49. Genevieve
Chapter forty-nine
Genevieve
The phone felt heavy in my hand, the number on the screen bright in the dark of the penthouse suite of the hotel. Reid had handed me the phone earlier today, trusting me to make the call when I was ready.
But night had fallen. I was in the lavish living room pacing, thinking, stressing over what to say while he slept in the next room over. The time difference made calling now the perfect time. Couldn’t use that as an excuse anymore as I was ruminating in my thoughts.
My finger pressed the call button before I could even think, my heart pounding in my ears as I held the phone to it with a shaky hand.
I wanted to end the call, wanted to forget I’d even made this decision to contact her in the first place…
but then I paused, my heart skipping a beat as I held my breath.
“Hello?” she answered, and my throat closed instantly.
Her voice sounded like mine. Softer, kinder and fuller, but still—still my baby… the little baby girl who used to fall asleep on my chest clutching my shirt with her tiny fists.
I cleared my throat. “…Hi, Brielle.” The words barely left my throat.
“Hi, who is this?” she asked, voice cautious but polite.
I wrapped an arm around my waist, grounding myself as I paced gently across the dark living room.
I swallowed hard. “My name is Genevieve.” There was another awkward pause, and I gulped softly as I continued, “I’m… I’m a, uh… relative of yours…”
“I’m sorry,” she said gently. “I don’t… I don’t think I know you.”
“No, you wouldn’t. I—” My voice broke. “I knew you when you were little. I’m…
someone who loved you very much,” I whispered.
She didn’t say anything for a moment, probably trying to understand who I was or why I’d called her.
Afraid she’d end the phone call before I was ready, I pivoted, hoping to keep her on the line.
“Uh… your father, Gregory. How is he doing?”
She paused for a moment. “I don’t know where my father is.” Her words were bitter, cutting almost as I furrowed my eyebrows.
“What do you mean?”
“He and his wife abandoned me when my brother left for the military… He tried coming back into my life… but now I haven’t a clue where he is.”
“Oh, sweetheart…” The endearment slipped out before I could stop it. “I’m—I’m so sorry you had to go through that.”
There was a tiny pause on the other end. “It’s fine,” she replied, sounding more like me the longer we talked.
There was so much I wanted to say, so much I couldn’t… so I swallowed the words, pressing my fingers to my lips as I thought about Reid’s words. I wasn’t ready… “I don’t want to keep you,” I forced out. “I—I only wanted to say hi. I won’t take up more of your time.”
“Oh,” she said gently, and as I went to bid my last goodbye, she spoke again. “Um… you don’t have to go.”
I shook my head. “No… I couldn’t possibly—I don’t want to bother you—”
“You’re not,” she cut in gently. “Really. If… if you have time, we can talk. I mean—” she let out a small awkward laugh ”—I don’t get many calls from long-lost relatives.”
A smile tugged at my lips despite the ache in my chest. Despite the itch to end the call for my own good, I ignored it. “All right,” I whispered. “If you’re sure.”
“I am.” There was a light rustle in the background as she got comfortable. “I, uh… I’m sitting in my kitchen right now feeding the baby. Oldest is at school, the middle one is taking a nap, so I have a few minutes to spare.”
I laughed softly though it felt like the dam was ready to break. “You have three children. Wow… you must have your hands filled.”
“Oh, I do,” she replied swiftly, and I let out another small laugh, nestling into the corner of the sofa.
“But I love it. Delilah—that’s my oldest—she runs the show around here but she’s just the sweetest girl.
Zachary thinks the world revolves around him…
much like his father. And Ivory… don’t even get me started. She’s a little diva already.”
My cheeks warmed with a smile I couldn’t hold back. “They sound wonderful.”
“They are,” she said proudly.
I asked more questions, wanting to hear all about them. I curled up tighter on the couch, knees tucked to my chest. My eyes burned as I listened to her ramble about her children—my grandchildren.
Her life. Her world.
For the first time in decades… I saw her. Not the baby I left but the woman she became.
“And your husband?” I asked gently.
She hummed, sounding so happy. “Killian. He’s… good. He’s my other half. My rock, he’s so patient. So steady. I never thought I’d have that after… after what I’d gone through.” She paused for another moment. “It feels weird telling a stranger all this.”
“You don’t have to,” I whispered.
“No, I—I want to. I don’t know why… but talking to you feels… easy.”
My throat tightened. “That’s kind of you to say.”
“It’s true,” she said. “You sound oddly… familiar. Comforting, maybe? I don’t know. Sorry—that probably sounds strange.”
