Chapter 2: The Seven Years They Stole From Me
The wedding was over before anyone officially announced it.
Guests were escorted outside. The pastor quietly gathered his papers. My best man, Daniel, stood beside me, trying to understand what he had just witnessed.
But I couldn't focus on any of them.
I was staring at my mother.
“Mom,” I said, “what did you mean when you said you thought you agreed?””
She looked toward Brielle.
Then toward Lily.
Finally, she lowered herself into the nearest pew.
“Marcus, not here.””
I laughed bitterly.
“Not here? A little girl just called me Daddy. A woman I thought was dead called me from an unknown number.
And my bride is apparently connected to both of them. Where exactly would you prefer we discuss this?””
My mother flinched.
Brielle stepped forward.
“Marcus, please. Your mother is upset.””
“Don't speak for her.””
“I am trying to protect you.””
“From what?””
She didn't answer.
Daniel approached and placed a hand on my shoulder.
“Marcus, let's get everyone somewhere private. This isn't the place.””
I looked down at Lily.
She was still holding the photograph.
Her little fingers were trembling.
“Daddy, can we go home?””
The question nearly broke me.
I didn't know whether I was her father. I didn't know why Hannah had disappeared or why Brielle had been standing beside us in that photograph.
But I knew one thing.
That child was terrified.
I removed my jacket and placed it around her shoulders.
“Of course, sweetheart.””
Brielle immediately stepped between us.
“She isn't going anywhere with you.””
I stared at her.
“What?””
“You don't know this child. She could be involved in something dangerous.””
Lily started crying.
“I don't want to stay with you!””
Brielle's face tightened.
“Lily, stop making things difficult.””
I moved between them.
“Don't talk to her like that.””
For a moment, Brielle looked genuinely offended.
Then she leaned closer to me.
“You're making a mistake, Marcus. You have no idea what that child has been taught to say.””
“Then tell me who taught her.””
Brielle said nothing.
Daniel called his driver, and within twenty minutes, we were at my house.
My mother came with us.
Brielle was not invited.
She stood on the church steps as we drove away, her wedding dress lifting slightly in the cold November wind.
She didn't wave.
She didn't call after me.
She simply watched.
And that frightened me more than if she had screamed.
At home, Lily sat on the living room sofa with a blanket wrapped around her shoulders.
Daniel brought her a glass of warm milk.
“Here you go, little one.””
“Thank you,” Lily whispered.
My mother stood near the fireplace, refusing to look at me.
I placed the silver key on the coffee table.
“Start talking.””
She sighed.
“Marcus, you need to calm down.””
“I have been calm for seven years. I'm finished being calm.””
My mother looked at Lily.
“Perhaps we should let the child rest first.””
Lily shook her head.
“Mommy said I had to tell him everything.””
My mother went completely still.
I crouched beside Lily.
“What did your mommy tell you?””
She reached into her dress pocket again and pulled out a folded piece of paper.
“Mommy wrote this.””
I unfolded it.
The handwriting was unmistakable.
Hannah's.
Marcus,
If Lily has found you, it means I failed to protect her.
Do not trust Brielle.
Do not trust anyone who tells you I abandoned you.
The key opens the place where the truth was kept.
And please, Marcus, forgive me for letting you believe our daughter was never born.
I read the last sentence twice.
Then a third time.
Our daughter.
The room seemed to tilt.
I looked at Lily.
“Sweetheart…”
My voice broke.
“Are you my daughter?””
She nodded.
“Mommy said you were.””
I stared at her face.
Suddenly, I began noticing things.
The tiny dimple in her left cheek.
The way she tilted her head when she was uncertain.
The small crease between her eyebrows.
Hannah had the same expressions.
And I had seen that dimple in my own childhood photographs.
I sat down beside her.
“Why didn't your mommy tell me?””
Lily looked at her hands.
“She tried.””
“What happened?””
“She said somebody kept changing the letters.””
My mother made a small choking sound.
I turned toward her.
“What letters?””
She wiped her eyes.
“Marcus, I didn't know Hannah was pregnant.””
I stood.
“Don't lie to me.””
“I'm not.””
“Then how did you know we had agreed on something?””
My mother stared at the floor.
Finally, she whispered, “Because Brielle came to me seven years ago.””
The silence that followed was unbearable.
“What did she want?””
My mother sat down.
