Chapter 2 - Victoria Had Known Jack Was Alive the Entire Time
Victoria tried to get Jack out of the dining room.
Not physically.
With authority.
“This is not the place for this.”
Jack looked at his pasta-covered hoodie.
“That didn’t bother you thirty seconds ago.”
Ethan almost smiled despite everything.
Victoria noticed.
“You need to leave.”
Ethan stood his ground. “I’m staying with him.”
“You are nine.”
“Still staying.”
Jack touched Ethan’s shoulder lightly. “It’s okay.”
“No.”
Victoria stared at the child she had just called a waiter’s kid.
Ethan stared back.
He was frightened.
He simply cared about Jack more than he cared about looking frightened.
That difference mattered.
Victoria finally looked at her son.
“You were supposed to be with Dana.”
Jack’s face changed.
Ethan looked between them.
“Who’s Dana?”
“My aunt,” Jack said.
Then he looked back at Victoria. “Dad’s sister.”
Victoria straightened. “Exactly. You had family.”
“Had?”
“She has you.”
“No, she doesn’t.”
Victoria went quiet.
Jack reached beneath his hoodie and pulled out a folded envelope.
It was battered from being carried too long.
He slid it across the table.
Victoria did not touch it.
Ethan read the law firm name printed in the corner.
Merritt, Sloan & Wexler — Family Law and Estates.
Jack said, “February twelfth.”
Victoria stared at him.
“What about it?”
“That’s when your lawyer answered the county.”
Victoria’s expression became guarded.
Ethan looked confused.
Jack opened the letter himself.
His hands trembled slightly.
He read from the first page.
“Victoria Langford declines immediate placement and requests that the existing kinship arrangement with Dana Reed continue while alternative long-term care options are explored.”
Ethan looked at Victoria.
“You said no to him?”
Victoria snapped, “That is not what it means.”
Jack laughed once.
“What does it mean?”
“My attorney was responding to an emergency inquiry.”
“About your son.”
“About a complicated custody situation.”
Jack’s eyes filled again, but he refused to look down.
“My dad died.”
“I know.”
There.
The words came out too quickly.
Victoria heard herself.
So did both boys.
Jack nodded slowly.
“Yeah. You knew.”
Victoria sat down.
For the first time since entering the room, she no longer looked like the person with the most power.
She looked like a woman trying to remember which version of her own history she had told to which people.
Jack’s father, Michael Reed, had died from a sudden cardiac event eight months earlier.
Jack was thirteen then.
Michael’s sister Dana took him immediately.
Victoria had not seen Jack in almost seven years.
That did not mean she did not know where he was.
She paid child support.
Her lawyer received school notices.
Twice a year, Michael sent updates whether Victoria answered or not.
Then Michael died.
The county contacted her because she remained Jack’s legal mother even though Michael had held sole physical and legal custody for years.
Victoria did not agree to take Jack.
Instead, she asked for time.
That part was true.
What she did after receiving that time was the real question.
Jack folded the letter.
“You told them Aunt Dana was the better placement.”
“She was.”
“She was sick.”
“I didn’t know that then.”
“She told your office.”
Victoria stiffened.
Jack continued. “Three times.”
“I have staff.”
“She left your assistant messages.”
“That doesn’t mean I personally heard them.”
Jack stared at her.
Then reached into the envelope and removed a second page.
An email printout.
From Victoria’s chief of staff.
Dana Reed has called again regarding Jack. Her housing situation appears unstable. She is asking whether you will discuss a permanent guardianship arrangement. How would you like me to respond?
Below it was Victoria’s reply.
Only one line.
Handle through counsel. Do not put this on my calendar.
Victoria closed her eyes.
Ethan looked at Jack.
Jack looked almost calm now.
The uncertainty was gone.
He had not come to find out whether his mother knew.
May you like
He had come knowing she did.
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