PART 6
I couldn't sleep that night.
Not because of what my parents had done to me.
Not even because of the inheritance.
It was because of one sentence Margaret had said before I left.
“Your brother knows what really happened.”
My brother.
A man I had spent my entire life believing was dead.
A man who, according to my parents, had disappeared because of an illness.
But now I knew the truth.
Daniel was alive.
And someone had worked very hard to make sure I never found him.
At six in the morning, I sat beside Hazel while she slept.
I looked at the photograph Margaret had given me.
Daniel was only four years old in that picture.
He was smiling.
His little hand was holding my grandmother's.
I stared at his face for a long time.
There was something strangely familiar about him.
Then I noticed the scar above his eyebrow.
My fingers touched my own forehead.
When I was seven, I had fallen from my bicycle and needed stitches.
My father had always told me I was lucky my injury wasn't worse.
But suddenly, I remembered something.
That day, I hadn't fallen alone.
There had been another child.
A little boy.
A boy who had pushed me out of the way of a speeding car.
I had forgotten his face.
But I remembered his voice.
“Don't cry, Emmy. I'm here.”
I stopped breathing.
“Daniel…”
* * *
At eight o'clock, Margaret arrived at the motel.
She brought breakfast for Hazel and another folder for me.
“I found the address,” she said.
“Where is he?”
“About two hours north.”
I looked at the address.
It was an old residential property outside Orlando.
“Is he really there?”
Margaret nodded.
“According to the records, someone named Daniel Carter has lived there for almost ten years.”
My hands trembled.
“Does he know about me?”
“I don't know.”
“Does he know that our parents told me he was dead?”
Margaret looked at me.
“That is something you need to ask him yourself.”
I nodded.
Before leaving, I asked the question that had been haunting me.
“Why did my grandmother wait so long?”
Margaret sighed.
“Because she was afraid.”
“Of my parents?”
“No.”
She looked directly into my eyes.
“Of what would happen if Daniel was found.”
* * *
Two hours later, I was standing in front of a small blue house.
Hazel sat in the car with the doors locked.
I didn't want her involved in whatever was about to happen.
I walked toward the front door.
My heart was pounding so hard I could hear it.
I raised my hand.
Knocked.
Nothing.
I knocked again.
Footsteps.
The door opened.
And everything inside me stopped.
The man standing there was probably in his early thirties.
Dark hair.
Brown eyes.
A small scar above his eyebrow.
I stared at him.
He stared at me.
Neither of us spoke.
Then his eyes moved to the photograph in my hand.
His face changed.
“Where did you get that?”
My lips trembled.
“My grandmother.”
He stepped backward.
“You're…”
He couldn't finish.
I whispered:
“Daniel?”
He closed his eyes.
For several seconds, he didn't move.
Then he whispered:
“Emmy.”
That one word destroyed me.
Nobody had called me that since I was a child.
I started crying.
“So you remember me?”
He nodded slowly.
“I never forgot you.”
I covered my mouth.
“You're alive.”
A sad smile appeared on his face.
“So are you.”
I laughed through my tears.
Then I stepped forward and hugged him.
For a few seconds, neither of us said anything.
We were just two siblings trying to recover twenty-eight missing years.
* * *
Eventually, Daniel invited us inside.
He looked at Hazel.
“Is this your daughter?”
I nodded.
“Her name is Hazel.”
He smiled.
“She has your eyes.”
I looked away.
That was something my mother used to say.
Except she always said it with bitterness.
Daniel made coffee.
I sat across from him.
I didn't know where to begin.
So I asked the only question that mattered.
“Why did they tell me you died?”
Daniel stared into his cup.
“Because they wanted me gone.”
“Why?”
He looked at me.
“Because I saw something.”
My stomach tightened.
“What?”
“When I was four, I accidentally walked into your father's office.”
He paused.
“There was a man there.”
“Who?”
“I don't know his name.”
“What was he doing?”
Daniel looked toward the window.
“He was giving Dad an envelope.”
I waited.
“Your father told him something about Grandma's trust.”
My heart began racing.
“The trust?”
Daniel nodded.
“Grandma had discovered that Dad had been stealing money from it.”
I froze.
“How much?”
“Millions.”
I couldn't speak.
Daniel continued.
“Grandma threatened to expose him.”
“And that's why…”
“They sent me away.”
My eyes filled with tears.
“Where?”
“A boarding facility.”
“For children?”
He nodded.
“They told everyone I was sick. They changed my name. They told me our parents had died.”
I stared at him in disbelief.
“They told you I was dead too?”
Daniel nodded.
“For years, I believed I had no family.”
My hands curled into fists.
“So they destroyed both our lives.”
Daniel looked at me.
“No.”
His voice became serious.
“They did something worse.”
“What?”
“They kept me alive because I was useful.”
I felt a chill run down my spine.
“What do you mean?”
Daniel stood and walked toward a locked cabinet.
He opened it.
Inside were dozens of documents.
Bank records.
Photographs.
Letters.
And one old newspaper clipping.
He placed it in front of me.
I read the headline.
LOCAL FAMILY'S FOUR-YEAR-OLD SON PRESUMED DEAD AFTER MEDICAL INCIDENT.
I looked at Daniel.
“This was a lie.”
“Yes.”
“Why keep all this?”
“Because I knew one day someone would come looking for the truth.”
He handed me a final document.
It was dated only three months earlier.
My name appeared at the top.
EMILY CARTER — BENEFICIARY.
Below it was a handwritten note.
I recognized the handwriting immediately.
My grandmother's.
“When Emily discovers Daniel, tell her to look at the original trust agreement. The theft was never the greatest secret.”
I looked up.
“What does that mean?”
Daniel's face turned pale.
“I don't know.”
Then his phone rang.
He looked at the screen.
His expression changed instantly.
“Who is it?” I asked.
He didn't answer.
The phone rang again.
Finally, he picked up.
“Hello?”
Silence.
Then his face became completely white.
He slowly lowered the phone.
I stood.
“Daniel?”
He looked at me.
“It was Dad.”
My heart stopped.
“What did he say?”
Daniel swallowed.
“He knows you're here.”
A long silence filled the room.
Then Daniel whispered:
“And he said if we want Hazel to stay safe…”
He looked directly at me.
“We have to stop looking for the truth.”
