Chapter 2: The Man in the Photograph
My mother crossed the driveway so quickly that she nearly tripped over a balloon string.
“Give me that photograph,” Vanessa demanded.
I stepped backward.
“Who is he?””
“Jasmine, don't start.””
“Don't start what? Asking why somebody says my father is alive?””
Her eyes darted toward the house.
“Lower your voice.””
“Why? Is the truth going to embarrass Madison?””
She flinched.
That reaction told me more than any explanation could have.
My mother reached for the photograph again.
I pulled it against my chest.
“Tell me who he is.””
“It's an old picture. You don't understand the circumstances.””
“Then explain them!””
Her lips pressed into a thin line.
“Someone is trying to manipulate you. People do cruel things when they know a family has money.””
I stared at her.
“What money? We live in the same house we've lived in for years. Richard works twelve-hour days, and Madison thinks a Toyota is an insult. Who is trying to manipulate me?””
“Enough!””
The sharpness of her voice startled me.
A few seconds later, Richard appeared in the doorway.
“Vanessa, what's going on?””
She immediately changed her expression.
“Nothing. Jasmine found some disturbing photograph, and she's making accusations.””
Richard looked at me.
I handed him the picture.
He studied it for several seconds.
Then he turned it over.
The moment he read the message, his face changed.
Not with confusion.
With recognition.
“Where did this come from?”” he asked.
“I found it under the windshield wiper.””
He looked toward the street.
“Did you see anyone?””
“No.””
My mother snatched the photograph from his hand.
“Richard, don't encourage this nonsense.””
He turned toward her.
“Do you know who this man is?””
Vanessa said nothing.
“Vanessa.””
“It's complicated.””
Richard let out a humorless laugh.
“Everything is complicated when the truth might inconvenience you.””
Her eyes narrowed.
“Don't you dare speak to me like that in front of my daughter.””
I felt the words catch in my throat.
“My daughter?””
She looked at me.
For one strange moment, I wondered whether she had meant something else.
Then she said, “You know what I mean.””
But I didn't.
Not anymore.
I had spent years trying to become the kind of daughter my mother would choose first. I got good grades, kept my room spotless, helped with groceries, and never asked for expensive clothes.
When Madison wanted something, Vanessa found a way to get it.
When I wanted something, she reminded me how fortunate I was to have a roof over my head.
Richard was the one who noticed when my shoes wore through. He was the one who attended my school events when Vanessa said she had a headache. He was the one who sat with me at the kitchen table when I cried over a failed math test.
I had never understood why he tried so hard.
Now, standing between them, I wondered whether he knew something my mother had spent years hiding.
“Richard,” I asked, “did you know my father?””
He looked at Vanessa before answering.
“I knew of him.””
“Was he dead?””
My mother closed her eyes.
“Jasmine, please.””
“Was he dead?””
Nobody answered.
I felt my pulse beating in my ears.
Then Richard said, “Not when I met your mother.””
The driveway seemed to tilt beneath me.
“What?””
He rubbed a hand across his face.
“I thought he had disappeared from your lives. Your mother told me he had abandoned you before he died.””
“She said he died in a car accident.””
Richard's expression tightened.
“She told me he had died overseas.””
I stared at him.
Two different stories.
One dead man.
And a mother who couldn't seem to remember which lie she had told.
Vanessa stepped between us.
“This is exactly why I didn't want you digging into the past. You were a child. I was trying to protect you.””
“From my father?””
“From everything he brought with him.””
“What did he bring?””
She looked away.
For the first time, I noticed how tightly she was gripping the photograph. Her fingernails had left pale crescents in her palm.
Richard held out his hand.
“Vanessa, give Jasmine the picture.””
“No.””
“She's seventeen. She has a right to know who her father is.””
“She has a right to be safe!””
The words exploded out of her.
We all fell silent.
Then she seemed to realize what she had said.
Richard lowered his voice.
“Safe from what?””
Vanessa shook her head.
“I'm not discussing this here.””
She turned and hurried into the house.
I watched her go.
“Richard, what's happening?””
He looked older than he had an hour earlier.
“I wish I could give you an answer.””
“Did you know she lied about him being dead?””
He hesitated.
That hesitation hurt more than a confession.
“I knew there were things she wouldn't discuss. I didn't know she had told you he died in a car accident.””
“Why didn't you ask?””
“Because every time I did, she said talking about your father would hurt you. She said you were finally adjusting to having a stable home.””
He paused.
“I wanted to believe her.””
I swallowed hard.
“So you just let it go?””
“I'm not proud of that.””
The honesty in his voice made my anger falter, but only slightly.
“What was his name?””
