Chapter 4 - VANESSA'S CONFESSION
I was almost at the parking garage when I saw Vanessa.
She stood beside a black sedan at the edge of the sidewalk, wearing a cream coat and holding a paper cup. Her face looked pale. Without the polished clothes and confident smile I had seen at the hospital, she appeared younger than I remembered.
“Emma.”
I stopped but did not approach.
“What are you doing here?”
“I came to see my doctor.”
“Is everything all right?”
She glanced down at her stomach.
“Yes.”
The answer sounded rehearsed.
I tightened my grip on my purse.
“Did you know I was pregnant?”
“No.”
“Did Dominic?”
“No.”
“Did Margaret?”
Vanessa’s expression shifted.
“I don’t know.”
“You were in that room when she said I couldn’t give the family a baby.”
“I’m sorry.”
“You didn’t correct her.”
“I was afraid.”
“Of what?”
She looked toward the hospital doors.
“Of being sent away.”
I said nothing.
Vanessa lowered her voice.
“My father died last year. My mother is in Arizona with my brothers. I came back here because Margaret offered me work at the foundation. I didn’t know she would make everything into something else.”
“Did you tell her Dominic was the father?”
“No.”
“Then why did she say it?”
“Because she wanted it to be true.”
I studied her face.
“Is he the father?”
Vanessa looked down at the cup in her hands.
“No.”
The answer was so quiet I nearly missed it.
“Who is?”
“I don’t know.”
I frowned.
“What do you mean, you don’t know?”
“I was seeing someone. He said he was leaving his wife. Then he stopped answering me. I found out I was pregnant after he disappeared.”
“Does Dominic know?”
“He knows I was seeing someone. He doesn’t know who.”
“Why didn’t you tell Margaret?”
“Because she asked me if Dominic had ever touched me. I said no. She told me nobody would care about the truth if I carried his child.”
My stomach tightened.
“She wanted you to claim the baby was his?”
“She never used those exact words. She said that if people believed the baby belonged to Dominic, I would be protected. She said you had no family here and no child, and that everyone would accept me.”
I looked away.
The winter air cut across the sidewalk.
“Why did you let her speak about me that way?”
Vanessa’s eyes filled, but she did not cry.
“Because I was jealous.”
The honesty disarmed me.
“Of me?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because you had what I wanted. A home. Security. A husband who, even if he didn’t love you properly, still came back to you every night. Margaret treated me like a solution, but she treated you like you belonged. I hated you for that.”
I thought of all the times I had believed I was invisible in that family.
Apparently, I had been visible enough to become someone else’s measure of safety.
“Does Dominic know the baby isn’t his?”
“I told him yesterday.”
“He said he didn’t know.”
“He didn’t believe me.”
“Why not?”
“Because I changed my story before. When Margaret asked whether the timing could belong to him, I didn’t answer. I let her assume.”
Vanessa lifted her eyes.
“I’m sorry, Emma. I’m not asking you to forgive me. I just wanted you to know that the baby is not his.”
A car horn sounded nearby.
She stepped back.
“I’m going to leave Chicago after the baby is born. My aunt has a room for me in Michigan. I don’t want anything from Dominic.”
“Does Margaret know?”
“She knows I spoke to him.”
“And what did she say?”
Vanessa’s fingers tightened around the cup.
May you like
“She told me I had made a terrible mistake.”
The words stayed with me long after she drove away.