“She told me Hannah had left you. She said Hannah was seeing someone else and had been planning to take money from your company.””
“That was a lie.””
“I know that now.””
“Now?””
My voice rose.
“You let me spend seven years thinking the woman I loved had abandoned me!””
My mother began crying.
“I thought I was saving you.””
“From my own daughter?””
She covered her face.
“I didn't know about Lily.””
I stepped closer.
“Tell me exactly what Brielle said.””
My mother took a shaky breath.
“She showed me messages. Photographs. Documents. She said Hannah had been meeting a man behind your back.””
“Did you see the original messages?””
“No.””
“Did you speak to Hannah?””
“No.””
“Did you even try?””
My mother looked away.
That was answer enough.
Daniel had been quietly examining the photograph Lily brought.
He suddenly leaned forward.
“Marcus, look at this.””
He pointed toward the bottom corner.
There was a reflection in the window of the yellow house.
A person standing inside.
A man.
Daniel zoomed in using his phone.
“Do you recognize him?””
I looked.
The image was blurry, but something about the man's face felt familiar.
Then Daniel enlarged it further.
“Oh, my God.””
“What?””
He turned the phone toward me.
It was Richard.
Brielle's father.
A wealthy property developer who had once offered to invest in my business.
I had met him several times during my relationship with Brielle.
He had always been polite.
Always generous.
And always strangely interested in my personal history.
“Why was her father there?”” Daniel asked.
I had no answer.
My mother suddenly stood.
“Marcus, please. You need to stop.””
I turned toward her.
“Why?””
“Because Richard isn't someone you should confront.””
“Why not?””
She looked toward Lily.
Then she lowered her voice.
“Because he helped arrange everything.””
My stomach tightened.
“Arrange what?””
My mother started crying harder.
“After Hannah disappeared, Richard came to see me. He told me that if I wanted my son to survive the scandal, I had to cooperate.””
“What scandal?””
She swallowed.
“He said Hannah had stolen confidential documents from your company. He said she was planning to destroy your future.””
I shook my head.
“That makes no sense.””
“I know.””
“Then why did you believe him?””
My mother looked at the photograph.
“Because he showed me a document with your signature.””
I felt the blood drain from my face.
“What document?””
“He said you had agreed to terminate all contact with Hannah.””
I stared at her.
“I never signed anything like that.””
“I know that now.””
I walked to the window.
Outside, the streetlights illuminated the wet pavement.
Seven years.
Seven years of believing Hannah was gone.
Seven years of trying to convince myself that the past was finished.
And now I was learning that the people closest to me had helped bury it.
Lily quietly touched my arm.
“Daddy?””
I turned.
“What's wrong, sweetheart?””
She looked at the photograph.
“Mommy said the man in the picture was the one who took her away.””
My chest tightened.
“Did she tell you his name?””
Lily nodded.
“Grandpa Richard.””
Daniel and I exchanged a look.
Then Lily added something that made the room go cold.
“He came to our house yesterday.””
I crouched in front of her.
“Yesterday?””
She nodded.
“He told Mommy that you were getting married today.””
“Did he hurt her?””
Lily's eyes filled with tears.
“He took her phone. Then Mommy told me to hide in the laundry room.””
I held her little hands.
“What happened after that?””
“He said he was tired of waiting for her to disappear.””
My mother gasped.
Lily looked up at me.
“Then he said something about the wedding.””
“What did he say?””
She swallowed.
“He said, ‘Once Marcus marries Brielle, nobody will ever believe Hannah again.’”
I felt a chill move down my back.
Daniel immediately pulled out his phone.
“We need to call the police.””
But Lily grabbed my hand.
“No!””
“Sweetheart?””
“He said he would know if I told.””
“Who said that?””
“Grandpa Richard.””
I held her closer.
“He can't hurt you.””
Lily looked toward the front door.
“But he knows where we are.””
A loud knock sounded.
Three sharp blows.
Daniel moved toward the entrance.
I stood up and pulled Lily behind me.
“Who's there?””
A man's voice answered.
“Marcus. It's Richard.””
I looked at my mother.
She had gone completely pale.
Then the man outside added:
“I believe you have something that belongs to my family.””
And before I could respond, someone slid an envelope underneath the front door.
May you like
On its front was a single sentence.
*RETURN THE KEY, OR YOUR DAUGHTER WILL NEVER SEE HER MOTHER AGAIN.*
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