Page 76 of Fool Me Twice

Not only was I being hurt by his silence, so was Sebastián. No kid deserved that.

I started my search in the marriage registries. It took some time, as Rio was such a populous area, but I eventually found the Rodrigo Alarçón I knew. Or, rather, I didn’t find him.

There were marriage certificates for other men with the same name, but the rest of the information didn’t match up. No Rodrigo Alarçón with the same birth date as the one I knew had ever been married.

Unless Rodrigo had given me a false birthday, or he had a secret alibi, he’d never been married in Brazil.

Sitting back in the chair, I stared at the screen. Okay, then. So he hadn’t married Sebastián’s mom.

Was this bit of new information a clue?

Next to the computer, my phone went off with a text from Rodrigo.

I hope that everything is well between us. I am sorry that we were interrupted last night.

My lips drew thin. No apology. No mention of the lying.

He wanted to brush everything under the rug, the same as he’d wanted to eleven years ago.

Surely, he hoped that I would just accommodate. And who could blame him for thinking that might happen? Looking at our history, I’d been a doormat so many times.

But no longer. I was here for the truth, and since Rodrigo wouldn’t give it to me, I would get it myself.

Setting my fingers to the keyboard, I moved on to searching the birth database. As I scrolled, a lump of anxiety formed in my throat. I was so close to the truth…

Did I want to find it? I was opening a door, and who knew what lay on the other side.

Nothing, it turned out.

There was no child’s birth certificate connected to Rodrigo. According to the city of Rio de Janeiro, Rodrigo did not have any children.

“Weird,” I mumbled.

I started to do a search for Sebastián Alarçón, but didn’t get very far. Since I didn’t know Sebastián’s birthday, I couldn’t search for that birth certificate alone.

Huffing out a breath, I dropped my head into my hands.

Okay. So far, I knew two things. One, Rodrigo had never been married. Two, Sebastián was not his birth son.

Or was he, and Rodrigo had kept it a secret?

But why would he do that?

My head spun, and I got the disturbing sense that I was spiraling into a maze that I could easily get lost in.

CHAPTER22

RODRIGO

“Hello?” I called into the house.

Leaving my bag by the front door, I walked into the kitchen. Georgia sat at the table, her phone in front of her and her hands around a mug of tea.

The moment she looked at me, I knew something had changed. A deep sadness filled her eyes, almost as if she couldn’t bear to look at me.

My chest tightened, and I suddenly felt frozen in place.

“You didn’t come to work,” I said.