For nearly 3 hours, a stranger kept brushing his hand over my thigh on the bus while I sat beside my son on the way to see my seriously ill father-in-law.

PART 2

I pressed myself against the hallway wall and held my breath.

Martha's crying grew louder.

Then Julian's voice dropped to almost nothing.

"If she finds out whose son Leo really is, everything falls apart."

My legs went cold.

I wanted to walk in.

I wanted to demand answers.

But I remembered the note — *Don't trust anyone in Arthur Sterling's house* — and I stayed still.

A few seconds later, the prayer room door swung open.

Julian stepped out and saw me standing there.

He smiled.

That same smooth, practiced smile.

"Couldn't sleep?

Let me get you some water."

"I'm fine," I said.

"I just needed some air."

He nodded slowly, watching me the way a person watches something they're not sure is broken yet.

I went back to the room where Leo was sleeping.

I sat on the edge of the bed and stared at the wall.

*Whose son Leo really is.*

My husband had been g0ne for four years.

Leo was six when he d*ed.

I had never questioned anything — never had a reason to.

I reached into my bag and pulled out the gray handkerchief again.

I turned it over.

On the inside corner, in faded ink, were two initials I hadn't noticed before.

On My Wedding Day, My Sister Spilled Instant Glue All Over My $18,000 We...

On My Wedding Day, My Sister Spilled Instant Glue All Over My $18,000 Wedding Dress.

On Thanksgiving, My Parents Told Me and My 4-Year-Old Son to Leave and N...

On Thanksgiving, My Parents Told Me and My 4-Year-Old Son to Leave and Never Return.

"I canceled Leo's eye procedure.

*R.S.*

Arthur's full name was Robert Arthur Sterling.

Chapter 2: The Initials on the Handkerchief