Chapter 4: The Woman in the Photograph
My father stared at the photograph like he had just seen a ghost.
The room was so quiet that I could hear the refrigerator humming in the kitchen.
Andrew Miller stood beside the table, holding the folder against his chest.
Vanessa had stopped crying.
She wasn't even breathing normally.
Dad picked up the photograph with two fingers.
“Where did you get this?””
Andrew looked at him carefully.
“Your wife hired me to locate her.””
Dad's eyes narrowed.
“Who?””
Andrew turned the photograph around so Marcus and I could see it.
It showed a woman standing outside a small brick house.
She looked older than Dad.
Gray hair.
Blue sweater.
One hand resting on the shoulder of a teenage girl.
I didn't recognize either of them.
Dad did.
He dropped the photograph.
“No.””
His voice was barely audible.
Vanessa whispered, “Daniel…”
He turned toward her.
“You knew?””
She shook her head.
“I didn't know if she was alive.””
Andrew calmly placed another photograph on the table.
“This was taken three months ago.””
Dad stared at it.
Then he looked at the woman again.
“Her name is Evelyn Carter.””
My stomach tightened.
Carter.
The same last name as my father.
I looked at Dad.
“Who is she?””
He didn't answer.
“Dad?””
He sat down slowly.
For the first time since I'd known him, he looked completely lost.
Andrew pulled out a chair.
“Mr. Carter, I think you should sit.””
“I am sitting.””
Andrew nodded.
“Then I'll explain.””
Vanessa suddenly stepped forward.
“No.””
Andrew looked at her.
“You hired me.””
“I changed my mind.””
“You paid my firm $40,000.””
Dad's head snapped toward her.
“Forty thousand?””
Vanessa closed her eyes.
Andrew continued.
“Your wife contacted us seven months ago. She provided your full name, birth information, previous addresses, employment history, and several photographs.””
Dad looked at Vanessa.
“You spent forty thousand dollars searching for someone?””
“She needed to be found.””
“Who?””
Andrew glanced at the photograph.
“Evelyn.””
Dad stood.
“Why?””
Andrew didn't answer immediately.
Instead, he opened the folder.
“There is something else you need to understand.””
He placed a document on the table.
“It concerns a child.””
My heart stopped.
Dad stared at the document.
“What child?””
Andrew looked directly at him.
“Your daughter.””
I felt the blood drain from my face.
“What?””
Dad turned toward me.
Andrew quickly shook his head.
“Not Sophie.””
Nobody spoke.
Marcus looked confused.
“Then who?””
Andrew pointed to the photograph.
“The girl standing beside Evelyn.””
Dad's hand went to his mouth.
“That's impossible.””
“Her name is Lily.””
Dad shook his head.
“No.””
“She was born twenty years ago.””
“No.””
“Her birth certificate lists you as her biological father.””
Dad stepped backward.
Vanessa began crying again.
I looked at her.
“You knew about her.””
She didn't answer.
“Vanessa.””
Her lips trembled.
“Yes.””
I felt something crack inside me.
“You knew?””
She nodded.
“For how long?””
“Almost two years.””
Marcus stared at his mother.
“You knew Dad had another daughter?””
Vanessa whispered, “Yes.””
Dad turned toward her.
“And you hired a lawyer to find her?””
“No.””
Andrew corrected her.
“She hired me to determine whether the girl was actually your biological daughter.””
Dad's face hardened.
“Why?””
Vanessa looked at me.
Then Marcus.
Then back at Dad.
“Because I needed to know what would happen to us.””
Dad stared.
“What would happen to us?””
“If she was your daughter…”
“What?””
Vanessa swallowed.
“She could inherit.””
I couldn't believe what I was hearing.
“So you spent $40,000 investigating whether Dad had another daughter because you were afraid she'd get money?””
“It wasn't like that.””
“It sounds exactly like that.””
Vanessa shook her head.
“I was scared.””
Dad laughed bitterly.
“You were scared of losing money?””
“No. I was scared of losing everything.””
“You already lost everything.””
She flinched.
Andrew looked at me.
“Sophie, there's something you should know.””
I turned toward him.
“The money used to hire me came from your college account.””
My stomach dropped.
“What?””
Dad closed his eyes.
Vanessa whispered, “I was going to pay it back.””
I stared at her.
“You used my college money to find another daughter for Dad?””
“I needed answers.””
“You had no right!””
“I know.””
“No, you don't!””
My voice echoed through the room.
“You didn't just buy Marcus a car. You didn't just send money to your mother. You used my college fund to investigate your own marriage!””
Vanessa started sobbing.
“I was terrified!””
Dad turned toward her.
“Of what?””
She wiped her face.
“That Evelyn would come back.””
Dad's expression changed.
“She wasn't coming back.””
“You don't know that.””
“She didn't even know where I lived.””
“She does now.””
Everyone froze.
Dad stared at her.
“What?””
Vanessa looked at Andrew.
Andrew nodded slowly.
“She knows.””
Dad's voice became quiet.
“How?””
“Because I contacted her.””
“Why?””
“You hired me to.””
Dad looked furious.
