The room went silent.
I turned slowly toward my father.
“What truth?”
For the first time in my life, he looked afraid of me.
“Years after Claire married Leonard,” Dad said weakly, “she contacted me again.”
“And you ignored her,” Julian said coldly.
“I had a wife and a child by then!”
“You abandoned her!”
“I was trying to protect my family!”
Neither of them seemed to realize they were tearing me apart while fighting over ghosts.
Then Julian said the words that stole the air from my lungs.
“Your mother never left willingly.”
Everything inside me stopped.
“What?”
Julian pulled an envelope from his jacket. Inside were old letters, clippings, and records.
“My mother discovered illegal financial records connected to Leonard’s company. Fraud. Bribes. Construction cover-ups.”