Chapter 4 - The Truth Leaves the Bedroom
I woke the morning after my wedding to sunlight crossing the bed and Nathan's arm around my waist.
For several seconds, I forgot everything.
The gossip.
The photograph.
The confession.
Then Nathan opened his eyes.
"Morning, Mrs. Carter."
I looked at him.
"That sounds strange."
"Get used to it."
His smile made me smile.
For the first time in years, I felt lighter.
Johnny, Paul, and Lily were no longer a secret between us.
Nathan knew.
And he still loved me.
I believed that was the hardest part.
I was wrong.
At nine thirty, someone knocked.
Nathan groaned.
"If that's Bradley, tell him we moved."
The knock came again.
"Sir?"
It was Mrs. Dawson.
Nathan sat up.
Something in her voice was wrong.
He pulled on a robe and opened the door.
Mrs. Dawson stood outside holding her phone.
"I'm sorry."
"What happened?"
She looked at me.
"A story was published twenty minutes ago."
My stomach tightened.
Nathan took the phone.
His expression changed as he read.
Then changed again.
"What?"
I got out of bed.
He handed me the screen.
The headline filled it.
BILLIONAIRE'S BRIDE LIED ABOUT SECRET CHILDREN — SHOCKING FAMILY TRUTH REVEALED
My hands went cold.
The article said an unnamed source close to the Carter family had learned that Johnny, Paul, and Lily weren't my children.
They were my younger siblings.
It mentioned my mother's death.
My aunt.
My hometown.
Worst of all, it mentioned Johnny's "troubled psychological history."
I couldn't breathe.
"No."
Nathan immediately called his security director.
"Find out who leaked this."
I barely heard him.
I scrolled.
There were already photographs.
The blue house.
Aunt Ruth walking to her car.
Paul leaving school.
And Lily.
Fourteen-year-old Lily, standing outside a grocery store in West Virginia, shielding her face from a camera.
I dropped the phone.
Nathan caught it.
"I have to call them."
My fingers shook so badly I nearly dialed the wrong number.
Aunt Ruth answered.
"Emily."
"I'm sorry."
Her voice was tense.
"Reporters are outside."
"I know."
"Lily's scared."
My chest cracked open.
"Can I talk to her?"
There was a pause.
Then Lily's voice.
"Emmy?"
I closed my eyes.
"Hey, bug."
"Why are there cameras here?"
"I'm so sorry."
"Did I do something?"
"No."
The question destroyed me.
"No, sweetheart. You didn't do anything."
"They asked if Johnny was crazy."
Nathan's face hardened.
I turned away.
"They're stupid people asking stupid questions."
"Why?"
"Because I married someone famous."
There was silence.
Then Lily whispered, "Is Nathan famous?"
I almost laughed through my tears.
"A little."
"Like an actor?"
"Not exactly."
"Then why do they care?"
I didn't know how to answer.
Because money made strangers interested.
Because scandal made them cruel.
Because people treated private pain as content.
"I'll fix it."
"Are you coming home?"
I looked at Nathan.
He nodded immediately.
"Yes."
"We're coming."
We.
Lily heard it.
"Nathan too?"
"Yes."
She paused.
"Okay."
After we hung up, Nathan's security team arranged everything.
No corporate jet with obvious markings.
No media announcement.
We would drive part of the way and change vehicles outside Charleston.
But first Nathan wanted answers.
He called his mother.
Margaret arrived forty minutes later.
She walked into the library wearing dark sunglasses and an immaculate beige coat.
Nathan didn't offer her coffee.
"Did you tell anyone?"
Margaret removed the glasses.
"Tell anyone what?"
"About Emily's siblings."
Her face betrayed her.
Only slightly.
But enough.
My stomach dropped.
Nathan saw it too.
"Mother."
"I spoke with Eleanor."
"Who is Eleanor?"
Margaret sighed.
"A friend."
"You told a friend?"
"I didn't give details."
Nathan held up his phone.
"Someone gave plenty."
Margaret looked at me.
"I had no idea she would tell anyone."
My voice came quietly.
"What did you tell her?"
Margaret hesitated.
"That perhaps we'd misunderstood the situation."
"What else?"
"That the three children weren't yours."
My throat tightened.
"And Johnny?"
She looked away.
Nathan stepped forward.
"What about Johnny?"
"I may have said one of the boys had emotional problems."
I couldn't speak.
Nathan could.
"You overheard us."
Margaret looked defensive.
"I came upstairs to say goodbye."
"So you listened outside our bedroom?"
"The door wasn't fully closed."
"You heard fragments of the most private conversation of Emily's life and repeated them over cocktails?"
