MY MOTHER HAD BELIEVED THOMAS TOO
“I asked him what happened.”
Mom wiped her face.
“He told me Marissa was trying to manipulate you.”
“And you believed him?”
Her eyes closed.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because…”
She struggled.
“…he had never given me a reason not to.”
There it was.
The same mistake.
Thomas had spent years creating enough trust that when the important lie arrived—
none of us questioned it.
BRIANNA ENDED OUR ENGAGEMENT HERSELF
Two days after I told her everything, we sat on her parents’ porch.
She removed the ring.
“I need you to understand something.”
“I know you weren’t involved.”
“I wasn’t.”
“I believe you.”
She looked relieved.
“But I cannot marry into this family.”
I nodded.
“I couldn’t sit across from Thomas Carter every Thanksgiving knowing what he did.”
She placed the ring in my hand.
Then said:
“Go find Marissa.”
My throat tightened.
“Brianna…”
“Go find your children.”
She smiled sadly.
“That’s where you belong.”
And for once—
I listened immediately.
FINDING MARISSA TOOK ELEVEN DAYS
I hired my own investigator.
Wendell Fisk.
I told him exactly what I wanted.
No tricks.
No staged photographs.
No intimidation.
Only truth.
He found Marissa in a transitional shelter in Westhaven County.
She worked part-time at a diner while another woman at the shelter helped watch the twins.
When I arrived, I sat in my truck for twenty minutes.
Because suddenly saying:
I’m sorry
felt offensively small.
Eventually—
I walked to the door.
Marissa answered carrying one baby.
She froze.
“Ethan.”
“Marissa.”
Neither of us moved.
Then I said:
“I know everything.”
I TOLD HER THE TRUTH THOMAS HAD HIDDEN
“The money.”
“The photographs.”
“The messages.”
“All Thomas.”
Her face stayed still.
“He was gambling.”
“He needed the Ashcrofts.”
“He framed you.”
“I believed him.”
My voice broke.
“I threw you out while you were pregnant.”
Marissa looked at me for a long time.
The baby on her hip stared at me with my own eyes.
Then she said:
“I told you.”
Not angrily.
That would have been easier.
Just exhausted.
“I told you one day you’d find out.”
“I know.”
“And I told you I hoped you could live with what you had done before knowing.”
“I can’t.”
Marissa’s expression shifted slightly.
“I haven’t been able to since I saw you on that road.”
Silence.
Then she finally told me:
“Their names are Isaiah and Ivy.”
My eyes filled.
“Isaiah was born first.”
She almost smiled.
“Four minutes.”
“And Ivy?”
“Came into the world screaming.”
That tiny smile appeared.
“She hasn’t fully stopped.”
I laughed.
Then immediately started crying.
