Chapter 5: The Secret Inside The Folder
I didn’t sleep that night.
I sat on the edge of my apartment floor until sunrise, staring at the photograph Daniel Harrison had given me.
My mother’s handwriting was burned into my mind.
Find your father.
Not goodbye.
Not I love you.
Not take care of yourself.
Find your father.
For years, I believed my mother’s biggest secret was the identity of the man who left us.
Now I realized the secret was much bigger.
Someone had erased him.
Someone had erased her.
And someone had erased the truth from me.
The next morning, I went back to Bellavita.
Not to work.
To find answers.
Daniel was already waiting outside.
“You came.””
“I need the truth.””
He nodded.
“I thought you would.””
I crossed my arms.
“You knew my mother for twenty-seven years. You knew Rebecca. You knew things about my life that I didn’t.””
“Yes.””
“Why didn’t you tell me?””
His expression became painful.
“Because Claire asked me not to.””
I stared at him.
“She asked you to let me believe she was dead?””
“No.””
He looked away.
“She asked me to wait until you were safe.””
That word caught my attention.
“Safe from who?””
Before he could answer, a black car pulled up beside us.
A man stepped out.
Older.
Gray hair.
Expensive suit.
The second Daniel saw him, his face changed.
“Lily, go inside.””
I looked at the man.
“Who is that?””
Daniel didn’t answer.
The man smiled.
“Daniel Harrison.””
His voice was calm.
Too calm.
“I see you finally decided to involve her.””
My stomach tightened.
Daniel stepped between us.
“You need to leave.””
The man ignored him.
He looked at me.
“You must be Lily.””
I didn’t respond.
He smiled slightly.
“Your mother had your eyes.””
My body went still.
“How do you know my mother?””
The man glanced at Daniel.
Then back at me.
“Because Claire Carter destroyed my family.””
Daniel’s voice became cold.
“Victor, don’t do this.””
So that was his name.
Victor.
He stepped closer.
“Your mother was not the innocent woman everyone made her out to be.””
I felt anger rise.
“You don’t get to talk about her.””
Victor looked surprised.
“Defending someone you barely knew?””
“I knew enough.””
He smiled.
“That’s exactly what she wanted.””
Daniel moved forward.
“Leave.””
Victor finally stepped back.
But before entering his car, he said something that made my blood run cold.
“Ask Daniel why your mother left you with nothing.””
Then he drove away.
I turned immediately.
“What was that about?””
Daniel was silent.
“Daniel.””
He sighed.
“Victor Hale was Rebecca’s father.””
Everything connected.
The fear.
The lies.
The secret.
“Rebecca’s father?””
“Yes.””
“And my mother knew him?””
“Yes.””
“How?””
Daniel looked at the folder in my hands.
“Because Claire discovered Victor was the person behind the fraud.””
I swallowed.
“But why would Rebecca help him?””
Daniel didn’t answer.
Because the answer was already obvious.
Family.
I opened the folder again.
There were more documents.
Bank records.
Letters.
Old newspaper articles.
Then I saw a name.
Not Victor.
Not Rebecca.
Another name.
One I had never seen before.
My own.
There was a birth certificate inside.
I stared at it.
Then I saw the father’s name.
My hands began shaking.
“Daniel…”
He looked at me.
“I’m sorry.””
I couldn’t breathe.
Because the name written on the paper belonged to the one person I never expected.
The man everyone believed had died before I was born.
My father.
And beneath his name was a date.
May you like
A date that proved something impossible.
My father was alive.
