Chapter 5: The Daughter Who Was Never in the Family Album
David read the message three times.
Then he handed his phone to Martin.
“Can you trace it?””
“I can try, sir. But the sender may be using a masked number.””
“Do it anyway.””
Martin returned to the console, fingers moving rapidly over the keyboard.
David stood behind him, staring at the dark monitor.
Someone had known about the recording.
Someone had known what Ethan had said.
And someone was desperate enough to threaten him rather than let him discover the truth.
He thought of Tasha's face when he mentioned the archive.
Her fear had been real.
But what had frightened her most?
The possibility that he would discover she had hurt Ethan?
Or the possibility that he would learn why Lily's name had appeared in a recording from before she was born?
“Sir,” Martin said suddenly.
David leaned forward.
“What?””
“The remote access came from inside the mansion's network.””
“Can you identify the device?””
Martin opened another window.
“The connection was routed through the guest bedroom.””
David stared at him.
“The guest bedroom?””
“Yes, sir.””
Tasha's private study was on the opposite side of the house.
The guest bedroom had been unused for months.
Except for one person.
Nora had been sleeping there since the night Lily developed a fever two weeks earlier. David had allowed her to stay close to the child's room because Lily often woke frightened after nightmares.
He felt an immediate stab of suspicion, followed by shame.
“Nora wouldn't do this,” he muttered.
Martin looked up.
“Sir?””
“Nothing. Find out what you can without accusing anyone.””
David hurried upstairs.
He found Nora sitting beside Lily's bed, reading a picture book in a low voice.
Lily was awake, holding a stuffed rabbit against her chest.
When she saw her father, she sat up.
“Daddy!””
He crossed the room and kissed her forehead.
“Hey, sweetheart. How are you feeling?””
“Better.””
“Any trouble breathing? Any coughing?””
She shook her head.
“Miss Nora gave me warm milk.””
David nodded.
“Good.””
Nora closed the book.
“Is everything all right, sir?””
He studied her face.
“Someone accessed the security archive from inside the house.””
Nora's expression tightened.
“Did they?””
“Do you know anything about it?””
“No, sir.””
He believed her.
Still, he needed to ask.
“Has anyone been in the guest bedroom besides you?””
“Not that I've seen.””
David took a breath.
“I found an old recording from the year before Lily was born.””
Nora looked at him carefully.
“What did it show?””
“Tasha speaking to Ethan's father. And a child standing upstairs.””
Nora's hand tightened around the book.
David noticed.
“Nora?””
She lowered her eyes.
“There's something I should have told you a long time ago.””
He sat down.
“What is it?””
Nora looked toward Lily.
“Could I speak with you privately?””
Lily immediately clutched her rabbit tighter.
“Am I in trouble?””
“No, sweetheart,” David said.
“Not at all.””
Nora brushed Lily's hair back.
“Your daddy and I need to talk about some grown-up things. I'll stay right outside the door.””
Lily nodded reluctantly.
David followed Nora into the hallway.
She closed the bedroom door behind them.
For several seconds, she seemed unable to speak.
Finally, she said, “I knew Ethan.””
David's pulse quickened.
“How?””
“I worked here before Mrs. Hayes married you. I was assigned to the household when Ethan was little.””
“Why didn't you tell me?””
“Because Mrs. Hayes made me sign a confidentiality agreement. And because I was afraid.””
“Afraid of what?””
“Losing my job. Losing my home. Losing the only family I had left.””
Nora's eyes glistened.
“I know that sounds selfish, sir. But my husband had just died, and I was supporting my mother. I couldn't afford to be dismissed.””
David softened slightly.
“What did you see?””
Nora stared at the carpet.
“The night Ethan was hurt, I heard shouting from the upstairs hallway. I went to check on him. Mrs. Hayes was standing beside the staircase, and Ethan was crying on the floor.””
David's chest tightened.
“What did she say?””
“She told me he'd fallen.””
“Did you believe her?””
Nora shook her head.
“Not entirely. But I wasn't there when it happened.””
“What happened next?””
“I wanted to call an ambulance. Mrs. Hayes told me not to interfere. She said Ethan was being dramatic and that she would take care of it.””
David's jaw clenched.
“And you let her?””
Nora looked up, tears spilling over.
“Yes, sir. I did.””
The admission hung between them.
“I told myself it wasn't my place. I told myself his father would handle it. I told myself a hundred things to make it easier to go back to work the next morning.””
She wiped her face.
“I have regretted it ever since.””
David was quiet.
He couldn't blame Nora for everything. She had been in a vulnerable position, and Tasha had known exactly how to exploit it.
But regret couldn't undo what had happened to a little boy.
“Why did you stay?”” he asked.
“Because when you married Mrs. Hayes, I thought things would be different. You were kind to Lily from the beginning. I thought she would grow up in a safe home.””
Nora's voice broke.
“I wanted to believe the past was over.””
David looked toward Lily's bedroom.
“So did I.””
Nora took a deep breath.
“There's something else. Ethan once told me his mother had a daughter before him.””
David turned sharply.
“A daughter?””
“He said he saw a little girl in an old photograph. Mrs. Hayes told him the child had died.””
David felt the floor shift beneath him.
“Did he say her name?””
“No. But he said his mother kept a yellow ribbon in a jewelry box and sometimes held it while she cried.””
David remembered the figure in the upstairs window.
The yellow ribbon.
The photograph from the unknown sender.
The threat.
He returned to Lily's room.
She was sitting on the bed, drawing on a sheet of paper.
A house.
Three figures.
