Chapter 5: The Woman in the Photograph Was Still Alive
I didn't understand what Mom meant.
I only knew that Dad looked as though the floor had disappeared beneath his feet.
"Who is she, Diane?"" he demanded.
Mom reached for the photograph.
Dad pulled it away.
"Don't.""
"You have no idea what you're talking about.""
"Then explain it.""
She glanced at Richard, then toward the stairs.
I stepped back into the shadows.
"Daniel, this is a private family matter.""
Richard shook his head.
"Not anymore. There is a child involved, and we have evidence that she's been mistreated.""
Mom's face twisted.
"You have evidence of nothing. You have a notebook full of childish fantasies and a man who has always been too weak to discipline his own daughter.""
Dad placed the photograph on the coffee table.
"Enough.""
The word was quiet.
But Mom stopped speaking.
Dad pointed toward the sofa.
"Sit down.""
She stared at him.
"Don't give me orders in my own house.""
"Our house," Dad corrected.
"And Emily is our daughter. If you have an explanation for what I've found, now would be a good time to give it.""
Mom remained standing.
Then she looked at the photograph again.
Her shoulders dropped.
For the first time, she seemed less like the woman who had controlled every room she entered and more like someone trapped in a corner.
"Her name was Laura Bennett," she said.
Dad stared at her.
"Who was Laura?""
Mom pressed her lips together.
"She was my sister.""
The room became completely silent.
Dad slowly sat down.
"Your sister?""
Mom nodded once.
"You told me you were an only child.""
"I told you I didn't have a sister who mattered.""
Richard took a step forward.
"Diane, what does that mean?""
Mom ignored him.
She looked directly at Dad.
"Laura was irresponsible. She made terrible decisions. She got pregnant when she was nineteen, and she didn't want the baby.""
Dad's voice was barely audible.
"Emily?""
Mom looked away.
"She couldn't take care of her.""
I gripped the railing.
My mother had a sister.
My real mother might have been a woman named Laura.
And apparently, everyone had known something about my life that I hadn't.
Dad picked up the photograph.
"Why did you tell me you gave birth to Emily?""
"Because I wanted a family.""
"You had me. You had Madison.""
"Madison was my daughter with you. Emily was different.""
Dad stared at her.
"How?""
Mom's eyes filled with tears, but they weren't the tears I knew.
They weren't tears that came when someone was hurt.
They were tears of anger.
"Because Laura always got everything," she said.
"She was the beautiful one. The clever one. The one everyone wanted to help.
When she got pregnant, my parents spent all their money trying to save her. When she couldn't manage the baby, they asked me to take care of her.""
Dad's expression hardened.
"So you adopted Emily?""
Mom shook her head.
"No.""
Richard looked at her sharply.
"What do you mean, no?""
"I took her home.""
"Without legal authorization?""
Mom's silence answered the question.
Dad stood.
"You brought a baby home and told me she was yours?""
"I knew you wanted children.""
"We already had a daughter!""
"Madison was a baby. You were traveling constantly. I was lonely.""
Dad looked at her as though he couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"So you stole your sister's child because you were lonely?""
Mom flinched.
"I didn't steal her!""
"Then where is Laura?""
Mom's eyes dropped to the carpet.
For a long moment, she didn't answer.
Then she said, "She died.""
Dad went still.
"When?""
"Nine years ago.""
"How?""
Mom swallowed.
"A car accident.""
Dad looked at the photograph again.
"Where?""
"I don't remember.""
"Don't lie to me.""
"I'm not lying!""
Richard opened his briefcase and removed a notepad.
"Diane, we need dates, locations, and documents. If Laura died, there should be a death certificate. There should be records of what happened to her child.""
Mom began pacing.
"I don't have those things anymore.""
"Where are they?"" Dad asked.
"I threw them away.""
"Why?""
"Because I wanted to forget!""
Her shout echoed through the room.
I covered my mouth.
Dad looked toward the staircase.
His eyes found mine.
For a second, the anger left his face.
"Emily, sweetheart, go back to your room.""
I shook my head.
"Please.""
He hesitated.
Then he came to the bottom of the stairs.
"You don't have to hear this.""
"But she's talking about me.""
He looked at me for a long moment.
Finally, he held out his hand.
"Then come sit beside me.""
I walked down slowly.
Mom watched me approach.
Her face changed the moment I sat next to Dad.
Something bitter settled in her expression.
"Of course," she muttered.
"Now she's the center of everything again.""
Dad turned toward her.
"Don't.""
She threw her hands up.
"Look at you! You never used to treat me like this. You used to trust me.""
"I trusted you with my child.""
"And I raised her!""
"Then why is she afraid of you?""
Mom had no answer.
I looked at the photograph on the table.
"Was that my real mom?""
Mom's eyes snapped toward me.
"Don't call her that.""
Dad's voice sharpened.
"Emily has every right to ask.""
Mom looked at me.
For a moment, I thought she might tell me something kind.
Instead, she said, "Laura didn't want you. She was going to abandon you, and I was the only person willing to take you.""
I felt the words hit me like a slap.
Dad immediately put his arm around my shoulders.
"That's enough.""
"But it's true!""
"You don't know what Laura wanted," Richard said firmly.
"And even if she was struggling, that doesn't excuse what you've done to Emily.""
Mom turned on him.
"You have no idea what I sacrificed!""
Richard didn't back away.
"Then explain why you kept her from her grandmother, took her money, locked her in a laundry room, and told her nobody wanted her.""
Mom's face reddened.
