Chapter 259 The Pieces Fall Together

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Nancy asked for a day off from HR and drove straight to her aunt and uncle’s house.

She’d just pulled into the parking garage when she spotted Frank walking toward his car.

“Frank.”

He turned. One look at her face and his expression shifted. “Jesus, Nancy. You look like hell. You okay?”

Nancy didn’t bother with small talk. “Frank, I know how my parents died. So tell me the truth. Who pushed my mom off that roof? You know, don’t you?”

Frank went pale.

“Nancy...” His voice dropped low. “Did your memory come back?”

“Not all of it. But enough.” She stepped closer. “I deserve to know what happened to them. And I don’t want to wake up one day remembering everything and realize I should’ve been pissed at you this whole time.”

Frank held her gaze for a long beat. Then he let out a breath. “Fine. If you’re going to find out anyway, I’d rather you hear it from me.”

Nancy’s heart hammered. She stayed perfectly still.

“My parents and I were stationed overseas when it happened,” Frank said. “We’d been out of touch for a while. Didn’t make it back until the day your mom died.”

He rubbed the back of his neck. “You and your dad were both a mess. You kept saying your mom wouldn’t have jumped. That she just needed to hold on a little longer for a heart transplant. We didn’t even know you were pregnant. You’d taken a year off school, and we were still trying to figure out what the hell was going on.”

Nancy’s throat closed up.

“We tried to take you back overseas with us,” Frank went on. “But your dad wouldn’t let you go. Then a month later, he died in that car crash. You completely lost it. We begged you to come with us, but you wouldn’t leave.”

He paused. His voice dropped.

“Three or four months later, we came back and found out you’d been pregnant the whole time. You were in rough shape, Nancy. Talking to yourself. Begging me to take the baby and put it under my name.”

Nancy’s hands curled into fists.

“I still regret not staying at the hospital the night you gave birth,” Frank said, his voice cracking. “I went home. Came back the next morning. And you didn’t remember a thing. Not the baby. Not the months before. Nothing.”

“We brought you straight home. Didn’t mention the baby. But you had nightmares. You’d cry in your sleep, begging someone not to take your kid.”

Frank looked at her. His eyes were tired. Guilty.

“We weren’t in a good place either, Nancy. We thought maybe if you and the baby stayed apart, you’d be safe. “

“So we made a donation to a private home. Left instructions to take care of the child. Then the director called months later and said the baby had died.”

Nancy’s stomach twisted into a knot.

“That’s why I tried to stop you from marrying Yardley,” Frank said. “I thought he was the guy who got you pregnant and ghosted you. He already had a kid with some other woman, and you were about to raise that kid like it was your own. I couldn’t stand by and watch that.”

Nancy took a slow breath. Her voice came out steady. Controlled. “Frank. The baby didn’t die.”

Frank’s eyes went wide. “What?”

“The orphanage director lied to you. I already confirmed it. My baby is alive.”

“But I went back when the director said—”

“He lied,” Nancy repeated. “And you were right about one thing. Yardley was my ex. But the kid he’s raising now?”

She held his gaze. “That’s my son. I ran a DNA test through a private lab. You can stop worrying.”

Frank stared at her. His mouth opened, then closed. Nothing came out.

Nancy’s expression didn’t change. “So the man who hurt my mom... it wasn’t Yardley.”

Frank looked like someone had just sucker-punched him in the gut.

“I need to go,” Nancy said. “I’ll come see Uncle and Aunt another day.”

“Nancy, wait—”

She turned back.

Frank’s face was pale. “I’m sorry. If I got it wrong about Yardley, I’ll apologize. I’ll do it in person if you want. I’ll drive over to his place tonight.”

Nancy smiled. It didn’t reach her eyes. “You don’t need to apologize, Frank. We’re family.”

Frank looked like he wanted to say more. But he just nodded. “Drive safe.”

Nancy got in her car and pulled out of the garage. She made it three blocks before she had to pull into a CVS parking lot.

Her hands were shaking so bad she couldn’t keep a grip on the wheel.

Everything Frank said matched the pieces she’d been putting together.

The hospital records she’d requested three months ago.

The timeline she’d mapped out on her kitchen wall.

Xander’s voice in her nightmares, low and smooth like bourbon over ice.

She hadn’t been the victim. She’d been the one who walked away.

Xander had offered to save her mom. And she’d done whatever he asked.

Including leaving Yardley.

Her phone buzzed on the passenger seat. She looked at the screen.

Yardley.

She stared at it for three rings, then picked up.

His voice came through. Low. Calm. Like he was sitting in his truck, waiting. “Where are you? You were supposed to pick up Orion.”

Nancy’s heart dropped. She’d completely forgotten.

“Traffic,” she said. Her voice sounded hollow, even to her own ears. “I’ll be there in ten.”

“He’s still in the classroom. His teacher called me when nobody showed up from the pickup line.” A pause. “Take your time. Drive safe.”

The line went dead.

Nancy sat there, staring at her phone.

If she remembered this much, what about Yardley?

He’d never lost his memory. He’d known the whole time. The pregnancy. The night she left. Everything.

And he’d still married her.

Why?

Was this revenge? Was he waiting for her to remember so he could watch it break her?

Or was it something else entirely?

Nancy pressed her palms against her eyes and took a breath. The AC was blasting, but she was still sweating.

She didn’t have time to fall apart. Orion was waiting.

She put the car in drive and pulled back onto the main road, heading toward the elementary school.

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