Chapter 6: The Woman Who Knew Danielle's Secret
“Your mother was paying someone to keep a secret about you.””
Felicia's words remained suspended over the dining table.
Jasmine stood beside me, clutching the back of a chair. Her face had gone pale, but she refused to look away from her stepmother.
“What secret?”” Jasmine asked.
Felicia shook her head.
“I shouldn't have said anything.””
“Then why did you?”” I demanded.
“Because Derrick was going to tell you anyway!””
I stared at her.
“Tell me what?””
She pressed her trembling hands against the tabletop.
“Danielle came to me before she died. She was frightened. She said there were things about Jasmine's birth that you didn't know.””
My chest tightened.
“That's impossible.””
“Marcus—”
“You told me you didn't know Danielle until years after she died.””
Felicia's lips parted.
I watched the realization cross her face.
She had forgotten that detail.
Or perhaps she had hoped I would.
“You said you met Danielle through mutual friends after we were already married,” I continued.
“You told me that when we first started dating. You even said you wished you'd met her because she sounded like a wonderful woman.””
“I was trying to protect you.””
“From what?””
Felicia looked at Jasmine.
“Please, sweetheart. Go upstairs.””
Jasmine's chair scraped backward.
“Don't call me sweetheart. Not now.””
“Jasmine, you don't understand.””
“Then explain it to me!””
Her voice cracked, and I felt something inside me break.
For twelve years, I had protected my daughter from the worst parts of losing her mother. I had answered her questions about Danielle honestly, kept her photographs in every room she loved, and told her stories about the woman who had taught me how to laugh again after a difficult day.
I had never imagined that the past I shared with my daughter might contain a lie.
I took Jasmine's hand.
“She stays.””
Felicia looked at me with a mixture of fear and resentment.
“Fine,” she whispered.
“But you have to understand something. Danielle was desperate.””
“For what?””
“To keep her family together.””
“Our family was together.””
“Was it?””
Her question landed like an insult.
I leaned forward.
“Explain yourself.””
Felicia drew a shaky breath.
“Before Danielle died, she discovered that someone had been accessing her private accounts. Someone knew things about Jasmine's birth that weren't supposed to be known. She was afraid that if the information became public, it would destroy everything.””
“What information?””
“I don't know all of it.””
“You've already admitted you knew Danielle. Now you're telling me you knew about a secret involving Jasmine. Stop pretending you have nothing to tell us.””
Felicia looked down at her hands.
“Danielle gave me thirty thousand dollars. She told me to keep it safe. She said if anything happened to her, I was to make sure Jasmine could go to college without anyone interfering.””
I felt a cold pressure in my chest.
“Why would Danielle give you that money?””
“Because she trusted me.””
“Why would she trust a woman she supposedly never met?””
Felicia said nothing.
Jasmine stepped closer.
“Were you friends with my mother?””
Felicia's eyes filled with tears.
“Yes.””
The single word changed the room.
“How long?”” I asked.
“Since before you knew me.””
“Where did you meet?””
“At the hospital.””
“What hospital?””
Felicia hesitated.
“St. Mary's.””
I stared at her.
St. Mary's was where Jasmine had been born.
For a moment, I couldn't hear anything except the ticking clock above the kitchen doorway.
“You were there when Jasmine was born?””
Felicia nodded.
“Why?””
“I was working there at the time.””
That was news to me.
In seven years of marriage, Felicia had never mentioned working at a hospital. She had told me about her years in retail management, the small accounting firm where she had worked before our wedding, and the months she spent caring for her mother.
But never St. Mary's.
“What did you do there?””
“I worked in medical records.””
Jasmine covered her mouth.
I felt the blood drain from my face.
“Medical records?”” I repeated.
Felicia nodded.
“Danielle was my friend. She asked me to help her with something.””
“What?””
“I can't tell you.””
“You can, and you will.””
She looked at Jasmine again.
“Not in front of her.””
Jasmine's eyes flashed.
“I'm eighteen years old. You're talking about my birth. If this is about me, I have every right to hear it.””
Felicia began crying.
“I know.””
“Then tell me!””
My daughter rarely shouted. She was the kind of girl who apologized when somebody bumped into her in a crowded hallway.
Seeing her stand there with tears streaming down her face made me want to put my fist through the wall.
Instead, I waited.
Finally, Felicia whispered, “Your mother asked me to correct a record.””
