Chapter 10: The Secret Thalia Could No Longer Hide
Rain began falling just after sunset.
Thin drops traced silver lines across the windows of the Metropolitan Police Headquarters.
Detective Harris stood outside Interview Room Three, reviewing a new folder that had arrived less than an hour earlier.
He had expected additional financial records.
Instead, the first page read:
CONFIDENTIAL
Voluntary Statement Request
Subject: Daniel Mercer
The detective frowned.
"Bring him in."
A young man in his early thirties entered the room.
His clothes were neat but inexpensive.
Dark circles beneath his eyes suggested several sleepless nights.
He sat down without waiting to be asked.
"My name is Daniel Mercer."
"I know."
Harris opened the file.
"You requested to speak with us."
Daniel nodded.
"I should have come sooner."
Across the city, Evelyn arrived at the prosecutor's office accompanied only by Jonathan and the family's legal counsel.
She still carried Kyle's letter inside her handbag.
Not because it changed her decision.
But because it reminded her of a simple truth.
The man who had written those words and the man who had raised the riding crop were the same person.
People were capable of both kindness and cruelty.
The law would decide how to judge the latter.
Her heart would eventually decide what to do with the former.
Back in Interview Room Three...
Detective Harris pressed the recorder.
"This interview begins at 7:14 p.m."
He looked at Daniel.
"What would you like to tell us?"
Daniel took a deep breath.
"The child Thalia is carrying..."
"...might be mine."
Silence.
Harris remained expressionless.
"Explain."
Daniel folded his hands tightly.
"I dated Thalia for almost two years."
"Did she tell you she was seeing Mr. Vale?"
"Not at first."
"When did you learn?"
"About eight months ago."
"And you continued the relationship?"
Daniel looked down.
"I loved her."
He slid a sealed envelope across the table.
Inside were photographs.
Restaurant receipts.
Hotel reservations.
Phone records.
Each document matched dates already found in Jonathan Ashcroft's investigation.
Harris slowly nodded.
The evidence fit perfectly.
Daniel continued.
"When she found out she was pregnant..."
"...she told me she wasn't sure who the father was."
Harris asked calmly,
"What happened next?"
"I wanted a DNA test."
"Did she agree?"
"For one day."
"What changed?"
Daniel laughed bitterly.
"She discovered Kyle planned to divorce his wife."
The detective waited.
Daniel finished quietly.
"After that..."
"She canceled the test."
Meanwhile...
At the Ashcroft Estate, Jonathan's legal team reviewed the same evidence.
One attorney looked up.
"This dramatically weakens any claim Thalia might make regarding inheritance."
Jonathan corrected him.
"No."
"It eliminates it."
The attorney nodded.
"If paternity cannot be established..."
"There is no legal standing."
Jonathan looked out the window.
"I never cared about the money."
"I cared about the lies."
At nearly the same moment...
Thalia sat alone in a luxury hotel suite rented under another name.
Her phone buzzed repeatedly.
She ignored the first few notifications.
Then one headline caught her attention.
FORMER BOYFRIEND OF THALIA MORRISON VOLUNTARILY MEETS INVESTIGATORS
Her face lost all color.
"No..."
She immediately dialed Daniel.
The call went straight to voicemail.
Again.
Voicemail.
Again.
Nothing.
Her breathing became shallow.
She opened her laptop.
Every news website carried a different version of the same story.
Anonymous sources.
Speculation.
Rumors.
But one fact remained consistent.
Someone close to the investigation had confirmed that a second man had come forward regarding the pregnancy.
Thalia slammed the laptop shut.
"This wasn't supposed to happen."
Her attorney arrived twenty minutes later.
He entered without speaking.
She immediately stood.
"Tell me they're wrong."
He remained silent.
"Tell me."
He removed a folder from his briefcase.
"I've reviewed everything."
"And?"
"You have two options."
She stared at him.
"Cooperate."
"Or?"
He hesitated.
"Hope the DNA test supports your version of events."
"My version?"
He looked directly at her.
"You've told at least three different versions."
She sat down slowly.
For the first time...
Someone on her own side had stopped believing her.
Elsewhere...
Kyle remained alone in a modest apartment his attorney had rented temporarily after reporters surrounded his home.
The luxury penthouse.
The private jet.
The chauffeurs.
All gone.
A knock sounded at the door.
His attorney entered carrying a newspaper.
He placed it on the table.
Kyle didn't look.
"I already know."
"No."
The attorney answered quietly.
"You don't."
He turned the newspaper around.
The headline read:
SECOND MAN CLAIMS HE MAY BE FATHER OF THALIA MORRISON'S CHILD
Kyle stared at the page.
His face showed no anger.
No surprise.
Only exhaustion.
"So..."
"It wasn't just me."
His attorney nodded.
"We don't know yet."
Kyle leaned back in his chair.
"I spent three years doubting my wife..."
"...for someone who wasn't even honest with me."
He looked toward the window.
"I deserve every consequence coming."
The attorney didn't disagree.
Instead, he asked,
"Detective Harris called."
Kyle looked up.
"Evelyn has requested a meeting."
Kyle's heart skipped.
"When?"
"Tomorrow morning."
"Why?"
"I wasn't told."
Kyle sat silently after the attorney left.
He looked toward the small wooden table where only one object remained.
The inexpensive silver ring Evelyn had once found in his desk.
He had searched for it after writing the letter.
Unable to find it, he had assumed it was lost years ago.
He smiled sadly.
"If she still has it..."
He stopped himself.
Hope was a dangerous thing.
He had forfeited the right to expect anything.
At the prosecutor's office, Detective Harris walked into Evelyn's conference room.
"We've received new evidence regarding Miss Morrison."
Evelyn listened quietly.
After he finished explaining, she nodded once.
"I expected something like this."
Jonathan studied his daughter.
"What are you thinking?"
Evelyn looked down at Kyle's handwritten letter.
Then at the prosecution papers.
Finally, she answered.
"I'm beginning to understand that justice isn't about destroying people."
She paused.
"It's about making sure the truth survives."
Jonathan smiled.
For the first time since that terrible night...
He saw something new in his daughter's eyes.
Not forgiveness.
Not vengeance.
Clarity.
The next morning, Evelyn would meet Kyle face to face for the first time since the divorce papers had been thrown onto the marble floor.
May you like
Neither of them knew that the conversation would end with a decision capable of changing both of their futures forever.
End of Chapter 10