"Don't speak to me like that."
"I'll speak however I want."
"Nathan."
"No."
His voice stayed low, which somehow made it worse.
"A fourteen-year-old girl is being photographed outside her home because you couldn't keep your mouth shut."
Margaret paled.
"I didn't know."
"You didn't care enough to think."
She turned toward me.
"Emily, I'm sorry."
I looked at her.
I wanted to scream.
Instead, I said, "Johnny tried to hurt himself when he was fifteen."
Her face changed completely.
Nathan looked at me.
I'd never told him that part.
I continued.
"He survived. He got help. He has spent four years rebuilding himself. And this morning strangers are asking whether he's crazy."
Margaret covered her mouth.
"He doesn't deserve that."
"No."
"I'm so sorry."
"So is everyone after they cause damage."
I immediately regretted the cruelty.
But I couldn't take it back.
Nathan touched my shoulder.
"We need to leave."
Margaret nodded.
"I can help."
Nathan looked at her.
"No."
"Please."
"Stay away from reporters."
Then he led me out.
The drive to West Virginia took hours.
I spent most of it staring through the window.
Nathan didn't force conversation.
Near Pennsylvania, he finally said, "Why didn't you tell me about Johnny?"
I looked at him.
"You knew he struggled."
"Not that badly."
"I wasn't hiding it from you."
"I know."
"He made me promise."
Nathan nodded.
"I understand."
I studied him.
"Do you?"
"Better than yesterday."
That answer mattered.
We arrived after dark.
Aunt Ruth's house looked smaller than I remembered.
The porch light glowed.
Two security vehicles parked discreetly down the road.
I hadn't even reached the front steps when the door opened.
Lily ran outside.
"Emmy!"
I caught her.
She was taller.
Far too tall.
I hadn't seen her in four months.
Nathan stood behind me while she buried her face against my shoulder.
Then Johnny appeared in the doorway.
He was nineteen now.
Broad shoulders.
Dark hair.
Expression guarded.
His eyes moved from me to Nathan.
"So you're the husband."
Nathan extended his hand.
"Nathan."
Johnny didn't take it.
"I know who you are now."
"Fair."
Paul emerged next.
Unlike Johnny, Paul looked fascinated.
"You're actually Nathan Carter."
Nathan smiled.
"Apparently."
Paul shook his hand enthusiastically.
Lily finally released me.
She looked up at Nathan.
"Are you really a billionaire?"
Nathan glanced at me.
"This feels like a trap."
For the first time all day, I laughed.
Inside, Aunt Ruth hugged me fiercely.
Then she hugged Nathan.
Then she immediately apologized for hugging him.
Dinner was awkward.
Then funny.
Then unexpectedly normal.
Paul asked about private jets.
Lily asked whether rich people actually had people who folded their clothes.
Johnny barely spoke.
After dinner, he walked outside.
I followed.
He sat on the porch steps.
"I'm sorry," I said.
"Stop."
"Johnny."
"This isn't your fault."
"They know because of me."
"They know because people are parasites."
I sat beside him.
After a while he said, "Did you tell him?"
"About what?"
He gave me a look.
"Everything."
"Most things."
"The hospital?"
I nodded.
He stared into the dark yard.
"Does he think I'm crazy?"
"No."
"You sure?"
"Yes."
Johnny looked toward the house.
Nathan was visible through the window helping Lily with something on her phone.
"He came here."
"Yes."
"Rich guys usually send people."
"Nathan isn't most rich guys."
Johnny gave a small smile.
Then headlights appeared down the road.
A vehicle stopped beyond the security perimeter.
Johnny tensed.
Nathan's security moved immediately.
But instead of a reporter, a woman stepped out.
She carried a folder.
Aunt Ruth opened the door behind us.
Her face went pale.
"No."
I stood.
"What?"
The woman approached with one of Nathan's guards.
"Emily Carter?"
"Yes."
"My name is Angela Mercer. I'm an attorney in Charleston."
She held out the folder.
"I represent Raymond Hayes."
The name hit me like ice water.
My stepfather.
The man who abandoned us sixteen years earlier.
Johnny stood.
"What does he want?"
Angela looked at him.
Then at me.
"Mr. Hayes saw the news coverage."
My stomach tightened.
"And?"
"He intends to assert parental rights regarding Lily."
Lily appeared behind Aunt Ruth.
"What?"
I turned.
Her face had gone white.
And suddenly the rumors weren't the greatest threat to my family anymore.
The man who had abandoned three children had discovered that one of them was now connected to a billionaire.
May you like
And he wanted back into our lives.
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