Nobody answered the door.<\/p>\n
Daniel waited outside for nearly a minute before speaking again. \u201cSusan, I'm not asking you to forgive me. I'm asking you to listen.\u201d I looked at Michael. His face had gone rigid. Thomas stood beside the table with one hand resting on the folder. Lily was behind Jake, watching me.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy should I trust you?\u201d I called.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou shouldn't.\u201d<\/p>\n
The answer surprised me.<\/p>\n
Daniel continued. \u201cTrust the documents. Trust the dates. Trust what you can verify.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas looked at me and nodded once.<\/p>\n
I unlocked the door but kept the chain in place.<\/p>\n
Daniel stood on the porch with both hands visible. He looked exhausted. His coat was damp from the morning fog, and there was a bruise along his jaw.<\/p>\n
Michael noticed it.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened to you?\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel looked at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cSomeone wanted the same thing I have.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel reached inside his coat slowly and removed a thin envelope.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe original medical transfer record.\u201d<\/p>\n
My breath caught.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow did you get it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy father kept a copy.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou said he was dead.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe is.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen where did you find it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIn his office.\u201d<\/p>\n
Michael stepped closer.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou broke into his office?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo. My mother gave me the key.\u201d<\/p>\n
I opened the door.<\/p>\n
\u201cCome in.\u201d<\/p>\n
Michael immediately objected.<\/p>\n
\u201cSusan.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to know what he has.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel entered.<\/p>\n
He placed the envelope on the table but didn't sit.<\/p>\n
Lily stared at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou knew me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel looked at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow long?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSince you were a child.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her face tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd you never told me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel looked toward me.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause I was afraid that if I told you who I was, someone would use you to get to me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lily laughed bitterly.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone had a reason.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel accepted the words without defending himself.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas opened the envelope.<\/p>\n
Inside was a hospital transfer record dated July 19, 2008.<\/p>\n
Patient: Susan Miller.<\/p>\n
Infant: Female.<\/p>\n
Transfer authorization: Margaret Harris.<\/p>\n
Destination: St. Anne's Children's Center.<\/p>\n
I read the line twice.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat isn't Lily's record.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo,\u201d Daniel said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does it mean?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere were two infants.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lily looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo the other baby was transferred separately.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel pointed to the next page.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat's where things get complicated.\u201d<\/p>\n
The second destination had been blacked out.<\/p>\n
Not crossed through.<\/p>\n
Blacked out with ink.<\/p>\n
Thomas held it beneath the lamp.<\/p>\n
\u201cCan this be restored?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot easily.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel removed another sheet.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a copy from before the original was altered.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas read it.<\/p>\n
\u201cNorthbridge Women's Home.\u201d<\/p>\n
I knew the name.<\/p>\n
It was a private maternity facility that had closed years ago.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho ran it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy aunt.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMargaret?\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why did she tell us she didn't know where the other child went?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause she didn't.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou expect me to believe that?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI expect you to understand that people were moving those babies around without telling each other everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
Michael spoke quietly.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel looked at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause Robert was trying to create a legal trail that would make one child disappear.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhich child?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe never knew.\u201d<\/p>\n
I felt sick.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow could nobody know?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause the records were deliberately separated.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas examined the document again.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis signature.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat about it?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt isn't Margaret's.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was the detail that convinced me my father wasn't telling me everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhose signature is it?\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel pointed.<\/p>\n
\u201cRobert Miller.\u201d<\/p>\n
My uncle had authorized the transfer.<\/p>\n
I sat down.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy would he send the child away?\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel looked at Lily.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause your father changed his trust after discovering that Robert was stealing from the company.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy father?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did he discover?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMillions had disappeared.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas nodded slowly.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat's why the trust contained the audit records.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour father knew Robert would destroy the evidence if he could. So he placed everything inside the trust and made the children the ultimate beneficiaries.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lily looked confused.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy children?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause Robert couldn't legally control the trust forever if the beneficiary was an adult.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd if one child disappeared?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRobert could argue that the surviving child had never been properly identified.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas looked up.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat would allow him to challenge the trust.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cExactly.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at Michael.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou knew all this.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot all of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou knew enough.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy didn't you tell me?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn't know which child was Lily.\u201d<\/p>\n
