Chapter 5: The Girl Who Carried Our Mother’s Face
The name stayed in the air.
Lily.
My father didn’t move.
Neither did I.
For years, I had believed my family was a broken picture with one missing piece.
Now I was realizing the entire picture had been hidden from me.
My sister wasn’t a memory.
She wasn’t a story my mother whispered about before she died.
She was alive.
And Victoria knew where she was.
“Where did they go?”” my father asked.
His voice was controlled, but I could hear the panic underneath.
Daniel looked toward the hallway.
“I followed them as far as I could.””
“You followed them?””
“I didn’t know what else to do.””
My father stepped closer.
“Daniel.””
The older man lowered his eyes.
“I’m sorry, Adrian.””
“For what?””
“For not telling you sooner.””
A strange silence passed between them.
I looked between the two men.
“You knew?””
Daniel looked at me.
“Not everything.””
“Then what did you know?””
He hesitated.
“I knew Victoria had secrets.””
My father’s jaw tightened.
“How long?””
Daniel sighed.
“Almost two years.””
The answer hit harder than I expected.
Two years.
Victoria had spent two years building a life with my father while hiding pieces of his past.
“Why didn’t you tell him?””
Daniel looked ashamed.
“Because I didn’t have proof.””
My father laughed quietly.
“Proof.””
He looked at the folder.
“The truth was sitting in her office.””
Daniel nodded.
“I know.””
My father picked up his phone again.
This time, his hands were steady.
He called Victoria.
The phone rang.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Then voicemail.
He ended the call.
A few seconds later, a message appeared.
My father looked at the screen.
“What?””
I asked.
He turned it toward me.
It was from Victoria.
*You should have left the past buried.*
My stomach twisted.
Another message came.
*You don’t know what you’re asking for.*
Then another.
*If you find Lily, you will destroy everything.*
My father’s face changed.
Not anger.
Something worse.
Betrayal.
“She knows.””
I swallowed.
“She knows we found out.””
Daniel nodded.
“And she’s scared.””
My father looked at him.
“Good.””
I had never heard him say something like that.
Not about anyone.
Not even the people who had hurt him.
But this wasn’t ordinary anger.
This was a father realizing someone had stolen years from his children.
“We need to find her,” I said.
My father looked at me.
“We will.””
A strange thing happened then.
For the first time since I walked into that ballroom, I believed him.
Not because he promised.
Because he was standing beside me.
Not in front of me.
Not somewhere far away.
Beside me.
We left the venue twenty minutes later.
The wedding decorations were still being taken down.
White flowers.
Golden chairs.
The perfect celebration that never happened.
As we walked through the empty ballroom, I noticed something strange.
A photograph near the entrance.
A picture of Adrian and Victoria smiling together.
I stopped.
My father noticed.
“What is it?””
I stared at the photograph.
“Did she ever talk about me?””
He became quiet.
“No.””
The honesty hurt.
But I appreciated it.
“Not even once?””
“No.””
I nodded slowly.
Because somehow, that answer told me everything.
Victoria didn’t just hide my sister.
She erased us.
Outside, the rain had started.
The same rain that had followed me all day.
My father opened the car door for me.
I hesitated.
A small action.
A normal action.
But it felt unfamiliar.
Because I couldn’t remember the last time someone took care of me.
“You’re cold,” he said.
“I’m okay.””
“You’re not.””
I looked at him.
He looked uncomfortable.
Like he wasn’t used to being a father anymore.
“I’m going to fix this.””
I looked away.
“You can’t fix twenty-one years.””
His expression fell.
“No.””
A pause.
“But I can spend the rest of my life trying.””
I didn’t answer.
Because part of me wanted to believe him.
And another part was terrified.
Daniel drove us to the address he had found.
A small apartment building on the edge of the city.
Nothing like the world Victoria lived in.
No luxury.
No security.
No expensive cars.
Just old brick walls and flickering lights.
My father stared at the building.
“Are you sure?””
Daniel nodded.
“Yes.””
