Chapter 8: The Man Who Walked Away
I didn’t answer the phone.
Not immediately.
I watched it ring.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
A lifetime of memories passed through my mind.
The young man I had loved.
The man who disappeared when things became difficult.
The stranger who had become a billionaire while I struggled to pay bills and raise a child.
The man who had no idea Harrison had spent his entire life believing someone else was his father.
Finally, Harrison reached over.
“Answer it.””
I looked at him.
“Are you sure?””
“No.””
His voice was quiet.
“But I need to know.””
I pressed the button.
“Hello?””
A man’s voice answered.
“Margaret?””
My heart stopped.
Because even after thirty-eight years…
I remembered that voice.
“Richard.””
Silence.
Then:
“I never thought you’d answer.””
I almost laughed.
“I never thought you’d call.””
Harrison sat across from me.
Listening.
Waiting.
Richard sighed.
“I know about Sloan.””
My fingers tightened around the phone.
“How?””
“She contacted someone connected to my company.””
Daniel looked at me.
“She was trying to reach him.””
“Yes,” Richard said.
“She wanted information.””
“What kind?””
A pause.
Then:
“Information about Harrison.””
My son closed his eyes.
Hearing his name from a stranger’s mouth seemed to hurt him.
“You knew about him?”” Harrison asked suddenly.
The line went quiet.
Richard had heard him.
“Is that Harrison?””
I looked at my son.
“Yes.””
Another silence.
Then Richard whispered:
“My son.””
Harrison looked away.
I saw the anger.
The confusion.
The pain.
“Don’t call me that,” he said.
The words were quiet.
But they carried years of hurt he didn’t even know he had.
Richard exhaled.
“You’re right.””
That surprised everyone.
“I don’t deserve to.””
Nobody spoke.
“I should have been there.””
Harrison’s jaw tightened.
“Yes.””
Richard didn’t defend himself.
He didn’t make excuses.
“I was scared.””
Harrison laughed bitterly.
“People always say that when they abandon someone.””
The words hit hard.
But Richard accepted them.
“You’re right.””
I had expected excuses.
I expected him to explain.
Instead, he simply admitted the truth.
And somehow that made it harder.
“Why now?”” Harrison asked.
“Because Sloan forced the truth into the open.””
Richard paused.
“And because I received a message that she was planning something dangerous.””
“What?””
“She was preparing to challenge your mother legally.””
“We know.””
“No.””
Richard’s voice became serious.
“You don’t understand.””
The room changed.
Everyone listened.
“What don’t we understand?””
“She wasn’t only trying to access Margaret’s money.””
Daniel looked up.
“Then what?””
Richard answered:
“She was trying to connect Harrison to my estate.””
I felt cold.
“Why?””
“Because she believes Harrison can inherit from me.””
Harrison shook his head.
“I don’t want anything from you.””
Richard was silent.
Then:
“You might not.””
A pause.
“But Sloan does.””
The anger on Harrison’s face was unmistakable.
“She used me.””
“Yes.””
Richard sounded ashamed.
“She used all of us.””
I looked at the phone.
“What do you want, Richard?””
The answer came quickly.
“To meet my son.””
Harrison stood.
“No.””
Richard didn’t argue.
“I understand.””
“No, you don’t.””
“I do.””
Harrison’s voice shook.
“You missed everything.””
“I know.””
“You missed my first day of school.””
“I know.””
“You missed every birthday.””
“I know.””
“You missed watching me become a man.””
Richard’s voice cracked.
“I know.””
The room went silent.
Then Richard said something unexpected.
“And I know the man who did those things deserves to be called your father.””
Harrison looked down.
That sentence reached somewhere anger couldn’t.
After the call ended, nobody spoke for several minutes.
Then Daniel received a notification on his phone.
His expression changed.
“What?””
He looked at me.
“What is it?””
He slowly turned the screen around.
An article.
A headline.
*Local Woman Accused of Attempting Elder Financial Fraud.*
Below it was Sloan’s photograph.
Harrison grabbed the phone.
“She leaked this?””
Daniel shook his head.
“No.””
“Then who?””
Daniel looked confused.
“I don’t know.””
My phone buzzed.
A message.
From an unknown number.
I opened it.
Only four words.
*Ask your son why.*
My blood ran cold.
Because attached to the message was a photograph.
A photograph of Harrison.
Standing outside a lawyer’s office.
With Sloan.
Taken three years earlier.
The same week she entered our family.
I looked at my son.
May you like
And for the first time since this nightmare began…
I wondered if Sloan had been alone after all.