“What record?”” I demanded.
“A birth record.””
The room went silent.
I felt Jasmine's hand tighten around mine.
“What did you change?”” I asked.
Felicia shook her head.
“I didn't change anything important.””
“Then why did you hide it?””
“Because Danielle begged me to.””
I took a step toward her.
“Tell me what you changed.””
She backed away.
“I can't.””
“Then I'll get the records myself.””
“No!””
Her sudden shout startled Jasmine.
Felicia gripped the edge of the table.
“If you go digging into those records, you'll find things you aren't prepared to see.””
I stared at her.
“That's my daughter you're talking about.””
“And I loved her too!””
The words came out so fiercely that even Felicia seemed surprised.
Jasmine recoiled.
Felicia immediately reached toward her.
“Sweetheart—”
“Don't touch me!””
Jasmine stumbled backward.
I caught her shoulder.
Felicia's face crumpled.
“I didn't mean for any of this to happen.””
I looked at the woman I had married.
“You sold her car. You gave her private information to your brother. You helped him create a fake loan. And now you're telling us her dead mother was involved in a secret you refuse to explain.””
“I was trying to protect her.””
“From whom?””
Felicia looked toward the front door.
For one moment, I thought she might finally give us a name.
Instead, she whispered, “From the man who never stopped looking for her.””
My blood turned cold.
“Who?””
She closed her eyes.
“Jasmine's biological father.””
Jasmine went completely still.
I stared at Felicia, struggling to process the sentence.
“I'm her biological father.””
Felicia shook her head.
“You raised her. You loved her. But you weren't the man who gave her life.””
The words were so monstrous that my mind rejected them.
“No.””
“Marcus—”
“No!””
My palm struck the table. The water glasses jumped.
Jasmine began crying.
“Dad?””
I turned toward her immediately.
“Look at me, sweetheart.””
She searched my face.
“Is it true?””
I took both her hands.
“I don't know what she's talking about. But nothing she says can change what you mean to me.””
“That's not what I asked.””
Her voice was barely audible.
I wanted to tell her Felicia was lying. I wanted to promise that everything would make sense in five minutes.
But I had spent seven years trusting a woman who apparently knew my first wife before I did.
I couldn't ask Jasmine to accept another promise without evidence.
“I don't know,” I admitted.
She pulled her hands away.
The hurt in her eyes was worse than anger.
Felicia stepped forward.
“Jasmine, your mother loved you. Everything she did was because she loved you.””
Jasmine shook her head.
“Stop talking about my mother as if you knew her better than my dad did.””
Felicia flinched.
Then Jasmine walked upstairs.
I heard her bedroom door close.
I turned toward Felicia.
“You're going to give me every document you have. Every message, every photograph, every account record connected to Danielle.””
She shook her head.
“I don't have everything anymore.””
“What does that mean?””
“Derrick took the original documents.””
“Why?””
“Because he found out what they contained.””
I felt my stomach tighten.
“When?””
“Last month.””
“And you still helped him?””
“He threatened to expose the secret.””
I stared at her.
“So you sold my daughter's car to keep your brother quiet?””
Felicia began sobbing.
“I thought if I paid him, he'd leave us alone.””
“You paid him with my money.””
“Yes.””
“And you gave him Jasmine's identity.””
She nodded.
I stepped away from the table.
“Get out of my house.””
This time, she didn't argue.
She picked up her suitcase and walked toward the front door.
Just before leaving, she stopped.
“Marcus.””
I didn't turn around.
“Danielle left something for you,” she whispered.
“Something I was supposed to give you when Jasmine turned eighteen.””
I faced her.
“What?””
“A letter.””
“Where is it?””
Felicia reached into her handbag and withdrew a sealed envelope.
My name was written across the front in Danielle's unmistakable handwriting.
Beneath it were five words that made my heart stop.
*OPEN ONLY WHEN JASMINE IS EIGHTEEN.*
I snatched the envelope from her hand.
“Why didn't you give me this three weeks ago?””
Felicia's face crumpled.
“Because Derrick told me what was inside.””
“What did he tell you?””
She backed toward the door.
“He said if you read that letter, you'll finally understand why Danielle chose him.””
Then she walked out.
May you like
I stood alone in the hallway, holding a letter my dead wife had written twelve years earlier.
And for the first time since Danielle's funeral, I was afraid of what I might learn about the woman I had loved.
