Chapter 3 - Maren Finally Tells Me Why She Let Me Hate Her
I found Maren three days later.
She was living above a small repair shop outside Leiper's Fork.
The apartment was barely large enough for a bed, crib, and kitchen table.
Leo and Lucas were sleeping beside each other.
I stood in the doorway.
Maren saw me.
Her first reaction was fear.
Her second was exhaustion.
Her third was something I had not expected.
Relief.
“You found us.”
I nodded.
“I found the photograph.”
Her face changed.
“You weren't supposed to.”
“Three babies.”
She closed her eyes.
“I knew this day would come.”
“Tell me everything.”
She sat.
I sat across from her.
The twins slept behind us.
“They're yours.”
I swallowed.
“I know.”
“I never cheated on you.”
“I know.”
“I never stole your money.”
“I know.”
“I never met the man in the hotel room.”
“I know.”
She looked at me.
For the first time in a year, I saw the woman I remembered.
Not the ex-wife the newspapers had painted.
Not the woman Tessa had described.
My Maren.
“I tried to tell you.”
“I know.”
“But you believed them.”
“I did.”
“You chose to believe them.”
“I did.”
The honesty hurt.
Maren nodded.
“That matters.”
“What happened the night I filed for divorce?”
“I didn't know you were filing.”
“You received the papers.”
“Yes.”
“And you disappeared.”
“Yes.”
“Because you were pregnant.”
“Because I was pregnant with your children.”
She looked toward the twins.
“I found out I was carrying three.”
My chest tightened.
“I thought I was going to lose my mind.”
She smiled sadly.
“Three babies. One man I loved. And a family that wanted me gone.”
“What did my mother do?”
“She came to the hospital.”
“She knew?”
“She knew before you did.”
“How?”
“She had your phone monitored.”
I looked away.
“How long?”
“Months.”
Maren told me my mother had learned about the pregnancy and decided it was a threat to the Bellamy inheritance.
She believed Maren would gain control through the children.
Then she found out one of the babies was a girl.
The girl would inherit a private family trust.
A trust my father had established secretly.
My mother wanted that inheritance controlled by her.
“Tessa helped her.”
“Yes.”
“And the investigator.”
“Yes.”
“And my father.”
Maren's face went still.
“Your father was alive when we married.”
I stared.
“Why did he hide?”
“Because he was investigating your mother.”
“What?”
“He knew she was siphoning money from his companies.”
Maren told me something even worse.
My father had hired her.
Not Tessa.
Maren.
To watch the family from inside.
She had been collecting evidence.
That was why my mother hated her.
Then came the night of the hospital birth.
“One of the babies disappeared.”
Maren's eyes filled.
“I woke up and they told me my daughter had died.”
“But she didn't.”
“No.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I heard her cry.”
I leaned forward.
“Tell me.”
“I had just given birth. I was drugged and exhausted. But I remember hearing three babies.”
She began crying.
“I remember all three.”
“Where did they take her?”
“I don't know.”
“Then how did you get the boys?”
“Someone left them beside me before sunrise.”
“Who?”
“A nurse.”
“Diane?”
“No.”
Maren shook her head.
“Another woman.”
“What did she say?”
“She whispered, ‘Take the boys. Run.’”
“Why?”
“She told me if I stayed, all three babies would disappear.”
I closed my eyes.
“So you left.”
“Yes.”
“And you never called me.”
“I called once.”
“What happened?”
“Your phone was answered by Tessa.”
I stared.
“She said you didn't want to hear from me.”
I remembered that call.
A woman had answered.
She said I was too angry.
I never realized it wasn't Maren.
Maren continued.
“She threatened me.”
“Who?”
“Tessa.”
“What did she say?”
“She told me that if I went to you, she would make sure the twins were taken too.”
I looked at the sleeping babies.
My sons.
My heart broke.
“Why didn't you tell the police?”
“Because the nurse who helped me disappeared.”
“Diane?”
“No.”
“She vanished?”
“Yes.”
“And you thought no one would believe you.”
“I knew no one would.”
I was silent.
Then Maren touched the edge of the table.
“I never wanted you to find me like this.”
“Why?”
“Because I didn't want you to think I was begging.”
“You weren't.”
“I know that now.”
She looked at me.
“You always thought I left because I hated you.”
“I did.”
“I left because I loved you enough to make you hate me.”
That sentence broke me.
I reached for her hand.
She pulled away.
“You don't get to touch me yet.”
I nodded.
“Okay.”
She glanced toward the twins.
“They deserve to know their father.”
I looked at them.
“Do they know me?”
“They know your name.”
“And what do you say?”
“That you're a good man who made a terrible mistake.”
I closed my eyes.
“I don't deserve that.”
“No.”
Her voice softened.
“But maybe you can become it.”
A car pulled up outside.
Maren froze.
She looked through the blinds.
“It’s them.”
“Who?”
“My mother's security.”
“No.”
I stood.
“They found you.”
Maren grabbed my arm.
“Rowan, listen.”
“What?”
“The people hunting me aren't after the twins.”
She looked toward the crib.
“They're after the third baby.”
“Why?”
“Because she survived.”
My blood went cold.
“Where is she?”
Maren whispered:
May you like
“I don't know.”
Then a gunshot shattered the window.
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