Kayla lowered the phone from her ear and stared at nothing.
I had never seen her look so still.
“What did Eric say?” I asked.
She swallowed.
“He said Dad told Daniel to stay away from me.”
Andrew moved closer.
“Did he say why?”
“No.”
Kayla looked down at the phone.
“He said there was another letter.”
“Where?”
“I don't know.”
She called Eric back.
This time, he answered immediately.
“Where is the letter?”
“I don't have it.”
“Then who does?”
“I don't know.”
“Eric.”
“I found a copy in an old file. Your father had apparently sent the original years ago.”
“To Daniel?”
“Yes.”
“What did it say?”
“I only saw part of it.”
“Tell me.”
Eric hesitated.
“Your father wrote that Daniel had no right to come near you after what happened.”
Kayla's expression hardened.
“What happened?”
“I don't know.”
“You keep saying that.”
“Because that's the truth.”
She ended the call.
For several seconds, nobody moved.
Then Kayla said, “I want to find Daniel.”
Mom immediately shook her head.
“No.”
Kayla turned toward her.
“You don't get to tell me that.”
“I know.”
“Then don't.”
Mom looked exhausted.
“I was afraid you would say this.”
“Why?”
“Because your father spent years trying to make sure you never met him.”
“Maybe Dad was wrong.”
Mom's eyes filled.
“Maybe.”
That single word silenced us.
It was the first time she had admitted that our father's decisions might not have been perfect.
Kayla sat down.
“I don't know what to believe anymore.”
“You don't have to decide today,” I said.
“Yes, I do.”
“Why?”
“Because I've spent too much of my life accepting answers other people gave me.”
She looked at the box of letters.
“I need to know who I am.”
I wanted to tell her that she already knew.
But I understood that she wasn't asking about biology.
She was asking about the story she had lived inside.
The next morning, Kayla called Eric again.
He gave her an address.
Daniel had once lived there.
It was an old house outside the city.
“He may not still be there,” Eric warned.
“I'll find out.”
I offered to go with her.
She hesitated.
Then she nodded.
Andrew wanted to come too, but Kayla shook her head.
“This is something I need to do.”
He accepted that.
“Call if you need me.”
She smiled.
“I will.”
The drive took nearly two hours.
Neither of us spoke much.
When we finally reached the address, the house looked abandoned.
The grass had grown high around the front steps.
The mailbox leaned sideways.
Kayla stopped beside the gate.
“This is it.”
“You sure?”
“Yes.”
We approached the front door.
Kayla knocked.
Nothing.
She knocked again.
A curtain moved behind one of the windows.
Someone was inside.
A few seconds later, the door opened.
An older man stood there.
He looked at Kayla.
His face changed.
He knew immediately.
Neither of them spoke.
Then he whispered, “You're her.”
Kayla's voice trembled.
“Daniel?”
He nodded.
I watched the two of them stare at each other.
There was no dramatic embrace.
No instant recognition.
Only two strangers confronting a relationship that should never have been a mystery.
“You knew I existed,” Kayla said.
“Yes.”
“Did you know I was your daughter?”
Daniel looked down.
“Yes.”
Kayla's face tightened.
“Then why did you leave?”
He closed his eyes.
“I was told to.”
“By Dad?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Daniel stepped aside.
“Come in.”
The house smelled of old wood and dust.
We sat in a small living room.
Daniel remained standing.
“Your father found out about me before you were born.”
“I know.”
“He confronted me.”
“What happened?”
Daniel rubbed his hands together.
“He wanted me to leave your mother alone.”
“Did you?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I had no right to interfere.”
Kayla stared at him.
“You were my biological father.”
“I knew that.”
“And you still left.”
Daniel's face tightened.
“I was young.”
“So was Mom.”
“I know.”
“Then why did you get to walk away?”
He had no answer.
Kayla looked toward the window.
“Did you ever try to contact me?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“When you were twelve.”
She turned sharply.
“What happened?”
“Your father intercepted the letter.”
My heart tightened.
“How do you know?”
“Because he came to see me.”