And a yellow ribbon.
“Sweetheart,” David said gently, “can I ask you something?””
Lily looked up.
“Okay.””
“Have you ever seen an old photograph of Mommy with another little girl?””
She frowned.
“Maybe.””
David sat beside her.
“Where?””
“In Mommy's study. There was a picture in the drawer. She told me not to touch it.””
“What did the girl look like?””
Lily shrugged.
“She had my hair.””
David's heart pounded.
“Your hair?””
“And my eyes.””
Nora stood motionless by the door.
David forced himself to speak calmly.
“What did Mommy say about her?””
Lily looked down at her drawing.
“She said the girl wasn't real.””
He stared at her.
“What do you mean?””
“She said sometimes people remember things that never happened. She told me I was too little to understand.””
David's throat tightened.
“Did she say the girl's name?””
Lily nodded.
“Emma.””
The name seemed to echo through the room.
David took out his phone and called his attorney, Helen Brooks.
Helen had represented him in business matters for years. She was practical, direct, and impossible to intimidate.
She answered on the second ring.
“David? What's happened?””
“I need an urgent investigation into my wife's past. Specifically, a child named Emma, a boy named Ethan Mercer, and any records connected to Lily's birth.””
There was a pause.
“Are you saying you suspect Lily's identity is in question?””
“I'm saying I found a recording that shouldn't exist, a custody file that doesn't add up, and evidence that my wife may have concealed something about another child.””
Helen's voice became serious.
“Don't confront her again until we understand the facts. Preserve every document and recording. I'll contact a family-law specialist and an investigator.””
“There's one more thing. Tasha has been trying to arrange permanent placement for Lily.””
“Do you have the email?””
“Yes.””
“Forward it to me. And David, make sure Lily remains somewhere safe.””
He looked at his daughter.
“She will.””
After the call, he returned to the study with Martin.
Together, they examined the recovered files and the paperwork Tasha had left on the desk.
A birth certificate lay beneath the custody documents.
David picked it up.
The name at the top read *Lily Mercer*.
Her date of birth was six years earlier.
The mother's name was Tasha Mercer.
The father's name was blank.
David stared at the page.
His own daughter had always been known as Lily Hayes. He had signed her adoption papers when she was an infant, believing that Tasha had given birth to her after a complicated pregnancy and that the biological father had relinquished his rights.
But this document suggested a different story.
He called Helen again.
“There's a birth certificate with Lily's name under Tasha's previous surname.””
“Read me the date.””
He did.
Helen went quiet.
“David, I need to check something. Don't move anything else.””
“What?””
“Your adoption file. Do you have the original?””
“In the safe.””
“Get it.””
David opened the wall safe and removed a thick envelope.
Inside were the adoption documents, hospital records, and a letter from the private agency that had arranged everything.
He spread them across the desk.
The adoption agreement stated that Lily had been born to an unidentified mother and placed for adoption at birth. Tasha had supposedly adopted her through a private arrangement shortly after marrying David.
But the dates didn't match.
The birth certificate showed Lily had been born in March.
The adoption agency's letter claimed she had been placed with the Hayes family in January.
Two months before her recorded birth.
David stared at the dates.
“That can't be right.””
Helen spoke through the phone.
“David, I'm looking at a copy of the agency's registration. The organization closed five years ago after an investigation into falsified records.””
He felt sick.
“Are you telling me Lily's adoption may have been illegal?””
“I'm telling you we need to establish the facts before drawing conclusions. But yes, there are serious irregularities.””
David looked toward the bedroom door.
Lily was laughing softly at something Nora had said.
He had spent six years believing that fatherhood began when he first held her.
He had never questioned the story Tasha told him.
Now every memory seemed to have a shadow.
“Can you find the original hospital records?”” he asked.
“I'll try.””
“Please do.””
He ended the call.
Then he noticed a small envelope tucked inside the back of the adoption folder.
It was sealed, with no name on the front.
He opened it carefully.
Inside was a handwritten note.
If David ever discovers the truth, tell him that Lily was never the child I was supposed to bring home.
Below it was a signature.
Tasha's.
David read the note again.
Then he turned it over.
On the back, someone had written another sentence in blue ink.
The child who disappeared was called Emma Mercer.
David's fingers began to tremble.
He looked toward the doorway.
Tasha stood there.
She had entered without making a sound.
Her face was pale, and her eyes were fixed on the note.
“Give me that,” she whispered.
David held it close to his chest.
“Who is Emma?””
Tasha's lips parted.
For the first time, she didn't attempt to lie.
“She was my daughter.””
David stared at her.
“Then where is she?””
Tasha began to cry.
“I don't know.””
He took one step toward her.
“What do you mean, you don't know?””
She shook her head desperately.
“She's gone.””
“Gone where?””
“I don't know!””
Her voice cracked.
David looked down at the note, then at the adoption documents scattered across the desk.
“Is Lily Emma?””
Tasha covered her mouth.
“No.””
The answer came too quickly.
David's eyes narrowed.
“Then why does Lily have Emma's face? Why is her name on a birth certificate connected to you? Why did you tell her the girl in the photograph wasn't real?””
Tasha backed away.
“Because I couldn't bear to look at her.””
“Look at whom?””
“Emma!””
The scream burst from her throat.
Tasha collapsed into the chair beside the desk, shaking.
“I couldn't bear to look at Emma because she reminded me of what I'd done.””
David stood frozen.
“What did you do?””
Tasha raised her eyes.
“I didn't lose my daughter, David.””
May you like
She swallowed hard.
“I gave her away.””
