Chapter 2 - She Still Thinks Lily Was an Accident
I stared at the date until the numbers blurred.
“That’s impossible.”
Evelyn didn’t answer.
The document was an application for a commercial line of credit filed under an inactive holding company called North Star Hospitality Group.
My name appeared as a contingent guarantor.
Three months before Mark and I supposedly met by chance at a friend’s barbecue.
“Maybe there’s another Rachel Hale,” I whispered.
Mom turned the page.
My Social Security number ended in the same four digits.
My old Minneapolis address was there too.
Someone had known exactly who I was before Mark introduced himself.
The next morning, I woke to pounding on the front door.
Denise had arrived.
She pushed past Mark before anyone invited her inside.
“You embarrassed me in front of my own son.”
I was sitting on the couch with Lily.
“Leave.”
Instead, Denise crossed the room, grabbed a fistful of my hair, and tried pulling me upright.
Pain ripped across my abdomen.
I screamed and curled over Lily.
“Get up! NOW!”
Evelyn hit Denise’s hand away.
“What is wrong with you?”
Denise reached for Lily next.
I twisted my body around my daughter.
Mom shoved Denise backward.
Mark stood there.
Watching.
Doing nothing.
I looked directly at him.
“Help us.”
He didn’t move.
Denise pointed at Lily.
“That baby belongs to this family!”
The room went silent.
Mark went pale.
Evelyn slowly turned toward him.
I tightened my arms around Lily.
“What does she mean?”
Mark opened his mouth.
Nothing came out.
Then Denise laughed.
“Tell her why you chose her, Mark.”
“Mom, shut up.”
“She still thinks Lily was an accident.”
My body went cold.
“What?”
Mark stepped toward me.
“Rachel, she’s angry. Don’t listen—”
But Denise had already realized she had hurt him more than me.
And she enjoyed it.
“You think my son randomly met you?” she asked. “You think he fell in love and just happened to marry the one woman we needed?”
“Needed for what?”
For the first time, Denise hesitated.
Then someone knocked.
Not family.
A man’s voice came through the door.
“Court enforcement. I’m looking for Denise Walker and Mark Walker.”
Denise’s face changed.
Evelyn looked at me.
“I made one call last night.”
Outside, three black trucks were pulling up behind the officer.
But Mark wasn’t watching them.
He was staring at the papers on our dining table.
Specifically, the document dated before we met.
May you like
And then he whispered something I almost didn’t hear.
“They found North Star.”