Daniel looked at Kayla.
“He told me that if I contacted you again, he would take legal action.”
Kayla stared at him.
“Did he tell you why?”
Daniel nodded.
“He said you were finally happy.”
She laughed bitterly.
“Was I?”
“I don't know.”
He lowered his eyes.
“I only knew what he told me.”
Kayla stood.
“What about Eric?”
Daniel looked confused.
“Who?”
“My former boyfriend.”
“I don't know him.”
“He met you.”
Daniel's face changed.
“He came here?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Several months ago.”
Daniel sat down.
“I remember.”
“What did you tell him?”
“Nothing about you.”
“That isn't true.”
Daniel looked at her.
“I told him I was your biological father.”
Kayla stared.
“Why?”
“Because he asked.”
“And then?”
“I told him your father had spent his life protecting you.”
“Protecting me from what?”
Daniel was silent.
Kayla's voice hardened.
“Answer me.”
Daniel looked toward the box she carried.
“Did your mother give you the letters?”
“Yes.”
“Then you already know.”
“No.”
She stepped closer.
“I know almost nothing.”
Daniel sighed.
“Your father believed I would eventually try to claim you.”
“Would you?”
“No.”
The answer came immediately.
“Then why was he afraid?”
Daniel looked at her.
“Because he didn't trust me.”
“Why?”
“Because I had made mistakes.”
“What mistakes?”
Daniel's eyes dropped.
“Before I met your mother, I was involved with people who did things I should never have been around.”
Kayla waited.
“Illegal things?”
“Yes.”
“What kind?”
“Gambling. Debt. Violence.”
My stomach tightened.
“Did you hurt someone?”
“No.”
“But you knew people who did.”
“Yes.”
Kayla stepped back.
“Dad knew?”
“Yes.”
“And that's why he was afraid?”
“Partly.”
“What was the rest?”
Daniel looked at her.
“Your father believed you would be safer if you never knew me.”
Kayla's eyes filled.
“And he was right?”
Daniel shook his head.
“I don't know.”
That answer hurt her.
She wiped her face.
“Then what did Eric discover?”
Daniel's expression changed.
“He asked me whether your father had ever paid me to disappear.”
Kayla stared.
“Did he?”
“No.”
“Then what?”
Daniel reached into a drawer.
He pulled out an old envelope.
“This came from your father.”
Kayla's hands trembled.
She took it.
The handwriting was unmistakable.
Her father had written:
I know what you were before, Daniel. I also know the man you have tried to become. If you truly care about Kayla, stay away until she is old enough to choose whether she wants you in her life.*
Kayla read it twice.
Then she looked at Daniel.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because your father asked me not to.”
“And you obeyed him for thirty years.”
Daniel nodded.
Kayla folded the letter carefully.
For the first time since we arrived, she looked less angry.
She looked tired.
“I'm not sure whether I hate you.”
Daniel nodded.
“You don't have to decide.”
She looked at him.
“And I'm not sure whether I forgive Dad.”
“You don't have to decide that either.”
Kayla stood.
“We're leaving.”
Daniel nodded.
At the door, he stopped her.
“Kayla.”
She turned.
“You were loved.”
Her eyes filled.
“By my father?”
“Yes.”
Daniel swallowed.
“Even when he was afraid.”
Kayla walked out without answering.
On the drive home, she stared at the envelope in her lap.
Finally, she said, “I thought I was looking for the reason Eric left.”
“You were.”
“No.”
She looked at me.
“I was looking for proof that I wasn't the reason.”
I reached across the console.
She took my hand.
For the first time, she seemed to understand something my father had written years before.
Being left did not automatically mean being unworthy.
And being loved did not always mean being told the whole truth.
Click here to continue reading: PART 10: Kayla Returned Home With Her Father’s Letter in Her Hands, But Eric’s Secret About Why He Walked Away Still Had One Final Piece Missing
My Sister Arrived With Two Suitcases and a Broken Heart, But Within Days She Was Quietly Turning Our Home Into a Test I Never Agreed To
Part 9 of 12
