Chapter 2: The Woman Who Knew Everything
Nobody moved.
Caleb's words hung in the air.
Sky isn't the only child Vanessa paid Rebecca to keep away from you.
Dad looked at him.
“Say that again.””
Caleb wiped his face with his sleeve.
“Rebecca had another baby before Sky.””
Vanessa shook her head violently.
“Caleb, don't.””
Dad turned toward her.
“Let him speak.””
Caleb took a breath.
“She had twins.””
My stomach dropped.
“Twins?”” I repeated.
Caleb nodded.
“One of them was Sky. The other was a little girl.””
Dad looked at the hospital documents.
“Where is the other child?””
Caleb's eyes moved toward me.
I took a step backward.
“No.””
He looked down.
“Maya…”
“No. Don't look at me like that.””
Dad grabbed the hospital paperwork.
“What are you trying to say?””
Caleb's voice broke.
“Rebecca gave birth to two girls. One went home with her. The other…”
He couldn't finish.
Vanessa suddenly slapped the table.
“That's enough!””
The birthday candles flickered.
“Marcus, this is a private matter. Your daughter has turned a misunderstanding into a public humiliation.””
Dad stared at her.
“A misunderstanding?””
“Yes! Rebecca was unstable. She had problems.
She made accusations. You know how people can be.””
I stepped forward.
“Then why did you pay her?””
Vanessa's mouth opened.
I held up the handwritten note.
“Why did she write about money?””
Vanessa looked at me with open hostility.
“Because some people will do anything for money.””
“Did you pay her?””
“That's none of your business.””
Dad's voice dropped.
“It's my daughter.””
Vanessa turned toward him.
“And what about your family? What about the life we've built? Do you think I wanted this? Do you think I wanted to spend years wondering whether you would abandon Caleb and me the moment you found out?””
Dad stared at her.
“You made that decision for me.””
“I was protecting what we had!””
“You were protecting yourself.””
My father had never spoken to Vanessa like that before.
Not once.
Even when she complained about the mortgage, the school fees, or my mother's photographs still hanging in the hallway, he always tried to calm things down.
Tonight, something had changed.
He looked at me.
“Maya, call the police if you need to. But first, I want every document in that envelope.””
I nodded.
Then I noticed someone standing near the doorway.
Tyler.
Caleb's closest friend.
He had stopped holding his birthday gift.
His eyes were fixed on the hospital wristband.
“Caleb,” Tyler said quietly.
Caleb turned.
“What?””
Tyler swallowed.
“Is this why you made me drive you to that storage unit last month?””
Caleb went pale.
Vanessa closed her eyes.
Dad looked at Tyler.
“What storage unit?””
Tyler hesitated.
“The one near the old hospital. Caleb told me he needed to collect some things his mom had stored.””
Caleb stepped toward him.
“Tyler, shut up.””
Tyler didn't move.
“I saw boxes. A lot of them. There were letters with Rebecca's name on them.””
Dad's face tightened.
“Where is this storage unit?””
Tyler gave him the address.
Dad immediately reached for his keys.
Vanessa grabbed his wrist.
“Marcus, don't go.””
He looked down at her hand.
“Move.””
“You can't just walk out and leave me here with these people.””
“Those people are my children.””
The words silenced her.
Dad turned to me.
“Get your coat.””
I looked at Caleb.
He was staring at the floor.
“Are you coming?”” I asked.
He shook his head.
“No.””
“Why?””
“Because I already know what's inside.””
Dad stopped.
“What?””
Caleb looked up.
“There's a box with your name on it.””
My father froze.
“What does it contain?””
Caleb swallowed.
“Letters. From Rebecca. From the day Sky was born until last month.””
Dad stared at him.
“And you knew?””
Caleb nodded.
“I read some of them.””
“Why?””
“Because I wanted to know why she kept calling me.””
Dad's expression changed.
“Why would Rebecca keep calling you?””
Caleb looked at Vanessa.
“Because Mom told her I was responsible for everything.””
Vanessa shook her head.
“That's not what I said.””
“That's exactly what you said!””
Caleb's voice cracked.
“You told me Rebecca was dangerous. You said she wanted to destroy Dad's marriage. You said if I ever helped her, you'd send me away.””
Dad stared at his wife.
“You threatened your own son?””
“I was trying to protect him!””
“From what? His sister?””
Vanessa had no answer.
I picked up my coat.
Dad and I left the house without saying goodbye to anyone.
The storage facility stood behind an abandoned shopping center.
A cold wind pushed empty plastic bags along the pavement.
Dad parked beneath a flickering security light.
Tyler had texted him the access code.
We found unit 214 at the end of a narrow corridor.
Dad entered the code.
