Chapter 6: Rachel’s Voice From the Past
Nobody moved.
Adrian stood there with the phone pressed against his ear, but he looked like he had forgotten how to breathe.
The name he had spoken was barely a whisper.
“Rachel?””
The entire café seemed to disappear.
I watched his face change with every second.
Confusion.
Shock.
Pain.
Then something I had never seen from him before.
Fear.
“Where are you?”” Adrian asked.
His voice was unsteady.
A few moments passed as he listened.
Then he turned away from us.
“No. Don’t do that. Don’t tell me this over the phone.””
Another pause.
His hand tightened around the phone.
“You should have told me eight years ago.””
I couldn’t hear Rachel’s voice.
But I didn’t need to.
The guilt on Adrian’s face told me enough.
Finally, he said:
“Okay.””
He looked back at us.
“I’m coming.””
Then the call ended.
Nobody spoke.
I waited.
Not because I was calm.
I wasn’t.
My entire world had been turned upside down in less than twenty-four hours.
My daughter.
My husband.
A woman from his past.
A hidden child.
A secret my husband didn’t know existed.
Everything I thought I understood felt fragile.
“What did she say?”” I asked.
Adrian looked at me.
For a second, I saw the man I married.
The man who held me through difficult nights.
The man who cried when Mia took her first steps.
The man who looked at our daughter like she was the greatest gift in his life.
But behind his eyes was a storm.
“She wants to meet.””
I swallowed.
“Why?””
“Because she says she can prove everything.””
Daniel slowly stood.
“Where?””
Adrian looked at him.
“How do you know about any of this?””
Daniel didn’t answer.
Not directly.
“I told you. I’ve been trying to prevent this from getting worse.””
Vanessa shook her head.
“You’re still not telling them the whole truth.””
Daniel looked at her.
“And neither are you.””
The tension between them was unbearable.
I turned to Vanessa.
“What else is there?””
She looked exhausted.
Like she had been carrying a weight too heavy for too long.
“I don’t know everything.””
“That’s not an answer.””
Vanessa looked at Mia’s ruined dress still folded in my bag.
Her expression changed.
“I saw Rachel six months ago.””
Adrian stared at her.
“What?””
“She came to me first.””
“Why?””
“Because she was afraid.””
Adrian laughed once.
A painful sound.
“She was afraid, so she went to you?””
Vanessa looked down.
“She thought you would hate her.””
“And you believed her?””
“I believed that she had been hurt.””
The words made Adrian go quiet.
Vanessa continued.
“Rachel told me she tried to contact you before.””
My stomach tightened.
“She did?””
Vanessa nodded.
“But someone intercepted the messages.””
Adrian frowned.
“Who?””
“I don’t know.””
Daniel spoke.
“I do.””
Everyone looked at him.
He pulled out his phone.
“I traced the old email accounts.””
Adrian looked at him.
“And?””
Daniel hesitated.
Then said:
“The messages were redirected through a company account.””
“Whose company?””
Daniel looked at him.
“Your father’s.””
The silence returned.
Adrian sat down slowly.
Like his legs couldn’t hold him anymore.
“My father…”
He repeated the words quietly.
I sat beside him.
Not because everything was okay.
It wasn’t.
But because I could see how much he was hurting.
Daniel placed his hands on the table.
“There’s something else you need to know.””
Adrian looked up.
“What?””
“Rachel didn’t come back alone.””
My heart sank.
“Who came with her?””
Daniel didn’t answer.
Instead, he looked at the café door.
As if expecting someone.
Then my phone rang.
I looked down.
Unknown number.
Everyone stared.
For some reason, I already knew.
I answered.
“Hello?””
At first, there was only silence.
Then a woman’s voice.
Soft.
Tired.
“Emily?””
My hand went cold.
I didn’t recognize the voice.
But I knew who it was.
“Rachel?””
A shaky breath came through the phone.
“Yes.””
Adrian immediately stood.
I put the call on speaker.
For a moment, nobody spoke.
Then Rachel said:
“I’m sorry.””
