Chapter 5: The Woman Who Knew Too Much
The name on the letter didn’t make sense.
It was impossible.
My mother.
Not my father.
Not Rachel.
Not some hidden enemy who had been waiting in the shadows.
My mother.
The woman who held my hand when I took my first steps.
The woman who cried when I told her I was pregnant.
The woman who sat beside me at every family dinner and told everyone she couldn’t wait to meet her granddaughter.
My mother.
I stared at the ink until the letters blurred.
“No.””
The word slipped out before I realized I had spoken.
Daniel looked at me.
“Lily.””
“No.””
I shook my head.
“My grandfather was wrong.””
Nobody answered.
Because nobody wanted to say the obvious.
Maybe he wasn’t.
Rachel slowly backed away from the bed.
“I knew it.””
I looked at her.
“What?””
Her face was pale.
“I knew there was something wrong.””
“Rachel.””
She looked at the letter.
“Dad wasn’t the only one afraid of that envelope.””
My heartbeat quickened.
“What do you mean?””
Rachel sat down in the chair beside the bed.
“The night Grandpa died…”
She stopped.
Like she was trying to decide whether she should continue.
“Rachel, tell me.””
She looked at me.
“I saw Mom in his study.””
The room became silent.
“When?””
“The night before his funeral.””
I frowned.
“That doesn’t make sense. Everyone was there.””
“I know.””
Rachel rubbed her hands together nervously.
“That’s why I never said anything. I thought I was imagining it.””
“What did you see?””
Rachel swallowed.
“Mom was standing by Grandpa’s desk.””
Daniel leaned forward.
“Was she alone?””
Rachel nodded.
“Yes.””
“What was she doing?””
Rachel looked at me.
“She was reading something.””
My stomach tightened.
“What?””
“I don’t know.””
“Rachel.””
“I swear, Lily, I don’t know.””
Her voice cracked.
“But she looked terrified.””
I looked back at the letter.
My grandfather had written my mother’s name.
Not as someone who planned the attack.
But as someone who betrayed him.
There was a difference.
A terrible difference.
The next morning, Detective Morgan returned with new information.
He didn’t sit down.
That told me everything.
“Your mother is missing.””
I stared at him.
“What?””
“She left her house early this morning.””
“Where did she go?””
“We don’t know.””
Daniel immediately stood.
“Did she run?””
The detective hesitated.
“We don’t know that either.””
I looked at the letter.
The one she had spent years trying to hide.
The one my grandfather had left behind.
“What else did you find?””
Detective Morgan placed several photographs on the table.
“We searched your parents’ home again.””
My eyes moved to the pictures.
The study.
My father’s office.
My grandfather’s old room.
Then one photograph stopped me.
A locked drawer.
“What is that?””
“The drawer where your mother kept personal documents.””
My chest tightened.
“And?””
“We found records.””
“Records of what?””
The detective looked at me.
“Medical records.””
I felt cold.
“Whose?””
“Yours.””
I stared.
“My medical records?””
“Yes.””
Daniel frowned.
“Why would she have those?””
“That’s what we’re trying to determine.””
The detective placed another document down.
“This is from when you were sixteen.””
I picked it up.
A hospital report.
An accident.
I remembered.
A car crash.
A rainy night.
My mother had told me I was lucky to survive.
I had always believed her.
But the report had something I had never seen before.
A note from the attending physician.
*Patient’s medication history should be reviewed due to unusual findings.*
I looked up.
“What does this mean?””
Detective Morgan’s expression was serious.
“We don’t know yet.””
Daniel looked at him.
“But?””
“But this suggests the current situation may not be the first time someone has interfered with Lily’s health.””
My fingers went numb.
Sixteen.
I was sixteen years old.
My mother had already been keeping secrets.
That afternoon, my father was found.
Not at the company.
Not at the bank.
At my grandfather’s old house.
The same house where I had spent every summer as a child.
Detective Morgan called before they brought him in.
“He wants to speak with you.””
I almost laughed.
“He wants to speak with me?””
“Yes.””
“Why?””
“He says he can explain.””
Daniel looked at me.
“You don’t have to see him.””
I knew that.
For the first time in my life, I knew I had a choice.
But I needed answers.
So twenty minutes later, my father walked into the hospital room wearing the same expensive suit he wore to every important event.
Except now it was wrinkled.
His eyes were tired.
He looked older.
Not guilty.
Just defeated.
“Lily.””
I didn’t answer.
He looked at my stomach.
“How is the baby?””
The question made something inside me snap.
“You don’t get to ask that.””
His face tightened.
“I know what you think.””
“No.””
I shook my head.
“You don’t.””
“You think I wanted to hurt you.””
“You tried.””
His jaw moved.
But no words came out.
Daniel stood beside me.
“Explain.””
My father looked at him.
“This doesn’t involve you.””
Daniel’s expression hardened.
“Everything involving my wife and child involves me.””
My father looked away.
For once, he didn’t argue.
“I made mistakes.””
I laughed softly.
“Mistakes?””
I pointed at the door.
“My sister kicked me because you told her to.””
“I never told her to kick you.””
“But you told her to make sure the baby was gone.””
His face changed.
Only slightly.
But I saw it.
The confirmation.
The fear.
“You heard that?””
“The video did.””
My father closed his eyes.
A long silence followed.
Then he whispered:
“Your mother betrayed me.””
I stared at him.
“What?””
He looked at the letter on the table.
“You found it.””
“Yes.””
“And you believe it?””
I didn’t answer.
My father stepped closer.
“Lily, your grandfather wasn’t the man you think he was.””
“You’re saying that because he left me everything.””
“No.””
His voice became sharper.
“I’m saying it because he destroyed this family.””
Rachel, who had been standing near the wall, suddenly spoke.
“Stop lying.””
Everyone turned.
My father looked at her.
“You.””
Rachel’s eyes filled with anger.
“You used me.””
His expression changed.
“I protected you.””
“No.””
She shook her head.
“You protected yourself.””
My father stared at his own daughter.
And for the first time, I saw something I had never seen before.
He didn’t see Rachel as his child.
He saw her as a problem.
“You have no idea what you’re talking about.””
Rachel laughed.
“Neither did I.””
My father looked away.
The detective stepped closer.
“Mr. Carter, we need you to answer some questions.””
My father ignored him.
He looked at me.
“Your mother is the reason this happened.””
I felt my heart stop.
“What?””
“She knew about the letter.””
My hands tightened.
“She knew?””
“Yes.””
“When?””
“Years ago.””
My father’s voice lowered.
“She found out what your grandfather planned.””
“What did he plan?””
My father looked at the envelope.
Then at me.
“He planned to expose her.””
My blood ran cold.
“Expose her for what?””
My father hesitated.
Then he said:
“Because your mother wasn’t protecting the family.””
The room went silent.
“She was protecting a secret.””
“What secret?””
My father looked directly at me.
“A secret about your birth.””
I couldn’t move.
Couldn’t speak.
Daniel grabbed my hand.
“What are you talking about?””
My father swallowed.
Then the hospital room door opened.
A nurse stood there.
“Mrs. Carter?””
I looked up.
“Yes?””
She held a small envelope.
“This was delivered to the front desk for you.””
My name was written on the front.
But the handwriting wasn’t my mother’s.
Or my father’s.
Or anyone I recognized.
I opened it slowly.
Inside was a single photograph.
A photograph of my mother.
Standing outside a hospital.
The day I was born.
And beside her…
Was a man I had never seen before.
May you like
On the back of the photograph, someone had written six words:
*Ask who your real father is.*
