Chapter 4 - THE PROOF IN THE PUDDLE
My fingers pried open the damp leather folds.
Inside sat a yellowed hospital identification card.
Name: Arthur Pendelton.
Infant Daughter: Sarah Pendelton.
Date of Birth: October 14.
Right beside it was a photograph.
A young man with silver-flecked hair holding a newborn baby wrapped in a pink blanket.
I looked up from the photo to the elderly man on the floor.
The bone structure around his eyes was identical to Sarah’s.
“Sarah,” I whispered softly, holding out the photograph.
“You need to see this.”
Sarah walked toward me in a daze.
Her high heels crunched softly over spilled sugar crystals.
She took the photograph from my hand.
Her fingers brushed the aged paper.
A single tear slipped down her cheek, landing directly on the glass-covered image.
“Arthur Pendelton,” Sarah read aloud, her voice barely a breath.
“That’s... that’s not the name on my birth certificate.”
“Your mother changed it when you were six months old,” Arthur choked out, tears shining in his eyes.
“She took you from our home while I was at work.”
“She wiped me out of your life entirely.”
Victoria’s face twisted into an ugly, mask-like snarl.
“Guards!” Victoria shrieked, stamping her foot.
“Throw him out! Drag him into the alley!”
The bouncers grabbed Arthur by both arms this time.
They hoisted him violently to his feet.
“Wait!” Sarah screamed, stepping forward.
“Don’t touch him!”
The entire room held its breath.
The groom, Michael, stood frozen at the altar, watching the scene unfold with wide, uncomprehending eyes.
“Sarah,” Michael muttered, stepping down from the dais.
“What is happening?”
May you like
“I don’t know,” Sarah sobbed, looking back and forth between her mother and the stranger.
“But nobody is dragging anyone anywhere until I get some answers.”
