Chapter 5: The Secret My Father Buried
I couldn’t move.
The farmhouse seemed to shrink around me.
The walls.
The furniture.
The air itself.
Everything felt unreal.
“My father killed someone?””
Rebecca looked away.
“I shouldn’t have said it like that.””
“No.””
My voice came out sharper than I expected.
“You don’t get to drop something like that and then soften it.””
Mark stepped beside me.
“Claire, let her explain.””
But I couldn’t stop staring at Rebecca.
“My father was a murderer?””
She shook her head.
“Your father was many things.””
Her eyes hardened.
“But he was careful.””
The word bothered me.
Careful.
Not innocent.
Not misunderstood.
Careful.
“What happened?”” I asked.
Rebecca took a deep breath.
“Before Lily was born, I was married to a man named Daniel.””
I felt a strange chill.
“Daniel?””
She nodded.
“He was a good man. Honest. Kind.””
Her fingers tightened around a cup sitting on the table.
“Your father hated him.””
“Why?””
“Because Daniel discovered Robert was stealing money from his company.””
Mark looked surprised.
“Your father was involved in fraud?””
Rebecca nodded.
“Daniel was going to report him.””
The room became quiet.
“And then Daniel disappeared,” she continued.
I felt sick.
“Disappeared?””
“Everyone believed he left town.””
“But you didn’t.””
“No.””
She looked at the photograph.
“Because I knew Daniel would never leave me and our baby.””
I sat down slowly.
The pieces were coming together.
My father hadn’t just hidden documents.
He had built an entire false reality.
“What happened after Daniel disappeared?””
Rebecca’s eyes filled with tears.
“Robert came to me.””
I waited.
“He told me Daniel was dead.””
My hand covered my mouth.
“He said if I wanted to keep my baby safe, I needed to listen to him.””
“What did he threaten?””
Rebecca looked directly at me.
“You.””
I froze.
“Me?””
“He told me if I fought him, he would ruin my life. He said he had already destroyed one person, and he could destroy another.””
My father.
The man who taught me how to ride a bicycle.
The man who held my hand when I was sick.
The man who attended every school event.
I suddenly remembered all the times he had controlled situations.
All the times people called him “protective.””
Maybe it was never protection.
Maybe it was control.
“Why didn’t you tell anyone?””
Rebecca laughed sadly.
“Who would believe me?””
She pointed around the room.
“Your father had money. Friends. Respect.””
She looked at me.
“And I was just a woman who supposedly lost her husband and then abandoned her child.””
My phone buzzed.
I looked down.
A message from Lily.
*Mom, I need to tell you something. I lied to you.*
My heart jumped.
I immediately called her.
She answered after one ring.
“Lily?””
Her voice was shaking.
“I’m sorry.””
“Where are you?””
“I’m at home.””
“Are you safe?””
A pause.
Then:
“I found something in Grandpa’s room before you came back.””
My grip tightened.
“What?””
“A journal.””
I looked at Mark.
“What journal?””
“His private journal.””
My daughter took a shaky breath.
“Mom, there’s something written about me.””
The room went silent.
“What does it say?””
“I don’t know everything. Some pages are missing.””
“Lily, what pages?””
“The ones from the year I was adopted.””
Rebecca suddenly stood.
“What did she say?””
I looked at her.
“She found Robert’s journal.””
Rebecca’s face went pale.
“No.””
“What?””
She stepped closer.
“If Robert kept records…”
“Then?””
“Then he may have written down why he really took Lily.””
My phone buzzed again.
A new message.
This time from Lily.
It was a picture.
A page from the journal.
The handwriting was my father’s.
At the top was a date.
The date Lily was born.
And underneath were words that made my entire body go numb.
*I never wanted Claire to raise the child. But after what happened, she became the only person who could protect my secret.*
I stared at the sentence.
My father hadn’t given me Lily because he trusted me.
He had given me Lily because he was hiding something.
And then I saw the final line.
May you like
The line my daughter had circled.
*If Rebecca ever finds her daughter, Claire must never know what I did to Daniel.*
