Chapter 4: The Woman My Mother Buried
“Rebecca is still alive.””
Sarah repeated the words as if saying them aloud might make them less impossible.
My father stood frozen beside the gymnasium entrance. Vanessa had stopped crying, but her hands were shaking so badly that she had to grip the strap of her purse to keep them still.
I looked at Sarah.
“You told me your sister died before I was born.””
“She did,” Sarah whispered.
“At least, that's what I was told.””
“By whom?””
She turned toward my father.
He looked away.
That single movement told me more than any confession could have.
“Dad,” I said, “I want the truth. All of it.””
Daniel rubbed his forehead.
“This isn't the place.””
“You keep saying that. First it wasn't the place to talk about my mother. Then it wasn't the place to talk about my brother. Now we can't talk about a woman whose name is written in a file you signed?””
“Ethan, you're making assumptions.””
“Then correct them!””
My voice echoed against the brick walls.
Several students walking toward the parking lot slowed down to watch. I didn't care anymore.
Noah stepped beside me, holding his phone with the photograph of the file open.
“Tell us about Rebecca,” he said.
“Or I'll give these documents to the police.””
Dad's eyes narrowed.
“You wouldn't understand what those documents mean.””
“Then explain them.””
“I did what I had to do.””
Sarah stared at him.
“You always say that when you've done something unforgivable.””
For a moment, nobody spoke.
Then Vanessa walked toward us.
“Rebecca was alive when the twins were born,” she said quietly.
“She came to the house about a week later.””
Sarah grabbed her arm.
“Why?””
Vanessa flinched but didn't pull away.
“She was frightened. She said someone was looking for her. She asked Daniel to keep a baby safe until she could come back.””
“What baby?”” I asked.
Vanessa's eyes moved to the photograph in Noah's hand.
“Lily.””
Sarah shook her head.
“No. Rebecca wasn't pregnant when I last saw her.””
“She was,” Vanessa replied.
“She hid it from you.””
Sarah released her arm as though Vanessa had burned her.
“My sister would never have hidden something like that from me.””
“She was afraid you'd try to stop her.””
“Stop her from doing what?””
Vanessa's mouth tightened.
“Giving Lily up.””
I looked at Dad.
“Why did you agree to take the baby?””
He didn't answer.
Vanessa continued, her voice growing sharper.
“Because Rebecca told us Lily wasn't safe with her. She said the child's father was dangerous. Daniel believed her. He said he could arrange a temporary placement through someone he knew.””
“Someone at the hospital?”” Noah asked.
Vanessa nodded.
“But the arrangement went wrong. Rebecca disappeared, and the paperwork was changed. Suddenly, the temporary placement became permanent. Daniel was told it was too late to reverse it.””
Sarah's face twisted with disbelief.
“You expect me to believe my sister gave away her daughter and never came back?””
Vanessa wiped her cheeks.
“I don't expect you to believe anything. I just want you to understand that Daniel wasn't the only person who lied.””
Dad finally spoke.
“Enough.””
He reached for Noah's phone.
Noah stepped back.
“Don't touch me.””
“You have no idea what you're holding.””
“Then tell me.””
Dad's voice dropped.
“Some secrets protect people.””
Sarah let out a bitter laugh.
“Is that what you told yourself when you convinced me my sons were dead?””
He looked at her, and for a second, I saw something that resembled regret.
Then it disappeared.
“I made mistakes.””
“You made choices,” Sarah replied.
“Mistakes don't require forged signatures and fake death certificates.””
Dad's face hardened.
“You want to know what happened? Fine. Your sister showed up at my house with a baby and a story she refused to explain.
She begged me to hide the child. Then she disappeared before I could get answers.””
“Why didn't you tell me?”” Sarah demanded.
“Because you were already struggling. You'd just given birth to twins, and you were barely sleeping. Rebecca's situation threatened to destroy everything.””
“So you decided to destroy everything yourself?””
He didn't respond.
I took the photograph from Noah and studied Lily's face again.
Something about her bothered me. Not because she looked familiar, but because I couldn't remember ever seeing a picture of myself at that age.
Dad had kept almost nothing from my early childhood except a few toys, the yellow blanket, and a handful of photographs.
Whenever I asked about the missing years, he'd say I had been too young to remember.
Now I wondered what else he'd removed.
“Where is Lily?”” I asked.
Vanessa stared at the ground.
“We don't know.””
“That's not good enough.””
“Ethan,” she whispered, “I swear to you, we haven't seen her since she was a little girl.””
“Then why does the file say Rebecca is still alive?””
Dad suddenly turned toward the parking lot.
A black sedan had pulled up beside his SUV.
A woman sat behind the steering wheel, watching us through the windshield.
She wore sunglasses despite the cloudless sky.
When she noticed us looking, she lowered them.
Sarah made a strangled sound.
“No.””
The woman opened the driver's door.
She was in her early forties, with dark hair cut just below her chin. Her face was thinner than Sarah's, but the resemblance between them was unmistakable.
Same cheekbones.
Same eyes.
Same small crease between the eyebrows.
Sarah stumbled backward.
“Rebecca?””
The woman didn't approach.
Instead, she looked directly at me.
“Ethan Carter,” she said.
“You've grown up.””
I felt the blood drain from my face.
“You know me?””
She gave a sad, exhausted smile.
“I knew you before you could speak.””
Sarah started toward her.
“Rebecca, you told me you were dead!””
“I know.””
“You let me believe you were dead!””
“I know!””
Rebecca's voice cracked, and tears spilled down her cheeks.
For a moment, the two sisters stood staring at each other, separated by sixteen years of lies.
Then Rebecca looked at Noah.
“You found the file.””
Noah nodded.
“And you brought him here.””
“I brought my brother to meet his family.””
Rebecca closed her eyes.
“Then you need to understand something before you go any further.””
She reached into her coat and removed a small, sealed envelope.
On the front was a single name.
*LILY.*
“I didn't give my daughter away,” Rebecca said.
“I came back to get her.””
She looked at my father.
“But Daniel told me she'd been killed.””
Sarah covered her mouth.
Rebecca turned back to me.
“And the last time I saw Lily, she was living in this city.””
She placed the envelope in my hand.
Inside was a recent photograph of a young woman wearing a hospital badge.
The name printed beneath the picture made my heart stop.
*Lily Mercer.*
Before I could ask another question, Rebecca grabbed my wrist.
“Ethan, listen to me. If that woman is still working at the hospital, then she's already found out who you are.””
“Who?””
Rebecca's eyes filled with terror.
“Dr. Evelyn Mercer.””
The woman whose signature appeared on our birth records.
The woman who had helped separate three children.
My father took one step backward.
Rebecca noticed.
May you like
And then she said the one thing that made him look genuinely afraid.
“Daniel, she called me this morning.””
