Chapter 6: The Papers in the Attic
Nobody spoke after Vanessa said the words.
Adoption papers.
The phrase seemed to hang in the air.
Dad stared at her.
“Why?””
Vanessa wiped her face.
“I didn't know what was in them.””
“Then why were you looking?””
“Because my mother told me something.””
“What?””
“She said Lily wasn't the only child.””
My heart stopped.
Dad looked confused.
“What does that mean?””
Vanessa's eyes moved toward me.
Then Marcus.
Then the floor.
“She said there was another baby.””
Dad went completely still.
Andrew slowly closed the folder.
“What other baby?””
Vanessa whispered, “A second child.””
Dad shook his head.
“Rebecca had one child.””
“That is what everyone believed.””
“What are you saying?””
Vanessa looked at me.
“I don't know.””
I felt a chill move through my arms.
Dad stepped closer.
“Tell me exactly what your mother said.””
“She said Rebecca gave birth to twins.””
Marcus stared at her.
“Twins?””
Vanessa nodded.
Dad's face went pale.
“No.””
“She said one baby stayed with Rebecca.””
“And the other?””
Vanessa swallowed.
“She said the other baby was adopted.””
The room seemed to tilt.
Dad sat down.
Andrew immediately looked at the documents.
“Do you have proof?””
Vanessa shook her head.
“My mother had something.””
“What?””
“A photograph.””
“Where?””
“She kept it in her house.””
“Which house?””
“My mother's old house in Florida.””
Dad stared at her.
“She sold that house.””
“I know.””
“Then where is it?””
Vanessa hesitated.
“In my attic.””
I looked at her.
“You have a photograph of Dad's other child?””
“I think so.””
“You think?””
“I never opened the envelope.””
Dad stood.
“Where is it?””
Vanessa pointed toward the ceiling.
“Upstairs.””
He started walking.
Andrew followed.
Marcus and I came behind them.
The attic smelled like dust, cardboard, and old wood.
Dad switched on the light.
A single yellow bulb flickered overhead.
Vanessa stood near the doorway.
“It's in a blue suitcase.””
Dad looked around.
“Which one?””
“The one beneath the Christmas decorations.””
Marcus moved boxes aside.
“There are three.””
“The smallest.””
He pulled it free.
Dust exploded into the air.
He coughed.
Then opened the suitcase.
Inside were clothes, old photographs, letters, and a stack of envelopes tied with string.
Vanessa pointed.
“That one.””
Dad picked it up.
His hands were shaking.
The envelope had faded handwriting across the front.
*Rebecca — 2006*
Dad stared at the name.
“2006.””
Vanessa nodded.
“My mother kept it.””
Dad opened the envelope.
Inside was a photograph.
Two newborn babies.
Side by side.
One wore a pink bracelet.
The other wore blue.
Dad's knees almost buckled.
He grabbed the edge of a wooden beam.
I stared at the photograph.
Twins.
I looked at Dad.
“Dad…”
He couldn't speak.
Andrew took the photograph carefully.
“There should be a hospital record.””
Dad shook his head.
“No.””
“What?””
“I was there.””
Everyone looked at him.
Dad swallowed.
“I was there when Rebecca gave birth.””
Vanessa stared.
“You never told me that.””
“I didn't know there were two.””
“How could you not know?””
Dad looked broken.
“They told me the baby didn't survive.””
Silence.
“What?””
Dad looked at me.
“They told me Rebecca lost the baby.””
My stomach twisted.
“But Lily survived.””
“I didn't know Lily existed.””
He looked down at the photograph.
“And apparently neither did I know about the other one.””
Andrew took the envelope.
“There may be more.””
He searched through the suitcase.
Then found a folded piece of paper.
He opened it.
His face changed.
“What?””
He handed it to Dad.
Dad read it.
Then whispered, “This is a hospital discharge form.””
Andrew nodded.
“There are two patient numbers.””
Dad stared.
“Two?””
“Yes.””
“One for Lily.””
“And one for…”
Andrew looked at the page.
He stopped.
“There's no name.””
“Why?””
“Because the second child was registered under a temporary identifier.””
Dad looked confused.
“What happened to the baby?””
Andrew turned the page over.
There was a handwritten note.
*Transferred to private placement.*
Dad's face went white.
“Private placement?””
Andrew nodded.
“An adoption agency.””
