Chapter 2 — “I’m Your Grandfather”
Conrad swallowed.
“My full name is Conrad Bellamy.”
Yvette stared.
The surname meant something.
Her mother’s maiden name had been Bellamy.
Yvette slowly lowered the photograph.
“Bellamy?”
Conrad nodded.
“Celia Bellamy was my daughter.”
Dorian’s expression changed.
Yvette looked as though someone had knocked the air from her lungs.
“No.”
Conrad did not move closer.
“Yvette—”
“Don’t.”
He stopped.
Yvette looked at the photograph again.
Her mother.
The newborn.
The younger version of Conrad.
The ring.
“My grandfather died before I was born.”
Conrad’s face tightened.
“That is what you were told?”
“Yes.”
“By whom?”
Yvette stared at him.
“My mother.”
Conrad looked away.
“No.”
“My mother would not lie about that.”
Conrad remained quiet.
Yvette looked toward Dorian.
“She said her father was gone.”
Dorian chose his words carefully.
“Gone can mean different things.”
Yvette looked back at Conrad.
“Did you abandon her?”
Conrad’s eyes closed briefly.
“No.”
“Did she abandon you?”
He did not answer immediately.
That silence made Yvette angry.
“You don’t get to appear beside my baby’s stroller and give me half answers.”
Conrad nodded.
“You’re right.”
Dorian stood close to Yvette but did not take over the conversation.
Conrad looked toward the photograph.
“That picture was taken less than twelve hours after you were born.”
Yvette looked down.
Her mother appeared exhausted but happy.
Conrad stood beside her with one hand resting lightly against the bed rail.
“Who took it?”
“Your father.”
Yvette looked up sharply.
“You knew him?”
“Very well.”
“Then why have I never seen you in any other photograph?”
Conrad’s expression changed.
“Because most of them were removed.”
“By who?”
Conrad stared toward the water.
“Some by me.”
“Some by your mother.”
Yvette felt more confused with every sentence.
“Why?”
Conrad finally looked at her.
“Because eight months after you were born, Celia told me she never wanted to see me again.”
Yvette froze.
“What did you do?”
Conrad’s answer came quietly.
“Something I believed was protecting both of you.”
“Something she believed proved I would never respect her as an adult.”
Yvette tightened her grip on the photograph.
And when Conrad explained what happened eight months after her birth, she finally understood why her mother had erased him from almost every family story.