“I didn't hire you.””
“No,” Andrew said.
“Your wife did.””
Vanessa shook her head.
“I didn't tell him to contact her.””
“You gave me instructions to locate her and make contact if we confirmed her identity.””
“I never said to tell her about me!””
Andrew reached into the folder.
“She already knew.””
Dad frowned.
“Knew what?””
Andrew pulled out a handwritten letter.
“She had been looking for you for years.””
Dad stared at the envelope.
There was his name written across it.
*Daniel.*
His fingers trembled as he picked it up.
“Why didn't I know about this?””
Vanessa whispered, “Because I never gave it to you.””
Dad looked at her.
“You had a letter from my daughter?””
“Yes.””
“How long?””
She didn't answer.
“How long?””
“Eight months.””
Dad's face went pale.
“You hid it.””
“I was afraid.””
He looked down at the envelope.
“You stole my daughter's letter.””
Vanessa started crying.
“I thought if you met her, everything would change.””
Dad whispered, “It should have.””
He opened the envelope.
I watched his eyes move across the page.
He didn't speak.
Then his lips began to tremble.
“Dad?””
He looked at me.
There were tears in his eyes.
“She says…”
He stopped.
“What?””
He looked back at the letter.
“She says she doesn't want money.””
Vanessa stared at him.
Dad continued reading.
“She says she only wants to know why I left.””
The room went silent.
Marcus slowly sat down.
I looked at Dad.
“Did you leave her?””
He couldn't answer.
Andrew closed the folder.
“I'll give you some privacy.””
Dad shook his head.
“No.””
He looked at Vanessa.
“She needs to hear this too.””
Vanessa lowered her head.
Dad looked at me.
Then Marcus.
Then the letter.
“When I was twenty-two, before I met Vanessa, I was engaged.””
Vanessa closed her eyes.
“I was young. Stupid. I thought I had my whole life figured out.””
He swallowed.
“Her name was Rebecca.””
My chest tightened.
“Rebecca was pregnant.””
Dad's voice cracked.
“I found out she was pregnant after we broke up.””
He stared at the floor.
“I was told she didn't want me involved.””
I whispered, “So you left?””
He shook his head.
“I tried to find her.””
“Then what happened?””
“I was told she had moved.””
Andrew spoke quietly.
“She was pressured to leave.””
Dad looked at him.
“By whom?””
Andrew didn't answer.
Dad looked at Vanessa.
Her face was white.
“What?””
She stared at him.
“I didn't know.””
Andrew slowly opened the folder again.
“There is one final piece of information.””
He pulled out another document.
“This is a copy of Rebecca's original statement.””
Dad read the first paragraph.
Then stopped.
His eyes widened.
“She didn't leave me.””
“No,” Andrew said.
“She was made to believe you didn't want her.””
Dad looked up.
“Who told her that?””
Andrew placed one final sheet on the table.
There was a signature at the bottom.
Dad stared at it.
Then he looked at Vanessa.
“You knew her.””
Vanessa's face crumpled.
“I knew of her.””
Dad's voice became a whisper.
“You knew Rebecca?””
Vanessa shook her head.
“I never met her.””
Andrew pointed to the signature.
“Your mother did.””
Dad looked at the page.
Then at Vanessa.
His entire body went still.
“Your mother told Rebecca I wanted nothing to do with her.””
Vanessa began sobbing.
“I didn't know.””
Dad stepped closer.
“But you knew enough to spend $40,000 finding her daughter.””
Vanessa couldn't speak.
Dad looked down at the documents.
Then at me.
Then at the empty college account on my phone.
Suddenly, his face hardened.
“You didn't just steal Sophie's money.””
Vanessa looked up.
“What?””
“You used her money to uncover a secret you were never supposed to know.””
He pointed toward the front door.
“Get out.””
Vanessa froze.
“Daniel…”
“Get out of my house.””
She shook her head.
“Please.””
“You lied about the money.””
“I can fix it.””
“You lied about the letter.””
“I was protecting us.””
“You hid my daughter from me.””
“I was scared!””
Dad's voice thundered through the room.
“And you used Sophie's future to protect your lies!””
Vanessa stumbled backward.
Marcus stood.
“Mom…”
She looked at him.
“Marcus, please.””
He shook his head.
“I don't know what to say to you.””
She grabbed her purse.
Then stopped.
“Daniel.””
He didn't look at her.
“I need to tell you something else.””
Dad slowly turned.
Vanessa's eyes filled with tears.
“The $40,000 wasn't the only money I spent trying to find Evelyn.””
Dad's expression changed.
“What?””
She whispered, “There was another payment.””
Andrew's face suddenly tightened.
“Mrs. Carter, you never told me about another payment.””
Vanessa looked at him.
“I paid someone else.””
Dad stepped forward.
“Who?””
She looked at him.
“A private investigator.””
“When?””
“Before I hired Andrew.””
“How much?””
Vanessa hesitated.
“$15,000.””
Dad's face went cold.
“From where?””
Vanessa looked at me.
May you like
And I knew before she spoke.
“From another account in Sophie's name.””