“It doesn’t,” I whispered, feeling the same.
She inhaled again, her tone softer now. “Genevieve… How… how exactly are we related?”
“I… was close to your father a long time ago. Your grandparents took to me when my own family had issues.”
“Oh,” she breathed softly. “They didn’t mention you to me… We only recently reconnected with them a couple of years back as well.”
“I haven’t seen them in so long,” I said gently, the thought of Jamie pulling my heartstrings.
“They don’t stick around too much. Grandma Jamie with her cancer, Grandpa Raymond the same. I don’t think they want to set any expectations of them being around for much longer. But I understand…”
A faint silence drifted through the phone, but Brielle continued the conversation. “So… you must’ve known me when I was really little. We didn’t have much family around. I don’t… remember anyone else except Gregory, my sister and—” She hesitated for a moment. “…and the woman he married.”
“Oh…”
“Sorry if that sounds blunt. She wasn’t really a mother to me. Or to Eugene. She… didn’t like us very much. Sometimes I think she hated us… It would’ve hurt more had she been our real mother.”
“You knew… you knew she wasn’t your mother?”
“Eugene did.”
Tears filled my eyes instantly. “Your… your brother knew?”
“He did… for the longest time. He was always so… so standoffish but so protective of me. He took care of me like no one else. Held the secret so long until it ate him alive. I think it was his way of shielding it from me, but I don’t know…
I never know with him. But in all honesty, I’m just glad to have him back. ”
“I’m glad you two have each other.”
We chatted for what seemed like hours. It was too easy and comforting to hear her voice. Our personalities felt like a mirror, hers softer, mine more reserved, broken but mended all the same.
The longer it went the more I felt the dread of having to end the phone call, never hearing her voice again.
I wondered for a moment if I should’ve called Eugene instead.
But it felt easier with Brielle. I didn’t have to pretend she didn’t know who I was…
she truly didn’t. Speaking to Eugene, I don’t think I had it in me to face him.
After she’d rambled on more about her children that she loved so dearly, I wiped away a tear, clearing my throat. “I—I think it’s best I get going, Brielle. I’ve taken up so much of your time.”
Brielle paused for a moment. “Oh, of course. No problem. I just… thank you. This was… this was nice,” she said softly, and I let out another tear as I forced a smile.
“We’ll talk soon, yeah?” My words cracked, tears making their way into my voice.
It was silent on the other side of the line. Almost like she could sense this was a final goodbye, that she could feel this was one chance to hear her voice and know who she was before I had to disappear again.
I thought she wouldn’t say anything. I almost thought the line had cut. But as I lowered the phone, getting ready to end the call, she spoke, her voice a soft tremble but absolutely certain. And absolutely breaking me…
“…We sure will… Mom.”
By the next morning I was an absolute wreck, my mind in shambles as I tried to stay calm. Reid had left earlier in the morning, offering me to accompany him to meet more billionaires and investors in the heart of Shanghai. But I’d declined.
Because I had to figure out how to fix this. He hadn’t asked for the phone back just yet. Thankfully he didn’t ask many questions about how it went, though I wasn’t good at hiding anything from him.
I glanced down at the phone that I’d only powered back on a few moments ago.
Four missed calls from an unknown number only in the span of the last ten minutes. This phone had called only one person in its lifespan; I didn’t need caller ID to know who it was.
My daughter was calling me.
My daughter.
I stared at the screen until the calls stopped… only for the texts to continue.
Unknown
Can we please talk?
I have so many questions.
Please answer.
Are you still there?
The last message had broken me.
Is it… is it really you?
Mom?
My throat closed around a soft, helpless sound.
I held the power button and the screen went black.
It was cowardly, but it was all I could do.
If Reid saw the notifications, if he traced the phone calls, if he even suspected the truth had slipped out during my one phone call… God, I wasn’t sure what he’d do.
He gave me one call.
And with that call, everything had changed.
Hours passed. Shanghai moved outside the windows—honking cars, neon signs, distant trains—but I was frozen inside the suite, pacing the same path across the rug, phone clutched tight in my palm like it burned.
At noon, I broke again. I turned it back on and it buzzed instantly with messages.
Again. And again. And again. It had to be getting late for her… but something told me that even if I did drag this out… she wouldn’t stop. She wouldn’t sleep… she’d lay awake all night, thinking, wondering, just like I had been.
The phone rang again as my eyes closed. Against my better judgement I answered.