Chapter 8: What Rebecca Left Behind
Dad didn't speak after Lily said Vanessa's name.
He simply stared at his wife.
Vanessa sank onto the attic floor.
“No.””
Dad's voice was low.
“Lily says Rebecca named you.””
“She was wrong.””
“You told me you barely knew Rebecca.””
“I didn't know her.””
“You just heard her name.””
Vanessa shook her head.
“My mother did it.””
Dad looked at Andrew.
“Get us to the hospital.””
Andrew nodded.
I followed.
Marcus came too.
Vanessa stayed behind.
Dad stopped at the stairs.
“You're coming.””
She looked up.
“Daniel…”
“If Rebecca wrote your name, you're going to explain why.””
She slowly stood.
Nobody spoke during the drive.
Rain had started falling.
It tapped against the windshield as Dad drove.
My hands were cold.
I kept thinking about one thing.
Vanessa.
The woman who had helped raise me.
The woman who had kissed my forehead when I was sick.
The woman who had taken my college money.
The woman who apparently knew I was her husband's biological daughter.
I couldn't make the pieces fit.
When we reached the hospital, Lily was waiting near the entrance.
I saw her before Dad did.
She was standing beneath a gray umbrella.
Dark hair.
Blue eyes.
A nervous expression.
She looked at me.
I looked at her.
For one strange second, neither of us moved.
Then she whispered,
“Sophie?””
I nodded.
She walked toward me.
“I'm Lily.””
“I know.””
She smiled through tears.
“I've been trying to find you.””
I couldn't stop myself.
I hugged her.
She hugged me back.
It felt strangely natural.
Like something my body remembered before my mind did.
Dad stood several feet away.
Lily turned.
Her eyes filled.
“Dad?””
He nodded.
“I don't know if I deserve that.””
She walked to him.
“You're my father.””
Dad broke.
He wrapped his arms around her.
“I am so sorry.””
“I know.””
“I looked for you.””
“I know.””
“Your mother—”
“I know.””
He pulled back.
“How?””
Lily touched his face.
“Because she kept everything.””
She held up a small envelope.
“This is hers.””
Dad stared at it.
Andrew stepped closer.
“Is that the original?””
“Yes.””
Lily looked at me.
“She wrote it for both of us.””
I took the envelope.
My hands shook.
The paper was old.
The handwriting was delicate.
At the top were two names.
*For Lily and Anna.*
I swallowed.
“Anna.””
Lily nodded.
“That was your birth name.””
I opened the letter.
My eyes moved across the first lines.
My girls,
I stopped.
Tears filled my eyes.
Lily put her hand over mine.
“Keep going.””
I read.
If you are reading this, then the truth has finally found you.
My breathing became uneven.
I never gave Anna away.
Dad covered his mouth.
I continued.
They told me she died.
Lily started crying.
I read faster.
But I knew they were lying.
The hallway blurred.
Your father loved you both. He did not abandon us. Someone made sure he would never know what happened.
Dad whispered, “Who?””
I kept reading.
The woman who helped take Anna from me was not alone.
My hands froze.
I looked at Lily.
“Not alone.””
She nodded.
“There is more.””
I continued.
Her name is Vanessa.
Dad closed his eyes.
Vanessa stood several feet behind us.
She looked like she had aged ten years in the last hour.
I kept reading.
But Vanessa did not take Anna for herself.
I stopped.
Dad looked at me.
“What?””
I read the next paragraph.
She took her because her mother told her to.
Everyone turned toward Vanessa.
She whispered, “I told you.””
Dad stared at her.
“You said you didn't know.””
“I didn't know everything.””
“Then what did your mother do?””
Vanessa shook her head.
“She told me Rebecca was going to leave Daniel. She said Anna would be better somewhere else.””
Dad's voice hardened.
“You believed her.””
“Yes.””
“And Lily?””
“She was left with Rebecca.””
“Why?””
“I don't know.””
Lily stepped closer.
“You do.””
Vanessa looked at her.
Lily's eyes were filled with anger.
“My mother wrote that you were there.””
“I was.””
“You signed the papers.””
“I was pressured.””
“You took my sister.””
Vanessa began crying.
“I was young.””
