Chapter 6: The Daughter Nobody Knew
For several seconds, nobody breathed.
I stared at the photograph in my hand.
A younger Vanessa.
A man I had never met.
And a little girl standing between them.
The child looked about five years old.
The same age Lily had been when I first met Vanessa.
I flipped the picture over again.
The words remained.
*The daughter she never told anyone about.*
“Who is she?”” I whispered.
Tyler looked over my shoulder.
“I’ve never seen her before.””
I looked at him.
“You’re sure?””
He nodded.
“My mom never talked about having another child.””
Lily stepped closer.
“Is she my sister?””
That question hit me harder than anything else.
Because Lily wasn’t thinking about secrets.
She was thinking about family.
I crouched down beside her.
“I don’t know yet, sweetheart.””
She looked at the picture.
“Why didn’t Mommy tell us?””
I didn’t have an answer.
And for the first time in my marriage, I realized how much I didn’t know about the woman I shared a home with.
I gathered the letters.
There were six of them.
All from Michael.
All unopened.
That meant Vanessa had kept them.
Hidden them.
I read the dates.
The first letter was from ten years ago.
The last was from three years ago.
Three years.
Michael had still been trying to reach her.
I opened the newest one.
My hands shook.
*Vanessa, I don’t know why you keep pretending she doesn’t exist. She deserves to know the truth.*
I continued reading.
*I have proof that you left our daughter with your sister and disappeared. I know what happened.*
I stopped.
“What?””
Tyler looked at me.
“What?””
I handed him the letter.
He read silently.
Then his face changed.
“My mom had another daughter.””
“Yes.””
“But where is she?””
I looked through the remaining papers.
Then I found a hospital record.
A name.
A date of birth.
And a location.
My stomach dropped.
Because the location was only twenty minutes away.
A small town outside the city.
I looked at the clock.
It was almost noon.
I grabbed my keys.
Tyler stood.
“Where are you going?””
“To find out the truth.””
Lily immediately reached for my hand.
“I’m coming.””
I shook my head.
“No, sweetheart.””
Her expression changed.
“No.””
“Lily—”
“Please.””
The fear in her eyes stopped me.
She had spent too much time being left out of things.
Being told she wasn’t important.
I knelt down.
“You stay with me. Okay?””
She nodded.
Tyler grabbed his jacket.
“I’m coming too.””
I looked at him.
“Are you sure?””
He nodded.
“For once, I want to know the truth.””
We drove in silence.
The address led us to a small yellow house at the end of a quiet street.
A woman answered the door.
She looked surprised to see us.
Then she looked at Lily.
Her face changed.
“Who are you?””
I held up the photograph.
“I’m looking for someone connected to Vanessa.””
The woman stared at the picture.
Then she covered her mouth.
“Oh my God.””
My heart raced.
“You know her?””
The woman looked at Lily.
Then at me.
“She has a daughter.””
“Yes,” I said.
The woman shook her head.
“No.””
She pointed at the picture.
“Not that one.””
I froze.
“What do you mean?””
The woman’s eyes filled with sadness.
“She has two daughters.””
The world seemed to stop.
I looked back at Lily.
Then at Tyler.
The woman whispered:
“And one of them disappeared.””
A cold feeling moved through my body.
“Disappeared when?””
May you like
She looked directly at me.
“The same week Vanessa married you.””
