Chapter 3 - The Morning She Refused to Leave Quietly
Maya did not sleep.
David offered her a guest room.
She refused.
Marcus offered to arrange a hotel.
She refused that too.
Instead, she sat on the edge of David’s enormous living-room sofa at four in the morning staring at a document that had just turned her entire childhood into a question.
Potential paternity inquiry.
Prescott.
She read it again.
And again.
And again.
David stood near the windows.
He had loosened his shirt collar hours earlier.
“You should sleep.”
Maya looked at him.
“Great suggestion. I’ll just close my eyes while wondering whether my mother forgot to mention that my father might have been a Prescott.”
“That may not be what it means.”
“You keep saying that.”
“Because we don’t know.”
“Exactly.”
David rubbed the back of his neck.
“There were several Prescotts involved in the company.”
“Your father?”
“Yes.”
“Uncles?”
“One.”
“Any cousins?”
“At least three old enough.”
Maya stared at him.
“So one of your relatives may be my father.”
“Possibly.”
“Which would make you…”
She stopped.
David understood.
“Let’s not finish that sentence until we know.”
“Agreed.”
For once, they were completely aligned.
Marcus had already contacted an attorney who specialized in archival records.
The hospital promised to move forward with Elena’s surgery preparation.
David had signed the guarantee.
No conditions.
No negotiation.
Maya still intended to repay him.
At seven in the morning, she stood.
“I need to go.”
David looked at her suitcase.
“Hospital?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll drive you.”
“No.”
“Maya.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because I arrived here yesterday because you were supposed to be a stranger.”
“And now?”
“Now I don’t know what you are.”
The words hit harder than she intended.
David’s expression closed.
Maya immediately regretted it.
“That sounded worse than I meant.”
“No. It sounded accurate.”
She walked toward the door.
Then stopped.
“Thank you.”
David looked up.
“For the surgery.”
“You don’t owe me anything.”
“I know.”
“That bothers you, doesn’t it?”
“Yes.”
David almost smiled.
“I’m starting to understand you.”
“Don’t get comfortable.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it.”
She left.
And for the first time in years, David Prescott watched a woman leave his home in the morning and wished she had stayed.
Not because he wanted another night.
Because he wanted another conversation.
That terrified him.
At the hospital, Elena was awake.
Maya entered quietly.
Her mother smiled.
“You look terrible.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
Maya sat beside the bed.
For several minutes, she could not decide how to begin.
So she used the most direct method possible.
“Did you know Victor Prescott?”
Elena’s smile vanished.
Maya’s heart sank.
“Oh my God.”
Her mother looked away.
“Where did you hear that name?”
“Mom.”
“Maya.”
“Please don’t do this.”
Elena’s hands tightened around the blanket.
“Where?”
“I met David Prescott.”
Elena went completely still.
Maya saw fear.
Not surprise.
Fear.
“Why?”
“Because I needed money for your surgery.”
“Maya.”
“I know.”
“What did you do?”
“Nothing.”
Elena closed her eyes.
“What did he do?”
“He paid.”
Her mother opened her eyes again.
“No.”
“What?”
“No. You have to give it back.”
“Mom, I don’t have eighty thousand dollars.”
“Then cancel the surgery.”
Maya stared at her.
“That is not happening.”
“You don’t understand.”
“Then explain it.”
Elena looked toward the door.
“Did David see the records?”
“Yes.”
“What records?”
“The old investigation. Your protection request.”
Elena’s breathing changed.
“And the paternity note.”
Silence.
Maya whispered, “Who is my father?”
Elena did not answer.
“Mom.”
“I was trying to protect you.”
“From who?”
Elena’s eyes filled with tears.
“The Prescott family.”
Maya leaned back.
“David?”
“No.”
That surprised her.
“Then who?”
Elena shook her head.
“I promised myself you would never know.”
“Why?”
“Because knowing would put you back inside something I spent eighteen years escaping.”
Maya stood.
“I am thirty years old.”
“I know.”
“I’m not a child anymore.”
“To me, you are.”
“That is not an answer.”
Elena looked at her daughter for a long time.
Then finally whispered,
“Victor Prescott wasn’t your father.”
Maya’s shoulders dropped slightly.
“Okay.”
“But he knew who was.”
Maya waited.
Elena swallowed.
“Your father was Victor’s younger brother.”
Maya stared.
“Thomas Prescott?”
Elena nodded.
Maya remembered the name from business articles.
Thomas Prescott.
David’s uncle.
Dead for seventeen years after what newspapers described as a boating accident.
Maya sat again.
“You were with Thomas Prescott?”
“I loved him.”
The words came quietly.
“He loved me too.”
“Then why wasn’t he in my life?”
Elena looked away.
“He never knew you were born.”
Maya felt the room tilt.
“What?”
“Victor found out I was pregnant before Thomas did.”
“Why would he care?”
“Because Thomas was preparing to expose him.”
“Expose what?”
“The money.”
Elena’s voice trembled.
“Victor had been moving company funds through shell accounts. Thomas discovered it. He asked me to help him prove it.”
“And then?”
“I found enough evidence.”
Maya’s stomach tightened.
“That’s why you asked for protection.”
Elena nodded.
“I planned to tell Thomas about the baby after we turned everything over to investigators.”
“But?”
Elena’s tears fell.
“He died.”
Maya went silent.
“The accident?”
Her mother shook her head.
“I never believed it was an accident.”
Maya’s pulse quickened.
“Mom.”
“I was scared.”
“So you disappeared.”
“I changed jobs. Moved. Stopped contacting anyone connected to the Prescotts.”
“Did Victor threaten you?”
Elena did not answer.
That was enough.
Maya stood abruptly.
“I need to tell David.”
“No.”
“He deserves to know.”
“No.”
“His father may have stolen money and covered up something involving his uncle.”
“You think David doesn’t know his father was dangerous?”
“He doesn’t know this.”
Elena gripped Maya’s wrist.
“Listen to me.”
Maya looked down.
“Victor Prescott is dead.”
“Yes.”
“But the people who helped him aren’t.”
Maya froze.
“What people?”
Elena’s face changed.
Before she could answer, the door opened.
A nurse entered.
“Ms. Carter?”
Maya turned.
“There’s a gentleman downstairs asking for you.”
“Who?”
“He says his name is Daniel Lane.”
Maya frowned.
Elena went pale.
“Lane?”
Maya looked at her mother.
“You know him?”
Elena whispered one name.
“Victoria.”
Maya stared.
David’s Victoria?
The woman who had betrayed him?
The nurse handed Maya a small envelope.
“He said to give you this first.”
Maya opened it.
Inside was a photograph.
David.
Victoria.
And Elena.
Taken years earlier.
On the back, four words were written.
May you like
ASK DAVID WHAT SHE STOLE.
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