Daniel Grant arrived forty minutes later.
He didn't come alone.
A woman in a gray coat accompanied him, carrying a leather folder.
Daniel was in his late sixties. His hair was white, his shoulders bent slightly forward, and his hands shook when he saw Lily.
He didn't approach her.
He simply stared.
“That's her,” he whispered.
I moved between them.
“Who are you?”
“Sofia's father.”
“You said she was dead.”
His eyes hardened.
“Who told you that?”
“Marcus.”
Daniel looked at the woman beside him.
She opened the folder.
“I am Rebecca Grant. Sofia's aunt.”
Dana stepped forward.
“Do you have proof?”
Rebecca handed her a photograph.
It showed Sofia holding Lily.
The photograph had a timestamp.
Seven months after the date Marcus claimed Sofia died.
My stomach turned.
“She wasn't dead.”
“No,” Daniel said.
“She disappeared.”
“Why?”
Daniel looked at Lily.
“Because she was afraid.”
“Of Marcus?”
“Of someone worse.”
I felt cold.
“Who?”
Daniel sat.
“My wife.”
Rebecca looked at him sharply.
“Our family was falling apart,” he said. “Sofia wanted to leave. She had evidence against someone.”
“Who?”
He didn't answer immediately.
Then he said, “A doctor.”
Dana frowned.
“What doctor?”
Daniel opened the folder.
A hospital name appeared.
The same hospital where Lily had supposedly been born.
“Sofia believed a doctor was altering medical records.”
My pulse quickened.
“What kind of records?”
“Birth records.”
I looked at Lily.
Daniel continued.
“Sofia discovered another infant had been listed under the wrong mother.”
Dana leaned forward.
“Are you saying this wasn't an isolated incident?”
“No.”
Rebecca placed several copies on the table.
“There were three cases.”
My mouth went dry.
“Three?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Rebecca looked at me.
“Money.”
The explanation was simple and horrifying.
Families who couldn't have children.
Families desperate for babies.
Medical staff willing to make records disappear.
And parents who were told their children had died.
I couldn't stop looking at Lily.
“What happened to the other babies?”
“We don't know.”
Daniel's voice cracked.
“But Sofia found enough evidence to know something was wrong.”
I asked, “Why did she leave Lily with Marcus?”
“She trusted him.”
I almost laughed.
“She trusted the man who later lied about her death?”
Daniel lowered his head.
“She trusted the wrong person.”
Dana opened another document.
“Where was Sofia when she disappeared?”
Daniel looked at her.
“Alive.”
“Where?”
“In hiding.”
My heart pounded.
“When did she die?”
Daniel didn't answer.
Rebecca did.
“She didn't.”
I stood so quickly the chair moved backward.
“What?”
“She is alive.”
The room seemed to stop.
“No.”
“She contacted us six months ago.”
“Why didn't she come for Lily?”
“She wanted to.”
“Then why didn't she?”
Rebecca looked at Marcus's name on the papers.
“Because someone threatened to expose you.”
I felt my throat close.
“Me?”
“Yes.”
Daniel leaned forward.
“Sofia was told that if she came back, you would be arrested for kidnapping.”
I stared at him.
“That makes no sense.”
“It did to her.”
“She thought I stole Lily?”
“No. She knew you didn't.”
“Then what?”
“She believed Marcus had built a case against you.”
Dana's expression hardened.
“That explains the forged custody document.”
Daniel nodded.
“He had been preparing it for years.”
I thought of every time Marcus had told me I was unstable.
Every time he had questioned my memory.
Every time he had said Lily needed a more stable home.
He hadn't been arguing.
He had been building a record.
My phone buzzed.
A message from an unknown number.
YOU SHOULD HAVE LEFT THE SUITCASE ALONE.
Dana took my phone.
“Don't respond.”
I looked at Elise.
“Does Marcus know?”
She shook her head.
“I don't know.”
“Where is he?”
“He went to the wedding venue.”
I stared at her.
“The wedding is tomorrow.”
“Yes.”
“Is he still planning to marry you?”
She looked down.
“I don't know.”
Daniel stood.
“He won't.”
Everyone looked at him.
“He knows Sofia is alive,” Daniel said.
“How?”
“Because someone told him.”
My stomach tightened.
“Who?”
Daniel looked at Rebecca.
She said quietly, “Your mother.”
I couldn't move.
My mother had known Sofia was alive.
All this time.
I called her.
She answered immediately.
“Annie?”
“Is Sofia alive?”
Silence.
“Mom.”
Her breathing changed.
“Where did you hear that?”
“Answer me.”
“She was alive.”
“Is she alive now?”
“I don't know.”
“You knew.”
“I was trying to protect you.”
“You always say that.”
“Because it's true.”
“No. You protected Marcus.”
She began crying.
“I thought I was protecting Lily.”
“From what?”
“From the people who wanted to use her.”
“Who?”
She whispered a name.
Dr. Aaron Vale.
The physician whose name appeared on the hospital records.
Dana wrote it down.
“What did he do?”
Mom said, “He arranged the records.”
“Did he arrange Lily's?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Marcus paid him.”
My chest tightened.
“How much?”
“I don't know.”
“You knew Marcus bought a false birth record.”
“Yes.”
“And you still let me believe Lily was mine.”
“I believed you were the safest person for her.”
“That wasn't your decision.”
“No.”
My mother broke down.
“I know.”
I ended the call.
Lily had been listening from the hallway.
She came toward me.
“Mom?”
I wiped my face.
“Yes?”
“Is Sofia really alive?”
I didn't lie.
“I don't know.”
Lily nodded.
“I want to meet her.”
I looked at her.
Dana spoke softly.
“First we make sure everyone is safe.”
Lily frowned.
“She wrote me a letter.”
“Yes.”
“She wouldn't leave me again.”
I had no answer.
That night, we stayed at Dana's office.
Lily slept on a couch beneath a blanket.
Elise sat across from me.
For the first time, we were alone.
“I was wrong,” she said.
I looked at her.
“About everything.”
“Not everything.”
“You should hate me.”
“I don't have enough energy.”
She gave a broken smile.
“I deserved that.”
“You did.”
We sat quietly.
Then she said, “Marcus never loved me.”
“I know.”
“He loved control.”
I looked at her.
“He told me if I married him, I'd have a family.”
“He told me the same thing when we were married.”
She looked at me.
“I thought he had changed.”
“So did I.”
Neither of us spoke.
Then the office door opened.
Rebecca stood there.
“We found Sofia.”
My heart stopped.
“Where?”
“She's outside.”
I stood.
Lily woke.
She looked toward the door.
A woman entered.
Dark hair.
Yellow sweater.
Tears running down her face.
Lily stared.
Then whispered one word.
“Mommy?”
Sofia covered her mouth.
And I understood that tomorrow's wedding was no longer the most important thing waiting for us.
Click here to continue reading: PART 7: Sofia Walked Back Into Her Daughter’s Life With One Final Secret, and Marcus Had Already Begun Destroying the Evidence
The Morning My Daughter Asked Me Why Her Father Needed Her To Keep One Thing From Me
Part 6 of 20
