Chapter 3: What Was Hidden in the Drawer
Daniel's study smelled of old paper, cedarwood, and the coffee he sometimes forgot on the windowsill.
Rebecca had entered the room thousands of times during their marriage, usually to leave a bill on his desk or remind him that dinner was ready.
But she had never noticed how carefully he guarded the bottom drawer of the filing cabinet beside his desk.
Daniel inserted the brass key.
The lock turned with a dry click.
He pulled the drawer open.
Inside were several envelopes, an old leather wallet, a stack of photographs, and a thick folder tied with a faded blue ribbon.
Rebecca stood behind him, her arms wrapped around herself.
“Tell me everything,” she said.
Daniel lifted the first photograph.
It showed two young men standing beside a battered pickup truck outside a college dormitory. One was Daniel, thinner and dark-haired, with a grin Rebecca had seen in old wedding photographs.
The other was Michael.
They looked so comfortable together that Rebecca felt an unexpected pang of jealousy.
“How long were you friends?”” she asked.
“Since we were nineteen.””
Daniel placed the photograph on the desk.
“We met at college. He was studying business, and I was working toward an engineering degree. We shared an apartment for two years because neither of us could afford anything better.””
“You never told me.””
“I tried to tell you about him once.””
“When?””
“About six months after we started dating. You were upset because Michael had called me in the middle of the night. You thought I was hiding something from you.””
Rebecca frowned.
“I remember that call.””
Daniel nodded.
“He was drunk. He'd just lost his job, and he was having trouble keeping his life together. I went to see him the next morning.””
“And you never mentioned him again.””
“Because you asked me not to.””
Rebecca searched her memory.
She remembered an argument about Daniel disappearing for several hours without explaining where he had gone. She remembered being frightened that he was seeing another woman.
She didn't remember asking him to erase his best friend from their conversations.
“Why did you stop talking about him?”” she whispered.
“Because I wanted our relationship to work. And because, by then, Michael and I had already grown apart.””
Daniel opened the leather wallet.
Inside was a small photograph of Michael holding a baby.
Madison.
Rebecca took it from him.
“Where was this taken?””
“At the hospital.””
“You said Michael left before she was born.””
Daniel looked at the floor.
“He did leave. But not in the way you think.””
Rebecca's fingers tightened around the photograph.
“Explain.””
Daniel sat down.
“Michael knew you were pregnant. He wanted to be involved, but he was terrified. He had lost his job, his apartment, and almost everything he'd worked for. He thought you'd be better off without him.””
Rebecca stared at him.
“That's not what happened.””
“What do you remember?””
“I told him I was pregnant. He said he wasn't ready to be a father. We argued. He walked out, and I never saw him again.””
Daniel nodded.
“That was the last conversation you had with him.””
“Yes.””
“But it wasn't the last time he tried to reach you.””
Rebecca went still.
“What?””
Daniel opened the blue folder.
Inside were letters.
Dozens of them.
Some were addressed to Rebecca. Others were addressed to Madison.
The envelopes were yellowed, and several bore postmarks from cities Rebecca had never visited.
She picked up the first letter addressed to her.
The handwriting was unmistakable.
Michael.
Her fingers shook so violently that she had trouble opening it.
The letter was dated three months after Madison's birth.
Rebecca,
*I know I don't deserve your forgiveness. I was a coward when you needed me to be a man. But I want to see my daughter.
I want to help. I want to know if she has your eyes.*
Rebecca stopped reading.
She pressed a hand over her mouth.
The next paragraph was even harder.
Daniel says I should write to you myself, but I don't know if you'll even open this. I keep thinking about the way you looked at me the day I left. I don't expect you to forget it. I only ask that you don't let Madison grow up believing she was unwanted.
Rebecca lowered the letter.
“Why didn't I receive this?””
Daniel didn't answer immediately.
He was staring at the remaining envelopes.
“I sent him your address,” he said at last.
“He told me he was writing to you.””
Rebecca looked at him.
“You helped him contact me?””
“Yes.””
“Then why are these letters here?””
Daniel rubbed his face.
“Because they were returned.””
Rebecca looked down.
Several envelopes bore red markings indicating that delivery had failed.
She turned another over.
This one had been opened.
Her name was written across the front in Michael's familiar handwriting, but the envelope had been torn along the top edge.
“Who opened this?””
Daniel's jaw tightened.
“I did.””
Rebecca took a step backward.
“You opened my mail?””
“No. It was sent to my address.””
“Why would Michael send me letters at your address?””
“Because you had moved. I was the only person he could still reach who knew where you were.””
Rebecca's stomach twisted.
“You told me you didn't know where he was.””
“I didn't know where he was living. We had lost contact for months at a time.””
“But you knew he was trying to reach me.””
Daniel lowered his head.
“Yes.””
The word hung between them.
Rebecca looked at the letters, then at the man she had built a life with.
“You let me believe he never cared about Madison.””
Daniel's eyes filled with pain.
“I know.””
“How could you do that?””
He rose abruptly.
“Because I thought he was going to destroy your life all over again!””
His voice echoed through the study.
Rebecca stared at him.
Daniel had never raised his voice at her.
He looked shocked by his own outburst, but he continued.
