Chapter 10: The Daughter Nobody Was Supposed to Find
“She's your father's daughter?””
Daniel repeated the words as if saying them aloud might somehow make them less impossible.
My mother stood near the front door, clutching her handbag.
Vanessa was holding her phone against her chest.
And I was staring at the photograph of a young woman who supposedly belonged to a family that had been hiding secrets for decades.
“What's her name?”” I asked.
Vanessa looked at the message again.
“Isabella.””
“Isabella what?””
“Isabella Morgan.””
Daniel immediately shook his head.
“Rachel Morgan?””
Vanessa nodded.
He took the phone from her.
“That's impossible. Rachel told me Lily was her only daughter.””
My mother finally spoke.
“Rachel has been lying to you.””
Daniel turned toward her.
“You're the one who's been lying to everybody!””
Evelyn lowered her eyes.
“Isabella was born in 2006. Robert had a relationship with her mother before he died. Her mother never wanted money. She wanted him to acknowledge the child.””
I stared at the photograph.
My father had been dead for seventeen years.
If Isabella was born in 2006, he had known about her before his death.
“Why wasn't she included in the original trust?””
“Because Robert didn't know she existed when he created it.””
“Then why hide her?””
My mother took a shaky breath.
“Because Richard Bennett discovered her first.””
That name again.
Richard.
The dead attorney who somehow seemed to have controlled every terrible decision in our family's history.
My mother explained that Richard had located Isabella's mother shortly after my father's death.
He offered financial assistance in exchange for keeping the girl's paternity private.
But Isabella's mother refused.
She wanted her daughter to know who her father was.
Richard then approached my mother with a different proposal.
He told Evelyn that acknowledging Isabella would reopen the estate and expose the irregularities in the trust.
My mother agreed to keep quiet.
“What did he promise you?”” I asked.
“Protection.””
“From what?””
She looked at me.
“From losing everything your father left us.””
I laughed.
“You mean money.””
She didn't answer.
Daniel paced toward the window.
“And Rachel?””
My mother looked uncomfortable.
“Rachel discovered Isabella's identity several years ago. She contacted Richard because she believed Isabella might help her prove that the children had been switched.””
“Why would Rachel care about Isabella?””
“Because Isabella's birth records were also altered.””
I frowned.
“What?””
My mother nodded.
“Rachel's first child wasn't Lily.””
Daniel froze.
“Then who was?””
“Isabella.””
For a moment, nobody moved.
Then Daniel slowly sat down.
“Are you saying Rachel gave birth to Isabella?””
My mother nodded.
“And Isabella was raised by another family for years before Rachel discovered the truth.””
I stared at the photograph again.
This wasn't simply an affair or a baby-switching scandal.
It was an entire family history built on false identities.
“Where is Isabella now?”” I asked.
Vanessa showed me the address.
A small apartment building in Evanston, Illinois.
“I want to go there,” I said.
My mother immediately objected.
“No. You don't understand what you're walking into.””
I looked at her.
“I'm beginning to understand exactly what I'm walking into. And I'm done letting you decide what I can know.””
The apartment building was quiet when Daniel and I arrived.
We climbed two flights of stairs.
Apartment 2B.
Daniel knocked.
No answer.
He knocked again.
A young woman's voice came from inside.
“Who is it?””
“Daniel Carter.””
Silence.
Then the lock clicked.
The door opened a few inches.
A young woman with dark hair looked at us suspiciously.
She was wearing a gray sweatshirt and holding a phone.
“Who are you?””
Daniel swallowed.
“I'm Daniel. I think we have a family connection.””
She stared at him.
Then her eyes moved toward me.
“Marcus Williams?””
I nodded.
She stepped backward.
“Come in.””
The apartment was small, with photographs covering one wall.
I noticed a picture of Rachel holding a little girl.
Another showed Isabella beside a man who looked remarkably like my father.
I pointed toward it.
“Is that Robert Williams?””
She nodded.
“My biological father.””
Daniel sat down slowly.
“Who told you?””
“My mother.””
“Rachel?””
Isabella shook her head.
“No. My birth mother.””
She opened a drawer and pulled out an old envelope.
Inside was a birth certificate.
The original.
Her mother's name was listed as Rachel Morgan.
Her father's name was Robert Williams.
But there was another document.
A hospital report dated October 2006.
I read it.
Then I looked up.
“Your mother had you in the same hospital where the babies were switched six years ago?””
Isabella nodded.
“St. Mary's.””
Daniel rubbed his forehead.
“Why would Richard change your records?””
“Because my father had promised my mother that I'd receive a share of his estate.””
She looked directly at me.
“But Richard told her the trust couldn't be reopened without identifying every child.””
I felt cold.
“Did you ever meet Evelyn?””
Isabella nodded.
“She visited me when I was twelve.””
My stomach tightened.
“What did she tell you?””
Isabella's expression hardened.
“She said my father had abandoned me because he didn't want another daughter.””
I stared.
“That isn't true.””
“I know that now.””
She reached into the envelope and removed a photograph.
It showed my father holding a newborn baby.
On the back, he'd written:
My little girl. I hope one day your brothers will know you.
I felt my throat tighten.
My father had wanted us to know her.
Someone had prevented that.
Then Isabella opened another document.
It was a copy of a bank transfer.
Three million dollars.
The recipient was Bennett Family Holdings.
But the account holder wasn't Vanessa.
It was Isabella herself.
I looked up.
“Why is your name on this?””
She gave a bitter smile.
“Because Richard used my identity to move the money.””
Daniel leaned forward.
“Did you authorize it?””
“No.””
She turned the page.
There was a second transfer.
This one was dated just three days earlier.
The money had been moved again.
And the destination was an account registered under one name.
*Evelyn Williams.*
I stood immediately.
My mother hadn't just hidden Isabella.
She had used her identity to move millions of dollars.
But Isabella wasn't finished.
She pulled out a final document.
A letter from Richard Bennett.
The first sentence read:
If Evelyn has contacted you, then the arrangement has failed. The person who paid for the original hospital changes is still alive.
I looked at Isabella.
“Who?””
She handed me the final page.
The name was printed in bold.
*THOMAS WILLIAMS.*
May you like
My father's younger brother.
The uncle everyone had told me died in a car accident in 1998.
