Chapter 5: The Letter My Father Hid
Daniel read the name again.
And again.
As if staring at it long enough would change the words.
Thomas Harrington.
Victoria’s father.
The man who had worked for Daniel’s family.
The man who had supposedly helped them.
The man who had been the last person to see Daniel’s parents alive.
Daniel slowly lowered the file.
“Your father was there.””
Victoria didn’t answer.
“Wasn’t he?””
She looked away.
“Yes.””
Lily looked between them.
“Then why didn’t anyone tell you?””
Victoria’s expression hardened.
“Because nobody wanted the truth.””
Daniel stepped closer.
“Your father witnessed the accident.””
“Yes.””
“And he never told me?””
“No.””
“Why?””
Victoria looked at him.
“Because he was afraid.””
Daniel laughed bitterly.
“Afraid of what?””
Victoria didn’t respond.
Robert answered.
“Of what your father discovered.””
Daniel turned.
“You know something.””
The older lawyer looked down.
“I suspected.””
“Robert.””
“I was young when it happened. I thought protecting the Sterling family meant protecting their reputation.””
Daniel’s voice became cold.
“And now?””
Robert looked at Lily.
“Now I think silence destroyed more lives than the truth ever could.””
Daniel turned back to Victoria.
“Tell me what happened that night.””
Victoria remained quiet.
Then she walked to the fireplace.
“My father came home at three in the morning.””
Her voice softened.
“I remember because he was covered in blood.””
Lily gasped.
Daniel’s eyes widened.
“Blood?””
Victoria nodded.
“He wasn’t injured.””
A pause.
“He said it wasn’t his.””
The room became painfully silent.
Daniel’s hands curled into fists.
“What did he say?””
Victoria looked at the fire.
“He said the Sterling family had a secret.””
“What secret?””
“I don’t know.””
Daniel stared at her.
“You expect me to believe that?””
Victoria looked back.
“I was fourteen, Daniel.””
Her voice cracked slightly.
“My father locked himself in his office for days. He burned documents. He destroyed photographs.””
Daniel remembered the photograph.
“The picture with Lily.””
Victoria nodded.
“I found it years later.””
“Where?””
“In his safe.””
“Why keep it?””
Victoria’s eyes moved toward Lily.
“Because even my father knew some things were too important to destroy.””
Lily looked down.
Daniel noticed something.
A hesitation.
Victoria was hiding something else.
“What aren’t you telling me?””
Victoria didn’t answer.
Daniel stepped closer.
“What did your father do with my sister?””
Victoria’s face changed.
And for the first time, she looked afraid.
“He didn’t take her.””
“Then who did?””
The answer came quietly.
“The person your father trusted most.””
Daniel froze.
“Who?””
Victoria looked directly at him.
“Your mother’s brother.””
The words felt impossible.
“My uncle?””
“Yes.””
Daniel shook his head.
“That’s not possible.””
“Why?””
“Because my uncle died before Lily disappeared.””
Victoria nodded.
“That’s what everyone believed.””
Lily looked confused.
“Who was he?””
Daniel stared at the floor.
“Michael Sterling.””
His father’s younger brother.
A man Daniel barely remembered.
“He died in a boating accident when I was young.””
Victoria shook her head.
“He faked his death.””
Nobody spoke.
Daniel walked backward.
“No.””
“Daniel—”
“No.””
He looked at the files.
“My uncle was dead.””
Victoria’s voice softened.
“That’s what your father wanted everyone to think.””
Robert suddenly spoke.
“There’s something else.””
Everyone turned.
The lawyer reached into the folder.
He pulled out a folded piece of paper.
“Your father’s letter.””
Daniel grabbed it.
His hands trembled.
The paper was old.
Yellow.
But the handwriting was unmistakable.
His father’s.
Daniel opened it.
The first line nearly broke him.
My son,
If you are reading this, I failed to protect our family.
Daniel’s eyes filled.
He continued reading.
I need you to know one thing.
Your sister was not lost.
She was taken.
But not by a stranger.
By someone who knew exactly how much she meant to us.
Daniel stopped.
Lily watched him.
“What does it say?””
Daniel kept reading.
The next sentence made his heart stop.
The person who took Lily believed they were saving her.
Because they knew the truth about the Sterling family.
A truth I was too afraid to reveal.
Daniel looked up.
“What truth?””
Nobody answered.
Then another sound came from the hallway.
A knock.
Everyone turned.
A security guard stood at the door.
“Mr. Sterling.””
Daniel folded the letter.
“What?””
The guard looked nervous.
“There’s someone at the front gate.””
“Who?””
The guard hesitated.
“He says his name is Michael Sterling.””
The room froze.
Daniel felt every muscle in his body lock.
Impossible.
Impossible.
His uncle had been dead for twenty years.
May you like
Then the guard added:
“He says he’s here to take Lily home.””
