Chapter 3
After Emily left, I picked up the phone and called someone.
My childhood buddy, Mark Evans.
He'd spent eight years working at the local precinct, now he was with the criminal investigation unit.
"Hey, Mark, I need you to look someone up for me," I said.
"Who?" he asked.
"A little girl, about five years old. Name's probably Lily. She's in the middle group at Green Sprout Preschool. I need her family details," I said.
There was a brief silence on the other end.
"Is this about your wife?" Mark asked.
"Yeah," I replied.
"Got it, give me a day," Mark said.
After hanging up, I sat back down by Andy's bed.
He was asleep.
There were still two bruises on his little face, and his lips were dry and cracked.
I tucked the blanket around him.
Andy had never been the type to cry, not even when he was little.
He didn't cry when he fell down, didn't cry getting his shots, and not even when Emily forgot to pick him up from Green Sprout Preschool and he had to wait there all alone until night fell.
I always thought he was tough.
But now I realize, it wasn't strength.
It was just habit.
He'd gotten used to never being the priority.
He'd gotten used to the fact that even if he cried, no one would come.
So he just stopped crying.
If there was anyone I had truly failed in my entire life, it was this kid.
*****
At eleven that night, Mark sent me a message.
It was a screenshot.
[Lily Young, female, born March 2019. Mother: None. Father: James Young. Emergency contact: Emily Foster (Note: Auntie).]
Emergency contact.
Emily was listed as the girl's emergency contact.
I stared at the name "James Young."
My heart slammed in my chest.
James Young.
Emily's first love from college.
I knew who he was. Before we got married, Emily just mentioned him in passing, she'd dated him back in college, but he moved overseas and that was the end of it.
I didn't pay it any mind back then.
Everyone had an ex, right?
But now...
Emily was listed as the emergency contact for James's daughter.
During the stampede, Emily was calling out for Lily and telling her, "Mommy's here."
She was five years old.
She was born in March 2019.
Emily and I got married in June 2018.
Andy was born in May 2019.
So, that meant that girl was two months older than Andy.
So when I married Emily, she was already carrying another man's baby?
No.
That couldn't be right.
If that kid really was Emily's, how could she possibly hide it from me? We've been living together since we got married, when could she have possibly had the baby?
I took a deep breath.
Calm down.
I couldn't be sure yet.
But one thing was certain,
Whatever was going on between Emily and that girl, it was definitely not as simple as just picking her up in the chaos.
I sent Mark another message: [Can you look into James Young too? Current address, job, marital status.]
Mark replied: [Got it.]
I set my phone down on the table and stared up at the ceiling.
Six years of marriage.
I wasn't saying I was the perfect husband, but I gave it everything I had.
The house? It was under her name.
The car? She was the one who got to drive it.
She wanted to stay home with the kid, so I didn't blink. I handled the mortgage and car payments all on my own.
Every month, I handed over my entire paycheck and only kept 700 dollars for myself.
I thought we were just a normal couple.
I thought Andy was loved.
But looking back now, Emily was always lukewarm with Andy, never really caring much one way or the other.
She barely bothered to feed him, got annoyed whenever she helped with his homework, and would yell at him over nothing.
I brought it up a few times, but she'd just shrug and say, "That's just how I am. Don't overthink it."
I believed her.
Guess I was just kidding myself.