Page 16 of What Comes Around

When I ended the call, I stood there for a long moment, the city moving quietly beyond my windows.

I had waited years for the right moment. I had resisted the urge to strike early, to expose her when it would only bruise her pride. I had made small moves against her over time. But now it was time to stop playing defense.

Now it was time to change the game.

And Apple had just given me the perfect opening.

Chapter 6: Evan

The call came on a Thursday evening.

I was in my apartment, half-watching a documentary and half-answering emails, when my phone lit up with my father’s name.

“Ashley,” Brandon said the moment I picked up.

His voice was wrong. Thin. Tired. Careful in a way that made my stomach tighten.

“What happened?” I asked.

There was a long pause on the other end.

“I need you to come home this weekend.”

My fingers tightened around the phone. “Why.”

Another pause. Heavier this time.

“I need to tell you something,” he said. “And I need you to hear it from me before you hear it from anyone else.”

I waited.

“There’s a boy,” he said. “He’s seven.”

I still said nothing, so he continued.

“He’s my son,” Brandon added. “Elena’s.”

The words didn’t shock me. I had known.

“Elena went missing three weeks ago,” he said. “The police are searching for her. Her sister lives across the country …”

Now that did shock me.

“You cheated again,” I said quietly.

“I know,” he whispered. “I know. I swore I wouldn’t become that man again. I swore it. And I still did.”

Silence stretched between us.

“I should have told you sooner,” he said. “I was ashamed. And I hate myself for it.”

I didn’t know what to say, and he seemed to take that as permission to keep talking.

“I brought him home,” he said. “I don’t want him growing up thinking he was unwanted. I will claim him publicly. And I want you to meet him. I want him to know his sisters.”

“Please,” he continued. “You don’t have to forgive me. I just want him to know he has family.”

I exhaled slowly.