Dad looked at Vanessa.
“You knew.””
“I suspected.””
“You spent $55,000 searching for a child you suspected existed.””
“I needed proof.””
“You could have told me.””
“I was afraid.””
“Again?””
Vanessa began crying.
“I thought if there was another child, you'd leave us.””
Dad shook his head.
“You keep saying 'us.''”
He pointed toward me.
“What about Sophie?””
Vanessa looked at me.
“I was trying to protect her too.””
“No.””
Dad's voice was sharp.
“You weren't.””
He held up the photograph.
“You were protecting your position.””
Vanessa didn't deny it.
I looked at the twins.
One had a pink bracelet.
The other blue.
There was something strangely familiar about the baby with the blue bracelet.
I couldn't explain why.
I stared longer.
Dad noticed.
“What?””
I shook my head.
“Nothing.””
“No. What?””
“I don't know.””
I took the photograph.
“Why does this feel familiar?””
Dad looked at me.
Andrew stepped closer.
“Turn it over.””
I did.
There was writing on the back.
*Lily and Anna — July 14, 2006.*
My heart stopped.
“Anna.””
Dad looked at the name.
“I don't know an Anna.””
Vanessa suddenly grabbed the edge of the table.
“I do.””
Everyone turned.
“You know her?””
Vanessa nodded slowly.
“My mother mentioned her.””
“Who is she?””
“I don't know.””
“You said you knew her.””
“I knew the name.””
Dad stepped toward her.
“Where have you heard it?””
“My mother said Anna was adopted by a family in this state.””
“Which family?””
Vanessa shook her head.
“She never told me.””
Andrew looked at the photograph again.
“There's something strange.””
“What?””
“The date.””
Dad frowned.
“July 14.””
“Yes.””
Andrew pointed at the bottom.
“According to the hospital record, Lily was born July 14, 2006.””
Dad nodded.
“So?””
“Your wife told me Lily was born July 15.””
Vanessa went pale.
Dad turned toward her.
“Why did you tell him that?””
“I…”
Andrew looked at her.
“You gave me the wrong date.””
Vanessa shook her head.
“I didn't remember.””
“You didn't remember your stepdaughter's birth date?””
Dad's voice became cold.
“Why?””
Vanessa looked terrified.
“I didn't want him to find her too quickly.””
“Why?””
“I needed time.””
“For what?””
She looked at Dad.
“To find Anna first.””
Dad stared.
“Why?””
Vanessa started crying.
“Because my mother told me Anna had something.””
“What?””
“A letter.””
“What letter?””
“She said Rebecca left it for both daughters.””
Dad looked confused.
“What did it say?””
“I don't know.””
“Then why were you so desperate to find it?””
Vanessa shook her head.
“Because my mother said the letter proved what happened that night.””
Andrew's expression sharpened.
“What happened?””
Vanessa looked at him.
“My mother was there.””
Dad's face hardened.
“At the hospital?””
“Yes.””
“And?””
“She said Rebecca was unconscious after the delivery.””
Dad whispered, “Go on.””
“She said the nurses took both babies away.””
“Then what?””
“My mother said she signed something.””
“What?””
“I don't know.””
Dad grabbed the photograph.
“Who did she give the baby to?””
Vanessa shook her head.
“She never told me.””
“Then what did you spend $55,000 trying to find?””
Vanessa's eyes filled with tears.
“The family who adopted Anna.””
Dad stared.
“Why?””
She whispered, “Because my mother said Anna was raised under a different name.””
The attic fell silent.
Then Andrew's phone rang.
He answered.
“Hello?””
He listened.
His eyes widened.
“What?””
Dad looked at him.
“What is it?””
Andrew covered the phone.
“The private investigator I hired before coming here just called.””
“What did he find?””
Andrew looked at Vanessa.
Then at me.
“He found Anna.””
My heart pounded.
Dad stepped forward.
“Where?””
Andrew's voice was barely above a whisper.
“She isn't in Florida.””
“Where is she?””
Andrew looked directly at me.
“She lives eleven minutes from here.””
I felt the blood drain from my face.
Dad stared at him.
“What's her name now?””
Andrew opened his phone.
He read the information slowly.
“Anna Miller.””
My knees weakened.
Because that was my name.
My full name.
May you like
*Sophie Anna Carter.*
And suddenly, everyone in the attic was looking at me.
