Chapter 6: The Mother Who Had Been Searching for Six Years
I couldn't believe what I was seeing.
The woman sitting inside Daniel's SUV looked to be in her early thirties. Her dark hair fell across her face, and she held a large brown envelope against her chest.
She was staring at Claire's front door.
"That's Katherine Reed?"" I whispered.
Claire nodded.
"She came here once before. Daniel told her the baby had died.""
My stomach twisted.
"He told her that?""
"Yes. He showed her a death certificate.""
I looked through the window again.
Katherine wasn't moving.
Daniel stood beside the vehicle, checking his watch.
I turned toward Claire.
"We need to get her away from him.""
Claire shook her head.
"Don't go outside. He knows I'm keeping the original records.""
"Then call the police.""
"I already tried six years ago. His attorney threatened to sue me for violating patient confidentiality.""
"That doesn't mean you should let him get away with this.""
She looked at me.
"Mr. Williams, you need to understand something. Daniel isn't just trying to steal Lily's inheritance.""
I waited.
"He wants control of both children.""
I felt my blood run cold.
"Both?""
Claire nodded.
"The child Emily took home and the child Katherine lost. Daniel has been hiding the truth about their identities for six years.""
A loud knock interrupted us.
"Claire!""
Daniel's voice.
"Open the door.""
Claire looked terrified.
I slipped the USB drive into my pocket.
"Stay here.""
I walked to the door.
Daniel knocked again.
"Marcus, I know you're inside.""
I opened it.
He looked surprised.
Then he smiled.
"Brother.""
I stepped outside and closed the door behind me.
"What are you doing here?""
Daniel adjusted his jacket.
"Trying to stop you from making another mistake.""
"You paid the hospital to switch two newborns.""
His smile vanished.
"Careful.""
"Emily knew. She tried to expose you.""
"Emily was confused.""
"She wrote everything down.""
Daniel stared at me.
"Where are the documents?""
I laughed bitterly.
"That's what you're worried about?""
He glanced toward the living room window.
Then he lowered his voice.
"Marcus, listen to me. You don't understand the situation.""
"Then explain it.""
"Katherine couldn't raise a child. She was alone, drowning in debt, and willing to give her baby a better life.""
"Then why didn't you arrange a legal adoption?""
"Because people like you always want paperwork.""
I stepped closer.
"Why did you switch the babies?""
He looked away.
For a moment, I thought he might finally answer.
Instead, he said, "Because the wrong family was getting the wrong child.""
I stared at him.
"What does that mean?""
Daniel rubbed his forehead.
"Emily was supposed to receive the baby who belonged to Katherine.""
My heart pounded.
"And Katherine?""
"She was supposed to take Emily's biological daughter.""
I felt sick.
"Why?""
Daniel looked directly into my eyes.
"Because Emily's daughter was valuable.""
I couldn't speak.
He continued.
"Her family had money. Katherine's family had nothing. I thought I was solving a problem.""
I grabbed his jacket.
"You sold a child?""
Daniel shoved my hands away.
"Don't act like you're innocent. You were too busy building your company to notice anything happening around you.""
I wanted to hit him.
But I remembered Lily.
I remembered her bruised wrists.
I remembered the sandwich in the trash.
I stepped back.
"You're never going near my daughter again.""
Daniel straightened his jacket.
"She's not your biological daughter.""
"She's my daughter.""
"Legally, that might be changing.""
I stared at him.
He pulled out his phone and showed me a photograph.
It was a scan of a DNA report.
The names at the top were mine and Lily's.
The result showed a zero percent probability of biological paternity.
I felt the ground disappear beneath my feet.
"Where did you get that?""
"From the test you unknowingly authorized.""
"When?""
"Three weeks ago. You signed the medical consent form with the guardianship paperwork.""
I remembered.
Daniel had asked me to sign documents concerning Lily's school medical records.
I'd never imagined he would use them for a DNA test.
"That report is fake.""
"Then prove it.""
He slipped his phone into his pocket.
"By the way, Katherine knows everything now.""
I looked toward the SUV.
The woman inside was crying.
Daniel followed my gaze.
"She wants her daughter back.""
I turned.
"Which daughter?""
His expression changed.
For the first time, he looked genuinely uncomfortable.
"That's the problem.""
Before I could ask another question, the passenger door opened.
Katherine stepped out.
She was holding a photograph.
A little girl stood in the picture, wearing a yellow raincoat and holding a stuffed rabbit.
Lily's rabbit.
Katherine looked at me.
"Are you Marcus Williams?""
"Yes.""
She approached slowly.
"Then I think we need to talk.""
Daniel stepped between us.
"Not here.""
Katherine pushed past him.
"You've controlled my life for six years, Daniel. You don't get to tell me where I can speak.""
She handed me the photograph.
The little girl in the yellow raincoat had Lily's face.
Not just similar features.
The same eyes.
The same small dimple on her left cheek.
I stared at the picture.
"Who is this?""
Katherine's lips trembled.
"My daughter.""
Daniel laughed sharply.
"She's confused.""
Katherine turned toward him.
"You told me my baby died.""
"Because you weren't capable of raising her.""
"You told me I was holding her body at the hospital!""
Daniel's expression hardened.
"Keep your voice down.""
Katherine began crying.
"I spent six years visiting a grave that didn't even belong to my child.""
I looked at Daniel.
"Whose grave?""
He said nothing.
Katherine pulled another paper from her envelope.
It was a DNA report.
This time, the names were Katherine Reed and Lily Williams.
The probability of biological maternity was 99.99 percent.
My fingers went numb.
Katherine looked at me.
"I don't want to hurt you. I know you've raised her. I know she calls you Daddy.""
She wiped her cheeks.
"But she's my little girl.""
I stared at the report.
If Katherine was Lily's biological mother, then the child Emily had delivered might have been the baby Daniel had sent somewhere else.
Where was that child now?
And why had Daniel gone to such extraordinary lengths to keep the two families apart?
I turned toward him.
"Where is Emily's biological daughter?""
Daniel didn't answer.
Katherine whispered, "That's what I've been trying to find out.""
Then she opened the brown envelope.
Inside was a photograph of a second little girl.
She looked almost identical to Lily.
Same blonde hair.
Same blue eyes.
Same dimple.
But this child was wearing a hospital bracelet.
On the back of the photograph, someone had written a name.
*SOPHIE WILLIAMS.*
Underneath it was a date.
Six years ago.
And beneath that, in Daniel's handwriting, were four words:
*THE OTHER GIRL IS ALIVE.*
I looked at my brother.
"Where is she?""
Daniel's face had gone completely blank.
Then his phone rang.
He answered without taking his eyes off me.
"Yes?""
A woman's voice came through the speaker.
"Daniel, we have a problem.""
He turned away.
"What happened?""
The woman spoke again.
"The girl found the old photographs. She knows about Lily.""
Daniel closed his eyes.
Then he said something that made Katherine collapse against the SUV.
"Get Sophie out of that house before Marcus finds her.""
I lunged toward him.
"WHO HAS MY DAUGHTER?""
Daniel shoved me away and ran toward his vehicle.
But Katherine grabbed my arm.
"Marcus, wait!""
I turned.
She was pointing at the photograph.
Her voice broke.
"That's not just the other baby.""
She looked at me through tears.
"That's the little girl Emily spent her final days trying to find.""
And suddenly, I understood.
The child I'd raised for six years might not be the only daughter my late wife had been trying to save.
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Somewhere, another little girl was growing up under a false identity.
And my brother knew exactly where she was.