“Michael was my best friend, Rebecca. I knew him better than anyone. I knew how much he loved you, but I also knew how badly he could hurt people when he got scared.
Every time he made a promise, something happened. He'd lose his job, disappear for weeks, or get himself into trouble he couldn't fix.””
“That was between him and me.””
“I know.””
“No, you don't. You don't get to decide which truths I'm allowed to know.””
Daniel looked at the floor.
“You're right.””
Rebecca's anger wavered, but only for a moment.
“Then tell me what happened to him.””
Daniel went silent.
She glanced at the folder.
There were more documents inside: hospital records, newspaper clippings, and a folded sheet of paper bearing the name of a county medical examiner.
Her fingers hovered over it.
“Daniel?””
He looked at the document.
“Michael died twelve years ago.””
Rebecca felt the words before she understood them.
“No.””
Daniel nodded.
“He was killed in a car accident.””
She gripped the edge of the desk.
“Why didn't anyone tell me?””
“Because by then, you were married to me, and Madison was calling me Dad. I thought telling you would reopen wounds you'd finally managed to close.””
“You had no right.””
“I know.””
Rebecca turned away, fighting for breath.
She remembered Michael's laugh, the way he used to tap his fingers against the steering wheel when a song came on the radio. She remembered how he had once promised to take her to the ocean, even though neither of them had enough money to afford the trip.
She had spent years telling herself he had forgotten her.
Now she was learning that he had died while she believed he had chosen to abandon them.
“Did he know Madison?”” she whispered.
Daniel hesitated.
“He saw her twice.””
Rebecca turned sharply.
“What?””
“The first time was at the hospital. The second was when she was six months old.””
“You brought him to see her?””
“Yes.””
Rebecca stared at him in disbelief.
“You let him hold my baby without telling me?””
Daniel's face crumpled.
“He stood outside the house for an hour that day. He didn't want to frighten you. He asked me to bring him a photograph of Madison, and I did. When I came back, he was crying.””
Rebecca pressed both hands against her forehead.
“Why didn't you tell me?””
“Because he was leaving again. He'd found work in another state. He said he'd come back when he could support himself.””
“And you believed him?””
“I wanted to.””
Daniel reached for her, but she stepped away.
For a moment, neither of them spoke.
Then Rebecca noticed a small envelope tucked beneath the stack of letters.
It was newer than the others.
Her name was written across the front in handwriting she didn't recognize.
She opened it.
Inside was a single sheet of paper.
Rebecca,
If you're reading this, it means I wasn't brave enough to tell you the truth while I was alive.
Daniel did everything he could to help me. He tried to convince me to come home, to stop running, to be the father Madison deserved.
But there is something he doesn't know.
Rebecca's heart began to pound.
She looked up at Daniel.
“Who wrote this?””
He stared at the paper.
“I've never seen that letter before.””
Rebecca continued reading.
The night before the accident, I called someone I should never have trusted. I thought I was protecting Madison. Instead, I gave that person the one thing they needed to keep me silent.
If Madison ever starts asking questions about me, find the hospital records from the night she was born. Look at the signature on the original consent form.
You will understand why I had to stay away.
The letter ended without a signature.
Rebecca lowered it slowly.
“What does this mean?””
Daniel shook his head.
“I don't know.””
She searched his face.
For the first time, she believed he might be telling the truth.
The man she had trusted had kept terrible secrets, but perhaps he hadn't been the only person hiding something.
A sudden knock sounded at the front door.
Three sharp strikes.
Daniel glanced at the clock.
“Who would be here this early?””
Rebecca folded the letter and slipped it into her pocket.
“I'll find out.””
She walked through the hallway and opened the door.
A woman stood on the porch, dressed in a charcoal suit, holding a leather briefcase. She looked to be in her early forties, with dark hair pulled tightly behind her head.
“Mrs. Carter?”” she asked.
“Yes.””
“My name is Laura Bennett. I was Michael's attorney.””
Rebecca gripped the doorframe.
“Michael's attorney?””
Laura nodded.
“I've been trying to contact you for years. Yesterday, I learned that Madison has been asking questions about her biological father.””
Rebecca felt the blood drain from her face.
“How would you know that?””
“Because someone contacted me on Madison's behalf.””
Laura opened her briefcase and removed a sealed document.
“Before Michael died, he left instructions concerning his daughter. Those instructions were never carried out because he believed the wrong person had control of the truth.””
Rebecca stared at the envelope.
“What instructions?””
Laura's expression turned grave.
“He left Madison an inheritance. But that's not the reason I'm here.””
She looked past Rebecca toward the hallway.
“I'm here because Michael's will names Daniel Carter as the person responsible for protecting it.””
Rebecca froze.
Behind her, Daniel had appeared at the end of the hall.
Laura met his eyes.
“Mr. Carter, Michael left one final condition. If Madison ever rejected you as her father, I was instructed to deliver this document immediately.””
Daniel's face went pale.
Rebecca turned toward him.
“What does that mean?””
Laura placed the envelope in Rebecca's hands.
“I'm afraid,” she said, “that the person who has been contacting your daughter knows exactly what is inside.””
May you like
Then she added the words that made Rebecca's blood run cold.
“And if Madison signs the papers I've brought today, she could lose everything Michael left her—including the truth about why he died.””
