Chapter 7: Evelyn Makes Her Move
She called Owen three days later.
He put it on speaker without her knowing.
I sat across the kitchen table and listened.
"I've been thinking about what happened," Evelyn began.
"And I think we all said things — or, well, some things were said — that we need to move past for the sake of the baby."
"I haven't said anything to you since you left," Owen said.
"I asked you to give me time."
"I know, sweetheart.
And I have.
But I've also been talking to some people, and I think it's important that we — that this doesn't get blown out of proportion."
"What people?"
A small pause.
"Just people I trust.
People who care about this family."
"Diane Mercer?"
The pause this time was longer.
"I don't know why you'd bring her into this."
"Because she delivered a letter to my wife's fertility clinic on your behalf," Owen said.
"With a notarized authorization that you signed.
So I'm asking — have you been speaking to Diane Mercer?"
"Owen, that letter was written out of concern—"
"Have you been speaking to Diane Mercer."
"She's an old colleague.
Yes.
I've spoken to her."
"About us."
"About the situation, yes.
Owen, I need you to understand that what I did came from a place of genuine—"
"Mom." His voice was flat.
"Stop.
I need you to listen to me very carefully." He leaned forward over the table.
"I have spoken to Gerald Foss.
I have a copy of Dad's trust document.
I understand exactly what the clause says and exactly what the timing of our treatment delay would have meant if we hadn't conceived when we did."
Silence.
"I also have a litigator reviewing the clinic letter for fraudulent misrepresentation."
"Owen, you don't need to—"
"I'm not finished." He waited.
"You are going to have one opportunity to come and sit down with me, with Katie, and with a mediator of our choosing, and explain — fully and honestly — everything that you did and why you did it.
Every conversation with Diane Mercer.
Every contact with the clinic.
Every decision." He paused.
"If you do that, we will decide together as a family what happens next.
If you don't — if you lawyer up and stonewall and make me go through the courts to get the truth — I will pursue every legal option available to me and I will do it completely."
Evelyn's voice, when it came, had changed.
The warmth was gone.
What was underneath it was harder and more careful.
"You would do that to your own mother."
"You interfered with my wife's medical treatment to protect your control of a trust fund." His voice didn't waver.
"So yes."
Another silence.
"I'll need a few days," she said.
"You have until Friday."
He ended the call.
I looked at him across the table.
"She's going to try to get ahead of it," I said.
"She'll come in with a version that minimizes everything."
"I know." He picked up his phone.
"That's why I need you to call Tessa before Friday."
"Tessa?"
"She said she suspected since the second delay.
That means she may have more than she's told us." He met my eyes.
"And if Evelyn calls her first to get her story straight, I need Tessa to already be on our side of the table."
I reached for my phone.
It lit up before I could dial.
A text.
From a number I didn't recognize.
*My name is Diane Mercer.
May you like
I think it's time we spoke.
I have something that belongs to you.*