The metal door rolled upward.
Inside were boxes, old photographs, hospital folders, and a small wooden rocking horse.
A pink blanket lay folded on top of a plastic container.
Dad walked inside slowly.
“Good Lord,” he whispered.
I picked up a photograph.
Two newborn babies lay side by side in a hospital bassinet.
Their names were written beneath them.
Sky and Lily.
Dad took the photograph from me.
His eyes filled.
“Lily,” he whispered.
On the back was another message.
For Marcus, so he never forgets the daughters he never got to hold.
Dad sat on an overturned box.
For several seconds, he couldn't speak.
Then he opened the first cardboard container.
Inside were dozens of envelopes.
Every one had his name.
The dates stretched across nearly eighteen years.
He picked up the earliest letter.
His hands trembled as he opened it.
“Marcus,” he read aloud, “I don't know if you'll ever forgive me for leaving without explaining. But I need you to know that the girls are yours. I wanted you to meet them.
I wanted you to hold them. Vanessa said you knew everything, but you chose your new family.””
Dad stopped reading.
His face crumpled.
“I never received this.””
I picked up another letter.
It was dated six months later.
Then another.
And another.
Every letter had been returned unopened.
But they hadn't been sent back to Rebecca.
They had been kept.
Dad examined the envelopes.
A red stamp appeared on each one.
DELIVERY REFUSED.
He turned the envelopes over.
The address was correct.
The signature confirming refusal belonged to someone else.
Vanessa Reed.
Dad looked at me.
“She signed for these?””
I nodded.
He opened another box.
Inside were bank statements.
The first transfer was for $5,000.
The second was for $10,000.
The third was for $25,000.
All sent from an account belonging to Vanessa.
The recipient was Rebecca Collins.
Dad stared at the statements.
“She paid her.””
I found a folded piece of paper beneath the bank records.
It was a typed agreement.
The heading read:
*CONFIDENTIAL FAMILY SETTLEMENT.*
The first paragraph stated that Rebecca would not contact Marcus Reed or attempt to establish a relationship between him and the children.
In exchange, Vanessa would provide financial support.
But the final paragraph was different.
It said that Rebecca would receive a much larger payment if she agreed to surrender all parental rights over one of the twins.
My hands went cold.
“Dad.””
He looked at the page.
Then he read the final paragraph.
His expression turned murderous.
“She tried to buy my daughter.””
There was a signature beneath the agreement.
Rebecca Collins.
And another.
Vanessa Reed.
But the document had something else.
A handwritten addition in blue ink.
The child will be placed with a family selected by Vanessa. Marcus must never be informed.
Dad stared at the words.
“Who was selected?””
I searched the remaining papers.
Then I found a hospital discharge form.
The baby's name had been crossed out.
A different name had been written above it.
Maya Reed.
I stopped breathing.
Dad took the paper.
“No,” he whispered.
I looked at him.
“What?””
He read the document again.
“This can't be right.””
I shook my head.
“Dad?””
He turned the page.
The form listed Rebecca Collins as the biological mother.
Marcus Reed as the biological father.
And beneath the section for adoptive guardians was a name.
Vanessa Reed.
I stepped backward.
The floor seemed to disappear beneath me.
“I'm adopted?””
Dad grabbed my shoulders.
“Maya, listen to me.””
I couldn't hear him.
I looked at the document again.
The date was October 17.
The same date as Sky's birth.
The same hospital.
The same night.
I was one of the twins.
But then why had I grown up believing my mother was the woman whose photographs hung in our hallway?
Dad pulled me into his arms.
“I didn't know,” he whispered.
“I swear to you, sweetheart. I didn't know.””
I wanted to believe him.
I wanted to believe that the man who had held my hand at my mother's funeral had never known I was someone else's child.
But there was one question I couldn't escape.
If Rebecca was my biological mother, what had happened to the woman I had called Mom?
Dad looked through the papers again.
Then he found a photograph.
It showed Rebecca holding two newborn babies.
On the back was a handwritten sentence.
One daughter stayed with me. One went to Vanessa. But neither of them knows what happened to their real mother.
Dad read it aloud.
Then he looked at me.
“What does she mean by their real mother?””
Before I could answer, his phone rang.
An unknown number appeared.
He answered.
A woman's voice came through.
“Marcus?””
Dad stood.
“Who's this?””
“My name is Rebecca Collins.””
His face went pale.
“Rebecca?””
“Yes. And if you're with Maya, please don't let Vanessa take her anywhere.””
Dad looked at me.
“Why?””
Rebecca's voice trembled.
“Because Vanessa has just learned that you found the documents.””
A pause.
May you like
Then Rebecca whispered:
“And she's coming to take the other twin.””
