Chapter 4 - RAYMOND HAYES
Raymond did not deny Claire gave birth to Sarah.
He denied kidnapping.
Bribing a judge.
Buying an adoption.
All the things Ethan had not accused him of yet.
That told Ethan what stories Raymond had rehearsed privately.
“The adoption was legal.”
Raymond said it standing in the ruined bridal suite.
“Claire had independent counsel.”
Ethan looked at Victoria's lawyer.
“Is that true?”
“We'll verify.”
Raymond's jaw tightened.
“Verify everything.”
Good.
They did.
Claire Hayes was twenty when Sarah was born.
Her mother had died two years earlier.
Raymond was a widower with one young daughter and one infant daughter born much later from a second marriage.
Claire was his oldest.
Victoria had been only a child when Claire's pregnancy occurred.
Claire considered keeping Sarah.
Then she changed her mind.
Not because Raymond forged anything.
Because the baby's father wanted no involvement.
Claire had no finished degree.
No job.
And serious depression following delivery.
She chose adoption through an accredited agency.
Her independent attorney documented the choice.
That part stood.
Then Claire changed again.
Not about the adoption.
About contact.
She wanted Sarah to receive letters when she became an adult.
Raymond opposed it.
“Why?”
Ethan asked.
Raymond looked at the pendant.
“Claire was not well.”
“That isn't an answer.”
“I believed continued contact would keep her trapped.”
“Trapped in what?”
“Guilt.”
Victoria laughed from across the room.
It was not amusement.
“That's what you called it?”
Raymond turned.
“Not now.”
“No.”
Victoria stood.
“Now is exactly when.”
Her attorney touched her sleeve.
Victoria stopped herself.
Ethan looked at Raymond.
“What did you do?”
Raymond had funded a post-adoption counseling arrangement.
Also legal.
He became the contact point for family medical history because Claire repeatedly changed addresses.
When Claire sent letters years later, Raymond told the agency he did not believe direct contact would be healthy.
The agency did not simply obey him.
Sarah was eighteen by then.
They contacted her adoptive family.
The records showed someone declined.
Not Sarah personally.
Her adoptive mother, Marie Morgan, who reported that Sarah was at college and “not emotionally interested in reopening adoption history.”
Ethan stared.
“Did Sarah authorize that?”
Nobody knew yet.
Marie had died.
Daniel Morgan was in assisted living with dementia.
The paper trail was incomplete.
Raymond said:
“I didn't control the Morgans.”
“No.”
Ethan looked at him.
“But you preferred the answer.”
Raymond did not deny it.
Then Victoria spoke.
“Claire found Sarah anyway.”
Everyone turned.
“When?”
Ethan asked.
“Not in person.”
Victoria looked down.
“She found her wedding announcement online.”
Sarah Morgan marrying Ethan Cole.
Claire printed it.
Kept it.
Later she found Lily's birth announcement.
That was when she started writing again.
Ethan's face hardened.
“You knew all this?”
“As a teenager? No.”
“When?”
“Some of it after Claire died.”
“Six months ago?”
Victoria hesitated.
Again.
Raymond looked at her.
“Tell him.”
Victoria snapped:
“You don't get to order honesty now.”
Ethan stood.
“Then I will.”
He pointed at the pendant.
“How long have you known Sarah was Claire's daughter?”
Victoria looked at him.
“One year and ten months.”
The room went silent.
They had been together eighteen months.
May you like
Ethan stared.
Victoria had known who he was before their first date.