The apology was unexpected.
I didn’t know what to do with it.
“You’re sorry?””
“Yes.””
“For what?””
Another pause.
“For all of this.””
I looked at Adrian.
He looked like he wanted to speak but couldn’t.
Finally, he said:
“Why didn’t you tell me?””
Rachel’s breathing changed.
“I tried.””
“You disappeared.””
“I was forced to.””
“By who?””
Silence.
Then:
“Your father.””
Adrian closed his eyes.
Even though we had already heard it, hearing Rachel say it made it real.
“What happened?””
Rachel’s voice trembled.
“I was pregnant.””
No one moved.
“I found out a few weeks after we broke up.””
Adrian looked down.
“Why didn’t you call me?””
“I did.””
“You didn’t.””
“I did.””
Her voice cracked.
“Someone answered your phone.””
Adrian froze.
“What?””
“I thought it was you.””
The room felt colder.
“The person told me you didn’t want anything to do with me. They told me your family would handle everything.””
Adrian’s face changed.
“My family?””
“Yes.””
Rachel continued.
“They offered me money.””
Vanessa looked away.
“How much?””
Rachel laughed sadly.
“Enough to disappear.””
I felt sick.
“And you did?””
“I was scared.””
The honesty in her voice made it impossible to judge.
“I was twenty years old. Pregnant. Alone. And everyone around me was telling me Adrian wanted me gone.””
Adrian covered his face with one hand.
“What happened to Mia?””
Rachel went silent.
Then whispered:
“I gave birth to her.””
My heart tightened.
“And?””
“I kept her for a while.””
Adrian looked up.
“A while?””
Rachel started crying.
“Then someone came to my apartment.””
Nobody spoke.
“They told me if I wanted Mia safe, I had to leave.””
My hand moved to my mouth.
“What?””
Rachel continued.
“They said they could make sure I never saw her again.””
Adrian’s voice was barely audible.
“Who?””
Rachel didn’t answer.
And that scared me.
“Rachel.””
“I don’t know who they were working for.””
Daniel looked at Vanessa.
Vanessa looked terrified.
Rachel continued.
“But I knew one thing.””
“What?””
“They weren’t trying to take Mia from me.””
A pause.
“They were trying to erase her.””
The words sent chills through me.
I looked at Adrian.
His eyes were fixed on nothing.
Like he was seeing every missing piece of his past.
“Where is Mia now?”” Rachel asked.
My heart stopped.
“She’s with us.””
“I know.””
The answer shocked me.
“You know?””
“I’ve seen her.””
Adrian looked up sharply.
“What?””
Rachel’s voice became softer.
“From a distance.””
A terrible sadness filled the silence.
“I saw her at school once.””
I felt tears forming.
“She looks just like you, Adrian.””
He looked away.
“Why didn’t you come to me?””
“Because I was afraid.””
“Of me?””
“No.””
Rachel paused.
“Of whoever had been controlling everything.””
Then another voice came through the phone.
A child’s voice.
A little girl.
My blood froze.
“Mom?””
Rachel immediately went quiet.
Adrian looked at me.
Neither of us spoke.
Because we both heard it.
A child.
And then Rachel said something that changed everything.
“Adrian…”
Her voice was shaking.
“I need you to know something.””
“What?””
“The custody papers weren’t filed by me.””
Everyone froze.
“What?””
Rachel whispered:
“Someone used my name.””
The café door suddenly opened.
A woman walked in.
Older.
Pale.
Holding a small bag.
She looked directly at Adrian.
Then at me.
And then at Vanessa.
Rachel’s voice came through the phone one final time.
“Emily… please don’t let her leave.””
I stared at the woman standing in front of us.
Because I recognized her.
Not from my memories.
But from the photograph.
She was the person standing beside Rachel eight years ago.
The person who had been holding baby Mia.
And Vanessa whispered her name.
“Linda.””
The woman smiled faintly.
Then said:
“I’m sorry it took this long for the truth to find you.””
She placed a file on the table.
May you like
And on the cover was one word:
*Adoption.*