"She was difficult!""
"She was nine.""
"She was ungrateful!""
"She asked for a piece of birthday cake," Dad said.
"That's all she asked for.""
Mom looked at the dining room.
The unfinished cake was still visible through the doorway.
For the first time, she seemed unable to defend herself.
Then she reached into her purse.
Dad stood immediately.
"What are you doing?""
"Looking for something.""
She pulled out a folded envelope.
It was yellowed around the edges, with a hospital logo printed in the corner.
"I kept this because I couldn't bring myself to throw it away.""
She placed it on the table.
Dad opened it.
Inside was a letter from a social worker dated nine years earlier.
The letter stated that Laura Bennett had been hospitalized following a serious accident. Her infant daughter had been placed temporarily in the care of a relative while authorities investigated the family's circumstances.
But the letter contained something else.
A handwritten note at the bottom.
*The mother has requested that her daughter remain with Daniel Carter, the child's biological father, pending further review.*
Dad read the sentence twice.
Then he looked at Mom.
"What does this mean?""
Mom's face drained of color.
Richard leaned over the letter.
"Daniel, if this is genuine, it means Emily's biological father may be someone else entirely.""
Dad shook his head.
"No. Laura was Diane's sister. I never had a relationship with Laura.""
Mom suddenly began to cry.
"That's what I told myself, too.""
Dad stared at her.
"What are you saying?""
She covered her face.
For several seconds, the only sound was her uneven breathing.
Then she lowered her hands.
"Laura was pregnant before she was married. She told everyone the father had left her. But she told me the truth.""
Dad's voice was cold.
"What truth?""
Mom looked at him.
"She said you were the father.""
I felt Dad's arm tighten around me.
"No," he whispered.
Mom nodded.
"You were in Chicago that summer. You and Laura had an affair before you met me. You told her it was a mistake. You told her you would never leave your family for her.""
Dad stood so abruptly that his knee struck the coffee table.
"That's a lie.""
"I saw her letters.""
"That's a lie!""
Mom's voice broke.
"She showed me the letters, Daniel! She told me she was carrying your child. She begged me not to tell anyone because she knew you'd deny it.""
Dad stared at her.
Then he turned to Richard.
"Get me the hospital records. Every record. I want a DNA test if necessary. I want the truth.""
Richard nodded.
Mom wiped her cheeks.
"Why do you think I treated Emily differently?""
The question was so cruel that I couldn't understand how she could say it while looking directly at me.
Dad slowly turned toward her.
"Because you knew she might be my daughter?""
Mom shook her head.
"Because she reminded me of Laura. Every day. Every time I looked at her, I remembered that my sister had taken the one thing I wanted most.""
"What thing?""
"You.""
The word hung in the air.
Dad stared at her.
Mom took a shaky breath.
"Laura had you first. Even after you married me, she still had a part of you that I could never have. Then she died, and I thought I could finally have the family I wanted.""
Dad's expression turned to disgust.
"So you took her baby.""
"I gave Emily a home!""
"You lied to me about who she was. You lied to your own daughter about whether she was wanted. You made her believe I would abandon her.""
Mom looked at me.
"I was angry.""
I stared at her.
"At me?""
She didn't answer.
I began to cry.
Dad pulled me against him.
"No, sweetheart. Whatever happened between the adults, none of it was your fault.""
I clutched his shirt.
"Did you love my real mom?""
Dad looked as though the question had cut him open.
"I cared about Laura," he said carefully.
"But I need to understand what happened before I can answer everything. And I will never lie to you about it.""
I nodded.
It was the first honest answer anyone had given me that night.
Richard gathered the documents.
"I'll take copies of these to the hospital tomorrow. We need to verify the letter and find Laura's death certificate, if one exists.""
Mom's head snapped up.
"Why?""
"Because we need to know whether she died.""
Mom went completely still.
Dad looked at her.
"You told us she was dead.""
"She is.""
"Then prove it.""
Mom stared at him.
And in that silence, I understood something I had never understood before.
My mother was not afraid of what Dad would discover about me.
She was afraid of what he would discover about her.
Richard left with copies of the documents just before midnight.
Dad took me upstairs and tucked me into bed.
He stayed beside me until my breathing slowed.
Just before I closed my eyes, I whispered, "Dad?""
"Yes, sweetheart?""
"If my real mom is dead, does that mean I'll never know why she didn't want me?""
He brushed a tear from my cheek.
"I don't believe we know that she didn't want you.""
I looked at him.
He kissed my forehead.
"Try to sleep. Tomorrow, we're going to start finding answers.""
He turned off the lamp.
But he didn't leave.
I fell asleep holding his hand.
At 6:17 the next morning, his phone rang.
I woke to the sound of his voice downstairs.
"What do you mean, she's alive?""
I sat up.
Dad repeated the question.
Then came a long silence.
Finally, he whispered, "Where is she?""
I crept to the top of the stairs.
Dad stood in the kitchen, staring at his phone.
Richard's voice came through the speaker.
"We found Laura Bennett. She's alive, Daniel. And she's been trying to find Emily for nine years.""
Dad gripped the counter.
"Where is she now?""
"She's in a hospital outside Boston. And there's something else you need to know.""
Dad swallowed.
"What?""
Richard hesitated.
"Laura has a daughter with her. A girl named Sophie.""
Dad's face went pale.
"How old?""
"Nine.""
He looked up at the staircase.
His eyes found mine.
May you like
And Richard delivered the final blow.
"Daniel, the hospital records say Laura gave birth to twins.""
