“Do you want to watch it now?” she asked gently. “I can give you some space.”
“No. Please stay. I don’t think I can watch this alone.”
She gave me a reassuring smile, took the flash drive from my hand, and plugged it into the TV. Then she returned to the couch, remote in hand.
“Ready?” she asked.
I nodded. She navigated to the folder, which contained two numbered files, and selected the first one.
Ellie’s face filled the screen. She was older than I remembered, but the six years since I’d last seen her hadn’t just aged her—they had weathered her. She wore heavy makeup, likely to conceal the shadows of illness, and her straight brown hair was clearly a wig. She waspropped up in a hospital bed, an IV line taped to her hand.
“Is it recording?” she asked someone off-camera. After a moment, she nodded and looked directly into the lens. “Hey, Logan. It’s been a while. If I still know you at all, you’re probably furious with me right now. You’ve likely called me every name in the book… and you’d be right to.”
She paused, her breath catching. She looked exhausted, each word an effort. After a few seconds, she found the strength to continue.
“I won’t waste your time listing my mistakes; you’re living with the consequences of them. I hope you can forgive me one day, but I’ll understand if you can’t.”
Another labored breath. “And, knowing you, you must have been completely blindsided when the girls showed up at your door. But I also know your character. I knew that no matter how shocked you were, you wouldn’t turn them away. You’ve always been a man of integrity.”
A weak, almost imperceptible smile touched her lips before fading. “Still, I confess I wasn’t willing to take that risk. So, here’s another reason for you to hate me: I was the one who leaked the story to the press. When George took the girls to your hotel, hetipped off a few journalists covering the conference. Within a couple of hours, the ‘scoop’ was online. I never imagined it would blow up like it did. I just asked him to do it as a little extra pressure—in case you didn’t believe they were yours and sent them away.”
She looked down, her guilt palpable even through the screen. “I know you’d never do that, Logan. But mothers… we can be a little paranoid. I just had to make sure there was no chance of them ending up in the system. I had to make sure you had no choice but to keep them.”
“I wouldneverdo that,” I grumbled, a fresh wave of irritation cutting through my grief that Ellie had even entertained the thought.
Beside me, Evelyn squeezed my hand, her voice soft. “I know, love. I know.”
On the screen, Ellie continued, her image flickering slightly.
“After the story broke, I started following the news about you. And the developments were… unusual, to say the least. Suddenly, a woman I’d never met was being called the mother of my daughters. It terrified me at first. But that fear didn’t last long. I found photos from the conference itself. I saw the girl—her name is Evelyn, isn’t it?—I saw her in a food court, talking to my daughters. The way she looked at them… it was with such affection. And in one photo, she seemed to be signing to Rory. That’s what calmed my heart.”
She took a shaky breath, gathering her strength. “Then I saw more photos. I’ll admit it, I became a stalker, spending whole days searching your name online. Have you ever searched the hashtag #LoganTurner? You’d be shocked how many people photograph you in public. I saw pictures of you all buying a Christmas tree… and then, just yesterday—the day before I’m filming this—I saw pictures of the four of you in Central Park. Evelyn seems to genuinely love my daughters. You seem to love them, too. The four of you look like a family. And most importantly… Anna and Rory look happy. Seeing that… it lets me feel at peace.”
She looked away from the lens, blinking rapidly as she fought back tears. When she looked back, she’d forced a fragile smile.
“Take good care of them, Logan. Please. That’s all I ask.” She shifted her gaze, as if looking directly at the other side of the screen. “And Evelyn, if you’re watching this… I know you don’t know me, and you probably think I’m a terrible person. But my soul will always be grateful for the love you’ve shown my girls. Thank you.”
She paused, the silence heavy with finality. “I think that’s all. The next video is for our girls. I don’t know if they’ve been told I’m gone by now, but… I didn’t want them to see me suffer. I wanted their last memory of me to be one of love, not sickness. But I’m afraid all I left them with was a feeling of abandonment. I need to say goodbye properly. Please, show them the next video.”
She took one last, steadying breath. “And finally… I don’t know if there’s anything after death. To be honest, I don’t really believe there is. But if there is… if it’s like people say, and I become a star in the sky or something… know that I will always be watching over this beautiful family you’ve created. Goodbye, Logan. And thank you for giving me the best gifts of my life.”
The screen went black.
I could barely see through the tears blurring my vision. Evelyn’s arms wrapped around me, holding me tighter, and I could feel the quiet shudder of her own crying against my shoulder.
We didn’t speak. We didn’t need to. We just sat there in the dim light, anchored by each other’s presence and the shared, profound weight of a mother’s final goodbye.
Chapter Thirty-Six
EVELYN
The next day, Logan called the hospital to say he wouldn’t be in until the afternoon. We had something far more important to do.
Logically, we knew it wouldn't change anything, but we still laid out a breakfast table with all their favorite things. As a final touch, Logan hurriedly scrambled some eggs. I thought it was an insignificant detail amidst the pastries and fruit, but he insisted it was essential.
I understood why when the girls came running to the table.
“I want the eggs first!” Anna declared excitedly.
