Chapter 3 - THE BLUE ENVELOPEAt 5:15 Thursday morning, Elias parked outside a small house on the edge of the city.
Marlo had never seen it before.
Poppy was asleep in the back seat.
Elias turned off the engine.
“We stay here until the hearing.”
Marlo stared at the dark house.
“Whose place is this?”
“Mine.”
“You have more than one house?”
“Yes.”
“How many?”
He opened his door.
“Enough.”
Marlo followed.
Inside, the house looked nothing like she expected.
No marble.
No luxury.
No artwork.
It was almost empty.
Clean.
Plain.
There was one table.
Four chairs.
A kitchen.
And a wall covered in photographs.
Marlo walked closer.
Her breath caught.
The photographs were of Preston.
Preston leaving restaurants.
Preston entering hotels.
Preston shaking hands with strangers.
Preston meeting politicians.
Preston meeting businessmen.
And one photograph showed Preston standing beside Victor Vale.
Marlo turned.
“Who is he?”
Elias did not answer.
She pointed.
“Victor.”
Elias sighed.
“Victor Vale is a private equity investor.”
“That sounds harmless.”
“It isn't.”
“Who is he?”
“A man who buys companies when they are dying.”
“And?”
“Then they die faster.”
Marlo looked at the photograph again.
“What does he want with Poppy?”
“Not Poppy.”
Elias walked toward the wall.
“He wants what she knows.”
Marlo shook her head.
“She’s seven.”
“Children notice things adults ignore.”
He reached for another photograph.
This one showed a hospital corridor.
“There was an experimental cardiac program eleven years ago.”
Marlo stared.
“Eleven years ago?”
“Yes.”
“You said someone had been waiting eleven years.”
Elias nodded.
“Poppy’s mother was pregnant at the time.”
Marlo frowned.
“No.”
Then her face changed.
Poppy was seven.
She had been born seven years ago.
The math did not make sense.
“Whose child is Poppy?” Elias asked.
Marlo stared at him.
“Mine.”
“That wasn't my question.”
“My daughter.”
“What was her mother’s name before she married Preston?”
Marlo’s lips parted.
She understood.
Poppy's biological father.
Preston had always insisted he was.
But the night Poppy was born, Marlo had been alone.
Preston had supposedly been out of town.
He returned the next day.
He had never spoken about it.
Marlo had never questioned him.
Until now.
“Elias.”
“Yes?”
“What are you saying?”
He looked at her.
“I’m saying your ex-husband may not be Poppy’s father.”
Marlo felt the room tilt.
“No.”
“I’m sorry.”
“You’re wrong.”
“Then open the envelope.”
Marlo pulled Poppy's backpack from the table.
Her hands shook.
Inside the smallest compartment was the blue envelope.
She opened it.
There were copies of medical records.
One sentence had been circled.
MATERNAL-PATERNAL GENETIC ANALYSIS.
Marlo stared.
Then at the name beside it.
ELIAS MARCO MARCHETTI.
She dropped the paper.
Elias didn't move.
Marlo looked at him.
“No.”
He nodded once.
“I'm afraid so.”
“You knew?”
“I suspected.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because I wasn't certain.”
Marlo's voice broke.
“You're Poppy's father?”
Elias stared at the document.
Then at Marlo.
“Yes.”
Poppy stirred in the next room.
Marlo covered her mouth.
“No.”
Elias stepped closer.
“I didn't know she existed.”
Marlo stared at him.
“That is impossible.”
“It isn't.”
“You were the stranger at my bakery.”
“I've been coming there for ten months.”
“To see me?”
“To see you.”
“Why?”
His eyes darkened.
“Because I knew your face before I knew your name.”
Marlo frowned.
“What does that mean?”
“My mother had a photograph.”
“Of me?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
Elias reached into his wallet.
He pulled out an old photograph.
A woman stood in front of Heart and Crumb Bakery.
Young.
Smiling.
Marlo recognized her instantly.
Her own mother.
The photograph was dated eleven years ago.
Marlo looked at the back.
There was handwriting.
FOR ELIAS. WHEN SHE IS READY.
Marlo's heart pounded.
“Your mother knew mine?”
“They knew each other.”
“How?”
“That’s what I’ve been trying to discover.”
Then the front door opened.
Elias reached for a gun.
Marlo froze.
A woman stepped inside.
She was older.
Elegant.
Gray hair.
Sharp eyes.
Elias lowered the weapon.
“Mother.”
Marlo stared.
The woman looked at her.
Then at Poppy.
Her face changed.
She whispered,
“So she survived.”
Marlo felt ice spread through her body.
“Survived what?”
The woman closed the door.
“The pregnancy.”
May you like
She looked directly at Elias.
“You were never supposed to know she existed.”
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