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He hesitated for a moment before dialing her number.
I leaned in,eager to see her reaction.
“Hello,Nathan?”
“Mom,it’s me.”
“Any luck?Claire still not back?She’s always been a handful…”
“Mom,”Nathan cut in,“Claire’s gone.”
Silence stretched.
Finally,her voice trembled.“Nathan,don’t joke.Is she still mad,refusing to come home?”
My heart,numb as it was,ached faintly.
Mom,you’ll never believe me.
In her eyes,I was always wrong.
Even in death.
“Mom,Claire died of illness.”
His tone was emotionless, as if he were reporting the weather.
“No way!She can’t…”
Her voice spiked,disbelieving.
She’d said that day that I couldn’t have kids.
Nathan hung up,shut off his phone,and moved on.
Next day,he got my phone and saw Emily’s taunting prenatal report sent to me.
She’d boasted that it was his child.
I never replied,but Nathan exploded.
He headed home.
When Emily opened the door.Before she could say a word,he slapped her across the face and roared,“Who told you to tell Claire the kid’s mine?!”
His mom rushed in,shocked.“Nathan,what are you doing?!”
“Emily’s carrying your child!How could you?!”
“That barren Claire has given us nothing for six years. She wanted to cut us off”
Nathan broke.“Mom,Claire’s dead!”
“Dead?You said she’s…dead?”
Joy flickered across his mom and Emily’s faces.
“Good riddance,”his mom said.“Now Emily can join the family.”
“Mom,are you insane?”
Startled, Emily tried to play it cool. “Nathan, Mom didn’t mean it...”
He snapped,“Shut up.You sure that kid’s mine?”
Tears welled in Emily’s eyes.“Nathan,you hit me,fine,but don’t doubt me…”
He sneered.“Then do a paternity test.”
From above,I watched it all.
I hadn’t expected Nathan to react so fiercely to my death.
Emily hesitated, a flash of guilt crossing her face, but she kept up her pretense of grief.
“Nathan,you don’t trust me?Mom,this is your grandson…”
His mom hesitated—her much - longed - for grandchild was at risk.
She took Emily’s side.“Nathan,how dare you doubt your own son for that useless woman?”
Nathan raged.“Mom,you’re impossible.”
Regret hit him hard.
He’d mistaken his infatuation with Emily for love.
It was just a brief affair.
He didn’t love me either—he only loved himself.