The room went quiet.<\/p>\n
Daniel took another document from his pocket.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is why I came.\u201d<\/p>\n
He placed it before me.<\/p>\n
A handwritten note.<\/p>\n
The handwriting belonged to my father.<\/p>\n
Susan,<\/p>\n
If both girls survive, keep them apart until the trust can protect them.<\/p>\n
I stared.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause someone had already tried to kill one.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lily's face went pale.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBefore you were discharged.\u201d<\/p>\n
She gripped the back of a chair.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe never proved it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Michael's voice was low.<\/p>\n
\u201cDaniel.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTell her everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel looked at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou first.\u201d<\/p>\n
Michael's jaw tightened.<\/p>\n
I looked between them.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat are you hiding?\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel answered.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour overdose wasn't an accident.\u201d<\/p>\n
I felt the floor tilt.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo. You don't.\u201d<\/p>\n
He opened another folder.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe pills were placed in your medicine cabinet.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI took them myself.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou did.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut you had been drugged before that.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSomeone had been giving you sedatives.\u201d<\/p>\n
Michael looked down.<\/p>\n
\u201cI found out afterward.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don't know.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel said, \u201cMy father suspected Robert.\u201d<\/p>\n
I shook my head.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy would Robert drug me?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTo make you look unstable.\u201d<\/p>\n
The room went silent.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you were declared mentally incompetent, Robert could petition for control over your financial affairs.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat would also give him an argument regarding the trust.\u201d<\/p>\n
I pressed my fingers against my forehead.<\/p>\n
The life I remembered was becoming a collection of carefully arranged traps.<\/p>\n
Daniel looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was supposed to convince you to leave Michael.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou were supposed to?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause Robert believed you would trust me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd you did it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you ever love me?\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel looked away.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor a while.\u201d<\/p>\n
The honesty hurt more than a lie would have.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd then?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI realized what I had done.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut you kept seeing me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause by then I knew you were in danger.\u201d<\/p>\n
I laughed quietly.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo you became my protector after helping put me in danger.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
I hated how complicated the answer was.<\/p>\n
Lily walked toward Daniel.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you know I was your sister?\u201d<\/p>\n
He looked at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou said there were two babies.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew there were two. I didn't know which one survived.\u201d<\/p>\n
She studied him.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why did you keep searching?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause one of them was my daughter.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lily stepped back.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou're my father.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel's face broke.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
She turned away.<\/p>\n
I couldn't move.<\/p>\n
The man who had destroyed my marriage had just admitted he was Lily's biological father.<\/p>\n
Michael sat down.<\/p>\n
Thomas closed his eyes.<\/p>\n
Jake looked at Lily.<\/p>\n
She seemed suddenly much younger.<\/p>\n
Daniel whispered, \u201cI'm sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n
She answered without turning.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou should have told me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
Then something struck the front window.<\/p>\n
Glass exploded inward.<\/p>\n
Lily screamed.<\/p>\n
Michael grabbed her and pulled her down.<\/p>\n
Another shot cracked through the room.<\/p>\n
Thomas fell against the table.<\/p>\n
Blood appeared on his shirt.<\/p>\n
\u201cThomas!\u201d<\/p>\n
I dropped beside him.<\/p>\n
He was conscious.<\/p>\n
\u201cI'm all right,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou're bleeding.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt's a graze.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel moved toward the broken window.<\/p>\n
Michael shouted, \u201cGet down!\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel looked outside.<\/p>\n
A vehicle was speeding away.<\/p>\n
He turned back.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey found us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas pushed himself upright.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
He reached into his coat.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey found this.\u201d<\/p>\n
He pulled out a small key.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat is it?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe trustee's safe.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel stared at it.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou still have it?\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor eighteen years.\u201d<\/p>\n
He looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour father left one final instruction.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas's expression changed.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf the family was ever reunited, I was to deliver the trust to an independent trustee.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas handed me the key.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat's the problem.\u201d<\/p>\n
He looked toward the road.<\/p>\n
\u201cSomeone already changed the appointment.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nobody answered the door. Daniel waited outside for nearly a minute before speaking again. \u201cSusan, I'm not asking you to forgive me. I'm asking you to listen.\u201d I looked at … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4868,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4874","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sharestory"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4874","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4874"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4874\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4886,"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4874\/revisions\/4886"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4868"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4874"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4874"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4874"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}