Part 2
I slowly turned toward my mother-in-law.
“What doesn’t he know?” I asked.
Carol pressed a trembling hand to her mouth. Mark looked between us, angry again, but now there was panic beneath it.
“Mom,” he snapped, “what are you talking about?”
Carol’s eyes filled with tears. “Not here.”
I gave one short laugh, though nothing was funny. “You didn’t stop him from humiliating me in this room. You don’t get privacy now.”
The nurse quietly asked if I wanted Mark removed. I said, “Not yet.”
Carol sank back into the chair as if her legs had failed. “When Mark was twenty-two, before he met you, he got very sick. There was an infection after a surgery. The doctors told us there was a strong chance he might never have children naturally.”
Mark stared at her. “What?”
She looked ashamed. “Your father and I didn’t tell you everything. You were already depressed after the hospitalization. We thought… we thought it would destroy you.”
My heart hammered. “Are you saying Mark may not be able to father a child?”
Carol gave a weak nod. “The doctor told us it was possible, but unlikely.”
Mark stepped back like the floor had moved beneath him. “That’s a lie.”
“It’s not,” Carol whispered. “I kept the records.”
Mark looked at me then, and for the first time since his cruel accusation, fear crossed his face.
But my anger did not fade. It grew colder.
“You accused me of cheating,” I said. “You looked at our daughter, thirty minutes after I pushed her into this world, and your first thought was suspicion.”
Mark swallowed. “I didn’t know.”
“That doesn’t excuse anything.”
He dragged both hands over his face. “I heard things.”
“What things?”
He hesitated.
I waited.
Finally, he said, “A text. From my brother. He said Lily didn’t look like me. He said you were too close with your coworker, Ethan.”
I almost laughed again. Ethan was sixty-three, happily married, and had only advised me about maternity leave. Mark had taken gossip from his reckless brother and turned it into a weapon.
Rachel called back within minutes. I answered on speaker.
“I can file as soon as you’re ready,” she said. “But Emily, are you safe?”
I looked at Mark.
He looked smaller than I had ever seen him.
Before I could answer, Carol reached into her purse, pulled out an old folded envelope, and held it toward Mark.
“Read it,” she said.
Mark opened it with shaking hands.
And then he saw the medical report that changed everything.
