Chapter 3 - AARON HAD BEEN A FATHER FOR FIVE YEARS
The twins were Aaron’s.
No ambiguity.
No complicated timing.
No mistaken assumption.
DNA testing later confirmed it, but Aaron admitted it before anyone asked.
Five years.
Five years of secret fatherhood.
Five years of birthday gifts.
School tuition.
Pediatric visits.
Weekend trips disguised as “work conferences.”
And Vanessa.
The affair had started before Claire married Aaron.
Stopped briefly.
Then started again.
Claire sat across from Aaron two days after the party in Samuel Archer’s office.
Her attorney.
His attorney.
No children present.
No parents.
No shouting.
Aaron looked wrecked.
“I was going to tell you.”
Claire laughed once.
“Five years late?”
He stared at the table.
“When Vanessa got pregnant, we weren’t together.”
“You and I were engaged.”
“I panicked.”
“And then?”
“She said she didn’t want to break us up.”
Claire looked toward the window.
That line was almost elegant in its cowardice.
“Then why keep seeing her?”
Aaron’s attorney shifted.
Aaron answered anyway.
“Because they were my sons.”
“That explains seeing them.”
Claire looked back at him.
“Not sleeping with their mother.”
He had no answer.
Then Claire asked the question that mattered most.
“Did Margaret know?”
Aaron closed his eyes.
“Yes.”
“How long?”
“From the pregnancy.”
Five years.
Margaret had smiled through Claire’s wedding while knowing Aaron already had two sons with another woman.
She had accepted Lily at holidays while privately treating her as temporary.
May you like
And at the party, something changed enough that Margaret stopped pretending.
Claire needed to know why.
