“It was still raining. The road was dark and slippery. When I got to the bridge, I parked the car like she told me to. I left my wallet, my phone, my ID, everything. I got out of the car.”
“And then what happened?”
Nathan asked. Evelyn opened her eyes. They were full of tears and pain.
“Then your mother’s men came back,”
she said.
“They drove up in another car. They got out and I watched them pour gasoline all over that old car. The car I had just been sitting in.”
Nathan’s hands started shaking.
“They set it on fire,”
Evelyn whispered.
“Right there on the bridge. The whole car went up in flames. I could feel the heat from where I was standing. I could smell the smoke. It was It was horrible.”
“But you weren’t in it,”
Nathan said, trying to understand.
“You got out first.”
“Yes,”
Evelyn said.
“But anyone who found that car would think I was. My wallet was in there. My ID, my phone, everything that proved I was Evelyn Martinez Cole. Everything burned.”
She looked at Nathan with eyes that had seen too much pain.
“Your mother drove up one more time,”
Evelyn said.
“She rolled down her window and threw an envelope at my feet. Then she said, ‘You’re dead now, Evelyn. Officially dead. That’s what the police will think. That’s what my son will think. And if you ever try to come back, if you ever try to contact Nathan, if you ever try to tell anyone the truth, I’ll make sure you really do die. And I’ll make sure that baby dies, too.’”
Nathan felt like he was going to throw up or pass out or both.
“Then she drove away,”
Evelyn said,
“and left me there, pregnant, alone in the rain, with nothing but the clothes on my back and an envelope with $5,000 in it.”
“$5,000,”
Nathan repeated.
“That’s all she gave you.”
“That’s all I was worth to her,”
Evelyn said bitterly.
“$5,000 to disappear forever. To let her son think I was dead. To raise his child alone and never tell him the truth.”
Nathan sat down heavily in one of the kitchen chairs. His whole body felt weak.
“I didn’t know what to do,”
Evelyn continued.
“I was scared, traumatized. I walked for hours that night, just walked through the rain, not knowing where to go. Finally, I found a small motel. I paid for a room with some of that money, and I just stayed there for days, maybe weeks. I lost track of time.”
“I was so depressed,”
she said quietly.
“So scared, so alone. I thought about going to the police, but what would I tell them? That my mother-in-law faked my death? Would they believe me, or would they think I was crazy, just like she always said I was?”
“You should have come to me,”
Nathan said, his voice cracking.
“You should have found a way to tell me.”
“She said she’d kill me!”
Evelyn shouted suddenly.
“She said she’d kill our baby! And I believed her, Nathan. I believed her because she was powerful and rich and connected and I was nobody. What was I supposed to do?”
Nathan had no answer. Evelyn took a deep breath, trying to calm down.
“I finally left that motel and went to another city,”
she said.
“A city far away where no one knew me. I used a different name, my middle name, Marie. I found a cheap apartment. I got a job at a diner working for cash so I wouldn’t need to show ID.”
“And you had the baby,”
Nathan said softly. Evelyn’s face softened just a little bit.
“Yes. I had Lucas all alone in a hospital where no one knew my real name. No family, no friends, no husband holding my hand. Just me.”
A tear rolled down her cheek.
“But when they put him in my arms,”
she whispered.
“When I looked at his little face and saw your eyes looking back at me, I knew I’d made the right choice. Because he was alive. See? And that was all that mattered.”
“I worked hard,”
Evelyn continued.
“I saved every penny. After a few years, I had enough money to move back here to this city, to your old house. I knew it was empty, abandoned. I figured I figured you’d forgotten about it. That you’d moved on with your life. So, I broke in,”
she admitted.
“I changed the locks. I made it a home for Lucas. It wasn’t legal, I know, but I had nowhere else to go. And I thought, I thought you’d never come back.”
She looked at Nathan with exhausted eyes.
“I’ve been living here for 7 years,”
she said.
“Working two jobs, one at a grocery store, one cleaning offices at night. Barely making enough to feed us and keep the lights on. Praying every single day that your mother would never find out we were here, that you would never come back.”
“But you did come back,”
she said.
“And now everything I’ve worked for, everything I’ve built to keep Lucas safe, it’s all falling apart.”
Nathan stood up. His legs felt shaky, but he managed to stay standing.
“My mother,”
he said. His voice sounded strange, like it belonged to someone else.
“My mother did this. She lied to me. She made me think you were dead. She stole 8 years from us. She kept me from knowing my son.”
“Yes,”
Evelyn said simply.
“Does she know?”
Nathan asked.
“Does she know you’re alive? That Lucas exists?”
“I don’t think so,”
Evelyn said.
“I’ve been careful. Very careful. I never use my real name. I pay for everything in cash. Lucas goes to school under my maiden name. We stay hidden. We stay quiet.”