Richard looked down at the photograph.
“Daniel Reed.””
The name felt strange in my ears.
“Why would he contact me now?””
“I don't know.””
“Does he know where I live?””
Richard glanced toward the street again.
“I suspect he does.””
A car horn sounded from the curb.
Madison's friend had arrived to pick her up for lunch. Madison appeared behind the front window, laughing at something on her phone, as though the morning's argument had never happened.
I couldn't understand how the world could continue moving when mine had just split in half.
Richard touched my shoulder.
“Go inside. I'll talk to your mother.””
“No.””
He looked surprised.
“I've spent seventeen years listening to other people tell me what I can handle,” I said.
“I'm done.””
I walked past him and entered the house.
Vanessa stood in the kitchen, shredding a piece of paper over the trash can.
When she saw me, she dropped the remaining pieces.
“What are you doing?””
“What did you just destroy?””
“Nothing important.””
I approached the trash can.
She stepped in front of it.
“Jasmine, don't.””
I stopped.
“Was that about my father?””
Her mouth trembled.
“Please don't make me do this.””
“Do what?””
“Choose between protecting you and telling you things you aren't ready to hear.””
I stared at her.
“You already chose. You chose to lie.””
She slapped her palm against the counter.
“Because I was trying to give you a normal life!””
“I had a normal life yesterday!””
“No, you didn't!”” she shouted.
The sudden force of her voice made me freeze.
For a moment, her face looked unfamiliar.
“You think you know everything about the man in that picture,” she continued, “but you don't know what he did. You don't know what he asked me to do. You don't know what it cost me to keep you away from him.””
“Then tell me!””
She shook her head violently.
“I can't.””
“Can't or won't?””
She looked toward the staircase.
Then she whispered, “If Daniel has found you, it means he knows about the agreement.””
“What agreement?””
Her eyes widened.
She had said too much.
I reached for the counter to steady myself.
“What agreement, Mom?””
She grabbed her purse.
“I need to make a phone call.””
“You're not leaving!””
She brushed past me.
I followed her to the hallway, but she was already stepping onto the porch.
Her phone rang before she reached the driveway.
She answered immediately.
“Hello?””
I couldn't hear the person on the other end.
But I heard my mother say, “You promised me he would never come back.””
She stopped walking.
“What do you mean, he's already there?””
My stomach twisted.
She looked directly at me through the open doorway.
Then she whispered into the phone, “Does Jasmine know?””
A pause.
Her knees seemed to weaken.
“No,” she said.
“She doesn't know about the other girl.””
I stepped outside.
“Other girl?””
My mother ended the call.
For a moment, neither of us moved.
Then I asked the question that had begun to haunt me.
“Do I have a sister?””
Vanessa's face crumpled.
“No.””
“Then who is the other girl?””
She opened her mouth, but no sound came out.
A black sedan rolled slowly past our house.
Its tinted windows reflected the morning sun.
The car continued toward the intersection, then stopped.
The driver's door opened.
A tall man stepped out, wearing a dark suit and carrying a white envelope.
He looked across the street toward our driveway.
Then he began walking toward us.
My mother grabbed my wrist.
“Jasmine, listen to me. Whatever he says, don't believe him.””
I stared at the approaching stranger.
“Who is he?””
She squeezed my wrist so tightly it hurt.
“Someone who can destroy everything we've built.””
The man stopped at the foot of the driveway.
He looked at me for a long moment.
Then he said, “Jasmine Carter?””
I nodded.
He held out the envelope.
“My name is Samuel Hayes. I represent Daniel Reed.””
My mother released my wrist as if the stranger's words had burned her.
Samuel glanced at her, then back at me.
“Your father has been searching for you for fourteen years.””
I couldn't breathe.
“Fourteen years?””
“Yes.””
“Why didn't he come sooner?””
Samuel's expression softened.
“Because someone told him you were dead.””
My mother made a small, broken sound.
I turned toward her.
She was staring at Samuel as though she had seen a ghost.
And then he said the words that changed everything.
“Mrs. Carter, Mr. Reed asked me to bring the original agreement. The one you signed when you accepted the money to disappear.””
My mother stumbled backward.
Richard appeared behind us.
“What money?”” he demanded.
Samuel opened the envelope.
Inside was a legal document bearing my mother's signature.
And beneath it was a bank transfer receipt for two million dollars.
The recipient's name was Vanessa Carter.
Richard stared at the page.
Then he looked at my mother.
“Vanessa,” he said quietly, “what have you done?””
She didn't answer.
Because the man who had supposedly abandoned me hadn't merely disappeared.
May you like
Someone had been paid to make sure he never found me.
And that someone was my mother.
