmas.
Remembered everyone's preferred wine.
And somehow managed to make every room feel like it belonged to her.
If Margaret had forged that letter, I wanted to know why.
More importantly, I wanted to know what else she had done.
Hannah's sister arrived that afternoon and took Eli home with her.
Before he left, Eli asked to speak to Grant.
I watched from across the hospital corridor.
Grant knelt so they were eye level.
Eli studied his face.
"Are you really my dad?"
Grant's expression cracked.
"I don't know yet."
"You look like the picture."
"I know."
"My mom said you were a good man once."
Grant's eyes filled.
"What does she think now?"
Eli shrugged.
"She doesn't talk about you."
That hurt him.
I could tell.
Good.
Some truths should hurt.
Two days later, Hannah was discharged.
Grant asked for a DNA test.
Hannah agreed immediately.
Margaret learned about Eli before we could confront her.
She arrived at our house that evening wearing a cream-colored coat and the expression of someone entering a meeting she intended to control.
"I hear some woman has appeared with a child."
Grant stared at her.
"Her name is Hannah."
Margaret's face didn't move.
But her hand tightened around her purse.
I noticed.
So did Grant.
He placed the forged letter on the table.
"Have you seen this before?"
Margaret looked down.
For one second, maybe less, her eyes changed.
Then the mask returned.
"No."
Grant leaned forward.
"Look at it carefully."
"I don't need to."
"Mother."
She sighed.
"You were married. You were vulnerable. Claire was vulnerable. That woman was going to destroy both of you."
My heart stopped.
Grant whispered, "You wrote it."
Margaret lifted her chin.
"I protected my family."
Grant stood so quickly his chair fell backward.
"You told a pregnant woman I abandoned my child?"
"I told her what needed to be said."
Silence.
Then Margaret looked at me.
"You should be thanking me."
I stared at her.
"For what?"
"For saving your marriage."
May you like
And then she smiled.
As if fifteen years of my life were proof that she had been right.