Lily shook her head.
“So was she.””
She pointed at me.
“You took her from her mother.””
Vanessa couldn't answer.
Dad looked at the letter.
“What happened after?””
Lily said, “There's another page.””
She pulled out a second sheet.
“Mom wrote it later.””
Dad took it.
He read silently.
Then his face changed.
“What?””
He handed it to Andrew.
Andrew read it.
His eyebrows rose.
“What does it say?”” I asked.
He looked at me.
“Rebecca discovered where Anna was.””
My heart stopped.
“She found me?””
“Yes.””
“Then why didn't she come?””
Andrew read the page again.
“Because she was threatened.””
Dad stepped forward.
“By whom?””
Andrew looked at Vanessa.
“Your mother.””
Vanessa whispered, “No.””
Andrew continued.
“She was told that if she contacted the Carters, the other child would be taken too.””
Lily covered her mouth.
Dad's hands shook.
“My God.””
I couldn't stop crying.
“My mother knew where I was.””
“Yes,” Lily said.
“And she couldn't come.””
“She tried.””
“How do you know?””
Lily pointed to the letter.
“She wrote that she sent someone.””
“Who?””
Lily looked at Vanessa.
“She sent you.””
Vanessa's eyes closed.
Dad turned toward her.
“You went to Rebecca?””
Vanessa nodded.
“Yes.””
“When?””
“Two months before she died.””
Dad stared.
“What did you tell her?””
Vanessa started crying.
“I told her Anna was safe.””
“Was that true?””
“Yes.””
“Did you tell her where?””
“No.””
“Why?””
“My mother told me not to.””
Dad stepped closer.
“You could have told her.””
“I was afraid.””
“You keep saying that!””
He slammed his fist against the wall.
People in the hallway turned.
Dad lowered his voice.
“You had one chance.””
Vanessa sobbed.
“I know.””
Lily looked at her.
“Mom spent years believing Dad abandoned her.””
Vanessa nodded.
“I know.””
“She died believing it.””
Vanessa looked at the floor.
“I know.””
“And you could have fixed it.””
“I was scared.””
Lily's voice became quiet.
“You weren't scared.””
Vanessa looked up.
“You were selfish.””
The word hit her harder than shouting would have.
I looked at the letter again.
There was one paragraph I hadn't read.
I continued.
There is one more thing you must know about Anna.
My heart raced.
She was not raised by strangers.
I stopped.
Dad leaned closer.
“What does that mean?””
I read the next sentence.
She was raised by the man who promised to protect her.
I looked up.
“Who?””
Lily shook her head.
“I don't know.””
Andrew took the letter.
He read it twice.
Then looked at Dad.
“Do you recognize this name?””
He pointed to the bottom.
There was a handwritten signature.
Not Rebecca.
Another name.
Dad stared.
His face went pale.
“That's impossible.””
“What?””
He whispered,
“That was my best friend.””
I looked at the signature.
*Michael Miller.*
The same surname as the woman Andrew had found.
Anna Miller.
Dad's eyes widened.
“Michael died fifteen years ago.””
Andrew shook his head.
“No.””
He pulled out his phone.
“He didn't.””
Dad stared.
“What?””
“The man who adopted Anna was not Michael Miller.””
Andrew turned the screen toward us.
“It was Michael's brother.””
Dad's expression changed.
“Who?””
Andrew said,
“Richard Miller.””
Vanessa suddenly grabbed the wall.
“Richard?””
Dad looked at her.
“You know him.””
She nodded.
“I thought he was dead.””
Andrew shook his head.
“He isn't.””
Lily stepped forward.
“Where is he?””
Andrew looked at the address.
“He owns a farm about thirty miles from here.””
Dad stared.
“Then that's where we go.””
Vanessa whispered, “No.””
Everyone turned.
She was shaking violently.
“Don't go there.””
Dad narrowed his eyes.
“Why?””
“I can't explain.””
“You're going to.””
“No.””
“Why can't we go?””
Vanessa looked at me.
Then at Lily.
Her voice broke.
“Because Richard Miller knows the truth.””
Dad stepped closer.
“What truth?””
May you like
She whispered,
“He knows why Anna was taken.””
