Nine years later, when she found out about the inheritance my son had left for his granddaughter, she returned with a lawyer and the police, accusing me of kidnapping. But in court, when I handed the judge an envelope, he looked stunned and asked, “Does she know?”
I replied, “Not yet.”
The doorbell rang at 7:30 on a Tuesday morning, which should have been my first warning. Nobody rings doorbells that early unless they’re selling something desperate or delivering bad news.
I opened the door expecting a package. Instead, I got two police officers and a ghost. Detective Rivers—the older one, badge reading RIVERS—had that careful tone cops use when they think you might run.
“We need to talk about your granddaughter, Sophia,” he said. Behind them stood Jennifer, my son’s widow, the woman who’d vanished nine years ago like smoke and wind. She had tears streaming down her face, the kind that looked rehearsed in a mirror.
I’d spent forty years as an accountant, learning to spot fraudulent entries in ledgers. Fraudulent tears weren’t much different. “My baby,” Jennifer sobbed, reaching past the officers like she was auditioning for a drama series.
“Where’s my baby?”
I heard footsteps behind me. Sophia—thirteen now, getting ready for school—appeared in the hallway with her backpack. She froze when she saw the woman at the door.
“Grandpa,” she said, voice small, uncertain. “Who is that?”
Jennifer’s performance kicked into high gear. “Sophia.
Oh my God, Sophia. Baby, it’s me. It’s Mommy.”
I watched my granddaughter’s face.
She didn’t recognize her own mother. Why would she? Sophia was four when Jennifer left.
Now she was thirteen, and the woman at my door was a stranger. Detective Rivers continued, “There’s been a report filed about child abduction. We need to sort this out.”
I felt something cold settle in my chest.
Not panic. I’d been waiting for this moment for years. I’d prepared for it.
But standing there, watching Jennifer play the grieving mother while Sophia pressed herself against my side, the calculated cruelty of it hit me fresh. “Of course, Detective,” I said, keeping my voice level, reasonable. “Please come in.
This should be interesting.”
I let them into my living room—the same room where Sophia had learned to read, where we’d built blanket forts, where she’d cried when she finally understood her mother wasn’t coming back. Jennifer walked in like she owned the place, her eyes darting around, cataloging everything, probably calculating value. Old habits.
The story doesn’t end here — it continues on the next page.
Tap READ MORE to discover the rest 🔎👇