“How do you know?””
“I saw the woman enter.””
My heart raced.
“The woman?””
“Lily.””
The elevator creaked as we went up.
Nobody spoke.
I held Mia close.
My little sister was asleep.
She had no idea that somewhere nearby was another sister who shared her blood.
The doors opened.
Apartment 4B.
My father knocked.
Nothing.
He knocked again.
“Lily?””
Silence.
Then footsteps.
Slow.
Careful.
The door opened slightly.
A young woman stood there.
She looked about my age.
Maybe a little older.
Dark hair.
Tired eyes.
And then I saw it.
The necklace.
Around her neck.
The same family crest.
My father stopped breathing.
The woman looked at him.
And tears filled her eyes.
“Dad?””
That single word broke something inside me.
My father stepped back.
Like he had been hit.
“Lily?””
She nodded.
And suddenly, the powerful man who owned companies and commanded rooms looked completely helpless.
“My baby girl.””
Lily covered her mouth.
She cried silently.
“I thought you were dead.””
My father’s voice cracked.
“I thought you were gone.””
“I thought you forgot me.””
The sentence was familiar.
Because I had said almost the same thing hours earlier.
My father looked between us.
Between two daughters he had lost.
Two daughters standing in front of him.
Then he broke.
He pulled Lily into his arms.
And she let him.
I stood there watching.
I should have felt jealous.
Maybe angry.
But I couldn’t.
Because I knew that feeling.
The feeling of finally being held by someone you thought you lost forever.
After a moment, Lily looked at me.
Her eyes moved to Mia.
Then back to me.
“Who is she?””
I swallowed.
“She’s Mia.””
Lily stared.
“Our sister?””
I nodded.
Her face crumpled.
“Mom had another baby?””
I looked down.
“She did.””
Lily touched Mia’s tiny hand.
A tear fell.
“She never stopped talking about us, did she?””
My father looked at her.
“What do you mean?””
Lily looked confused.
“Mom didn’t tell you?””
The room went silent.
“Tell me what?””
Lily looked toward the hallway.
Then back at him.
“Victoria said you knew.””
My father’s face changed.
“Knew what?””
Lily stepped backward.
“She told me you abandoned us.””
My father froze.
“What?””
“She said you chose a new life.””
I felt my chest tighten.
“She raised you?””
Lily nodded.
“Not exactly.””
“What does that mean?””
Lily looked at the floor.
“She found me when I was sixteen.””
My father stared.
“Sixteen?””
“Yes.””
“Where were you before that?””
Lily’s eyes filled with pain.
“I don’t know.””
The answer chilled me.
“You don’t know?””
She shook her head.
“I only remember waking up in a hospital when I was little.””
My father went pale.
“Which hospital?””
Lily whispered the name.
And my father recognized it.
Because it was the same hospital where my mother gave birth to her first daughter.
The same place where they were told Lily had died.
Then Lily said something that made the entire room go silent.
“She told me never to look for you.””
My father stepped closer.
“Who?””
Lily looked at him.
“Victoria.””
A cold feeling moved through me.
Because Victoria hadn’t just hidden the truth.
She had created a new one.
A fake life.
A fake history.
A fake family.
My father’s phone suddenly rang.
Everyone looked at it.
Unknown number.
He answered.
No one spoke.
Then a woman’s voice came through.
Victoria.
“Adrian.””
His face hardened.
“Where are you?””
A pause.
Then she whispered:
“You found Lily.””
My father looked at us.
“Yes.””
Victoria laughed softly.
Not sadly.
Not nervously.
Almost like she had been waiting.
“Then you finally know.””
My father gripped the phone.
“Know what?””
Her voice lowered.
“The truth about why Lily was taken.””
The room went silent.
“Victoria…”
But she continued.
“And why Clara was never supposed to find out she had a sister.””
My blood turned cold.
My father’s eyes met mine.
May you like
Then Victoria said the words that changed everything.
“Ask your daughters what their mother really did the night Lily disappeared.””