“You shouldn’t have to live like that,”
Nathan said, anger rising in his voice now.
“You shouldn’t have to hide. You shouldn’t have to work two jobs and struggle to survive while I.”
“While you what?”
Evelyn asked.
“While you lived in luxury? While you slept in your expensive apartment? While you never questioned, never doubted, never looked for the truth? While you believed the lie,”
Evelyn finished for him.
“While you moved on with your life and forgot about me.”
“I never forgot you,”
Nathan said, his voice breaking.
“Not for one single day. I thought about you every day. I missed you every day. I just I thought you were gone.”
“And now I’m not,”
Evelyn said.
“So, what happens now, Nathan? What are you going to do?”
It was the biggest question, the most important question. What was he going to do? Nathan looked at Evelyn, this woman he had loved, this woman he had mourned, this woman who had suffered so much because of his mother. Then he thought about Lucas upstairs, his son, his child, a boy who didn’t even know he existed. And he thought about his mother, the woman who had raised him, who he had trusted and loved his whole life. The woman who was actually a monster.
“I don’t know,”
Nathan said honestly.
“But I’m going to fix this somehow. I’m going to make this right.”
“You can’t fix this,”
Evelyn said sadly.
“What’s done is done. Eight years are gone. We can’t get them back.”
“Maybe not,”
Nathan said.
“But we can stop running. We can stop hiding. And we can make sure my mother never hurts anyone ever again.”
Evelyn looked at him with doubt in her eyes.
“And how exactly do you plan to do that?”
Nathan’s jaw tightened, his hands clenched into fists.
“I’m going to confront her,”
he said.
“I’m going to make her admit what she did. And then then I’m going to make sure she pays for it.”
“Nathan, you can’t!”
Evelyn started to say, but Nathan was already walking toward the door.
“Wait here,”
he said.
“Keep Lucas safe. Lock the doors. Don’t let anyone in except me. I’ll be back.”
“Where are you going?”
Evelyn asked, fear in her voice. Nathan looked back at her. His eyes were hard and cold in a way Evelyn had never seen before.
“I’m going to visit my mother,”
he said. And for the first time in 8 years, Nathan was going to finally see the truth.
Nathan drove fast, too fast. His hands gripped the steering wheel so tight his knuckles were white. He didn’t call his mother to tell her he was coming. He didn’t want to give her time to prepare, time to think of more lies. His mother, Patricia Cole, lived in a huge house on the rich side of town. The house had tall white columns in front like a palace. The lawn was perfectly green. The flowers were perfectly arranged. Everything was perfect on the outside. But Nathan now knew that inside, his mother was rotten. Evil.
He pulled into the driveway and slammed on the brakes. His car stopped with a screech. He got out and marched to the front door. He didn’t knock. He used his key. He still had a key from when he lived here as a child. The door swung open.
“Mother!”
Nathan shouted. His voice echoed through the big, fancy house.
“Mother, I know you’re here! Come out!”
He heard footsteps on the marble floor. High heels clicking, getting closer. Patricia appeared at the top of the grand staircase. She was wearing a cream-colored dress and pearls. Her hair was styled perfectly. She looked elegant and calm.
“Nathan, darling,”
she said with a smile.
“What a surprise! I didn’t know you were coming. Why didn’t you call?”
She walked down the stairs gracefully, like a queen descending from her throne.
“And why are you shouting? You know I don’t like shouting in the house. It’s so unrefined.”
Nathan stared at her. This woman. This woman who had raised him, fed him, hugged him when he was sad, read him bedtime stories, taught him to tie his shoes. This woman had destroyed his life.
“Evelyn is alive,”
Nathan said. His voice was quiet now, but it shook with anger. Patricia’s smile didn’t change even a little bit.
“I’m sorry, dear. What did you say?”
“You heard me,”
Nathan said.
“Evelyn, my wife. The woman you told me died 8 years ago. She’s alive.”
Patricia reached the bottom of the stairs. She walked past Nathan into the living room and sat down on an expensive white couch. She crossed her legs elegantly.
“Nathan, I think you need to sit down,”
she said calmly.
“You’re not making sense. Perhaps you’re working too hard. You look tired.”
“Don’t,”
Nathan said through clenched teeth.
“Don’t try to make me think I’m crazy. I saw her. I talked to her. She’s alive. And she told me everything.”
Something flickered in Patricia’s eyes just for a second. But then the calm mask came back.
“Everything?”
Patricia repeated.
“What exactly is ‘everything’?”
“How you threatened her,”
Nathan said, walking into the living room.
“How you told her she wasn’t good enough for me. How you offered her money to leave. How you terrorized her when she was pregnant with my child.”
Patricia picked up a teacup from the table next to her and took a sip.
“That’s quite a story.”
Leave a Comment