Chapter 6: The Daughter They Tried To Steal
The headline stared back at me from the tablet.
*THE DAUGHTER DANIEL BROOKS ABANDONED.*
For a few seconds, I couldn't hear anything.
Not Ethan.
Not Emily.
Not even the rain tapping against the windows.
Only those words.
Abandoned.
That was the one thing I had spent five years trying to prevent Lily from ever feeling.
I looked at Emily.
"Tell me this isn't true.""
Her eyes filled with tears.
"Daniel...""
"Tell me.""
My voice cracked.
Not from anger.
From fear.
Because somewhere in the world, people were reading a lie about my daughter.
And Lily was old enough to understand what those words meant.
Emily sat down slowly.
"Richard planned this.""
I clenched my jaw.
"He always planned everything.""
She looked at the floor.
"When you and I found out about Lily, Richard knew.""
I froze.
"What does Richard have to do with Lily?""
Emily wiped her tears.
"Everything.""
The room felt colder.
Five years ago, before Lily was born, I had discovered Richard had been moving company money through hidden accounts.
When I confronted him, he disappeared.
But there was one thing I never understood.
Why did he leave so suddenly?
Why did he abandon everything?
Why did he never fight?
Now I knew.
Because he wasn't running away.
He was preparing.
Emily opened the envelope again.
"The woman in the photograph...""
She stopped.
I already knew.
"Lily's mother?""
Emily nodded.
I looked away.
Her name was Sarah.
The woman I loved.
The woman who disappeared the night before she was supposed to tell me something important.
Everyone told me she left.
Everyone told me she didn't want me.
But I never believed it.
Because Sarah wasn't that kind of person.
"Where is she?"" I asked.
Emily didn't answer.
That silence hurt more than any words.
"Emily.""
She finally looked at me.
"She's alive.""
My heart stopped.
For five years, I had wondered.
Every birthday.
Every night Lily asked why she didn't have a mother.
Every time I watched another family walking together.
Alive.
The word felt impossible.
"Where?""
Emily shook her head.
"I don't know.""
"You're lying.""
"I'm not.""
She leaned forward.
"Daniel, Richard hid her.""
I stared at her.
"Why?""
Emily looked terrified.
"Because Sarah knew the truth about him.""
Before I could respond, the door opened.
Lily stood there holding her stuffed rabbit.
"Daddy?""
My entire expression changed.
I immediately walked toward her.
"Hey, sweetheart.""
She looked between me and Emily.
"Why is everyone sad?""
I knelt down.
"I'm not sad.""
She tilted her head.
"Are you sure?""
Children always knew.
Even when adults pretended.
I hugged her.
"I'm sure.""
She wrapped her arms around me.
"I don't like when people make you sad.""
My eyes closed.
That was my daughter.
The person Richard thought was my weakness.
He was wrong.
She was the reason I would never lose.
Later that afternoon, I held an emergency board meeting.
Every executive was present.
The room was tense.
One of them, Victor Hayes, cleared his throat.
"Daniel, the media situation is damaging the company's reputation.""
I looked at him.
"The company?""
He shifted.
"I mean your family situation.""
"No.""
I placed the tablet on the table.
"This is not a company problem.""
Everyone became quiet.
"This is a human problem.""
Victor avoided my eyes.
I noticed.
And I remembered something.
Victor had worked closely with Richard.
"How long did you know?""
He looked confused.
"Know what?""
"About Lily.""
The silence was immediate.
Too immediate.
I stood.
"Answer me.""
Victor swallowed.
"I heard rumors.""
"Rumors?""
I walked closer.
"You heard rumors that my daughter existed, that her mother disappeared, and you said nothing?""
His face hardened.
"We thought it was private.""
"No.""
I shook my head.
"You thought it was useful.""
Nobody spoke.
Because everyone knew.
Richard didn't build his plan alone.
He had help.
That night, Ethan brought me security footage from the hotel.
"There is something you need to see.""
The video showed the night I arrived.
Claire at the desk.
Guests recording.
The chaos.
Then another person appeared.
Standing near the entrance.
Watching.
Waiting.
I leaned closer.
The image was blurry.
But I recognized the posture.
The suit.
The way he stood.
My blood went cold.
"Impossible.""
Ethan looked at me.
"You know him?""
I stared at the screen.
Because the man who had been watching my daughter enter the hotel...
Was my own brother.
May you like
A man everyone believed died twelve years ago.
Thomas Brooks.
