PART 13
My entire body went cold.
“Your real mother.”
Those three words changed everything.
I looked at Margaret.
Then at Eleanor.
Neither woman spoke.
“Where is Hazel?” I demanded.
Eleanor's expression remained strangely calm.
“She is safe.”
“You have five seconds to tell me where my daughter is.”
Richard laughed.
“You're still making demands as if you have power.”
I stepped toward him.
“I don't need power.”
I held up my phone.
“I need one button.”
Richard's smile disappeared.
He knew what I meant.
The photographs of the documents were already backed up.
The evidence couldn't be erased.
“If anything happens to Hazel,” I said, “everything goes to the police.”
Margaret looked at me.
“You've become exactly like your grandmother.”
I stared at her.
“I hope so.”
She lowered her eyes.
“I wish you knew what she was really like.”
“Then tell me.”
Margaret took a deep breath.
“Your grandmother wasn't protecting Harrison.”
She looked at Eleanor.
“She was protecting you from him.”
I frowned.
“What does Harrison have to do with my birth?”
“Everything.”
Margaret walked toward an old table.
She opened a box.
Inside were letters.
Dozens of them.
All addressed to one person.
Michael Reed.
I picked one up.
The date was thirty-two years ago.
Margaret spoke quietly.
“Your grandmother discovered that Michael was being threatened by Harrison.”
“Why?”
“Because Michael knew Harrison had been stealing from the family trust.”
I shook my head.
“That doesn't explain me.”
“It does.”
She handed me another letter.
“This was written three weeks before you were born.”
I read it.
Michael had written:
“Evelyn, if anything happens to me, protect Emily. She is my daughter, and Harrison will never forgive me for exposing him.”
My eyes filled with tears.
“So Michael really was my father.”
“Yes.”
“And Margaret?”
She closed her eyes.
“I was Michael's sister.”
I froze.
Daniel stared at her.
“Then why did the birth certificate say she was your mother?”
Margaret looked at me.
“Because your grandmother changed the records.”
My stomach turned.
“Why?”
“To hide you.”
“From Harrison?”
“Yes.”
“Then why did Eleanor raise me?”
Margaret didn't answer.
Eleanor finally stepped forward.
“Because I couldn't have children.”
I stared at her.
“So you took me?”
“No.”
Her voice broke.
“Your grandmother asked me to raise you.”
“Why?”
“Because if Harrison knew you were Michael's daughter, he would have killed you.”
I shook my head.
“You expect me to believe that?”
Eleanor's eyes filled with tears.
“I hated you because every time I looked at you, I saw Michael.”
Silence.
“But I still protected you.”
I laughed bitterly.
“You threw me out yesterday.”
Her face crumbled.
“I made terrible choices.”
“You made them for thirty-two years.”
She couldn't answer.
* * *
Then my phone rang.
Unknown number.
I answered immediately.
“Where is Hazel?”
A man's voice replied.
“She's with me.”
My heart stopped.
“Who are you?”
“You've spent your entire life looking for answers.”
“Where is my daughter?”
“You'll see her soon.”
“Let me speak to her.”
A pause.
Then Hazel's tiny voice came through.
“Mommy?”
I nearly collapsed.
“Hazel! Baby, are you okay?”
“Yes.”
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
“Are you scared?”
“A little.”
I closed my eyes.
“Mommy is coming.”
The man took the phone back.
“You have thirty minutes.”
“Where?”
“Miami Children's Museum.”
“Why there?”
“Because that's where your grandmother first met Michael.”
The call ended.
I looked at Margaret.
She immediately understood.
“I know what this means.”
“What?”
“It's not a kidnapping.”
“What?”
“They want you to find something.”
* * *
We drove to the museum.
Daniel came with me.
Eleanor and Margaret followed.
Richard disappeared before we could stop him.
The museum was almost empty.
We searched every floor.
Nothing.
Then Daniel noticed an old photograph on the wall.
It showed a charity event held thirty-two years earlier.
My grandmother was standing beside Michael.
Behind them was a young woman.
Margaret.
And a little girl.
Me.
I stared at the photograph.
“That was taken before I was born.”
Daniel looked closer.
“No.”
He pointed at the date.
“It was taken six months after you were born.”
My heart stopped.
“So why did everyone say…”
I couldn't finish.
Someone had rewritten the past.
Again.
Then we heard Hazel.
“Mommy!”
I ran toward her voice.
She was sitting inside a small exhibition room.
A man stood beside her.
He was tall.
Older.
Gray hair.
I stopped.
There was something familiar about his face.
He looked at me.
His eyes filled with tears.
“Emily.”
I couldn't move.
“Who are you?”
He smiled sadly.
“I've been waiting thirty-two years to tell you the truth.”
Daniel stepped forward.
“Who are you?”
The man looked at him.
Then at me.
“My name is Michael Reed.”
My heart stopped.
“No…”
He nodded.
“I am your father.”
I stared at him.
“You were in the hospital.”
“That was a recording.”
The man smiled.
“The man in the hospital was a decoy.”
I couldn't breathe.
Michael stepped closer.
“I knew they would come after you.”
He looked at Hazel.
“So I brought your daughter somewhere safe.”
I grabbed Hazel and pulled her into my arms.
Then I looked at him.
“If you're my father…”
I swallowed.
“Why did you let me believe you were dead?”
His expression became broken.
“Because your grandmother made me.”
“Why?”
He looked at Margaret.
Then Eleanor.
Finally, he whispered:
“Because thirty-two years ago, I discovered something about our family that could have destroyed all of us.”
“What?”
Michael's face became serious.
“Harrison wasn't the only person stealing from the trust.”
I stared at him.
“Who else?”
He looked directly at Margaret.
And said:
“Your real mother.”
My blood ran cold.
Margaret closed her eyes.
Eleanor whispered:
“No…”
Michael continued:
“She didn't steal the money.”
“She stole something far more valuable.”
I held Hazel tighter.
“What?”
Michael looked at me.
“Your identity.”
Then he pointed toward the photograph on the wall.
“Emily, the woman you think is your mother…”
He paused.
“…is actually your biological aunt.”
I stared at Eleanor.
Then at Margaret.
And suddenly, every lie I had ever believed began collapsing at once.
