A Week Later
A week later, everything unraveled for her.
My phone rang while I was cooking green curry.
“Helen,” the man on the line said gently. “My name is Thomas. I’m legal counsel for Mr. Dean. I believe you should hear what we’ve discovered.”
He explained that his team had searched adoption records.
There were none.
Instead, they found birth certificates listing Maribelle as the twins’ mother.
“Mr. Dean was shocked,” Thomas said. “He had no idea these were his wife’s biological children.”
Within forty-eight hours, Maribelle received divorce papers.
Her bank accounts were frozen.
Public records exposed everything.
One morning I opened the newspaper and saw the headline:
“Mother Who Dumped Babies Faces Public Shame.”
I closed it quickly before Lily or Jacob could see.
Mr. Dean’s Offer
Later that afternoon my phone rang again.
This time it was Mr. Dean himself.
“Helen, I cannot undo the past, ma’am,” he said calmly. “But I want to do right by Lily and Jacob.”
I stayed silent.
“If you accept,” he continued, “I will establish a trust for their education, housing, and medical care. And a monthly stipend to help you after all you’ve done.”
“Why are you doing this?” I finally asked.
“Because I’ve always wanted to be a father,” he said. “Your son can’t provide a safety net anymore… so let me do it. For you. For them. For David.”
Tears filled my eyes before I could stop them.
