Chapter 4: The Sister Who Wasn’t Supposed to Exist
“My sister.””
Emily said it again, but this time her voice was barely audible.
I stared at her.
“What sister?””
She looked at me as if she had been waiting years for me to ask that question and dreading the moment I finally did.
“My sister,” she whispered.
“Her name is Lily.””
The house seemed to tilt beneath my feet.
I shook my head.
“No.””
Emily’s eyes filled with tears.
“Yes.””
“I have one daughter.””
“I know.””
“I raised one child.””
“I know, Mom.””
“There is no Lily.””
Emily looked toward Ryan.
He was standing near the staircase, watching us with an expression that made my skin crawl.
“She’s my half-sister,” Emily said.
“She’s Dad’s daughter.””
My breath caught.
My husband had been dead for four years.
And suddenly my daughter was telling me he had a secret child.
I stared at her.
“Your father had another daughter?””
She nodded.
“Before he met you?””
“No.””
The word came softly.
“After.””
Everything inside me went still.
Emily reached for my hand.
“Mom, I’m sorry.””
I pulled my hand away.
Not because I was angry with her.
Because I couldn’t make my brain accept what I was hearing.
“My husband cheated on me?””
Emily closed her eyes.
“For years.””
I felt something crack inside my chest.
The woman who had loved him for thirty-two years.
The man whose clothes I still kept in a cedar box.
The man whose voice I could still hear whenever I walked past the old record player.
Dead.
Gone.
And somehow, another daughter had been living in the shadows.
I looked at Ryan.
“You knew.””
He didn’t answer.
“Ryan.””
He slowly shrugged.
“I know what I was told.””
“By whom?””
He glanced at his mother.
Patricia said nothing.
That silence was confirmation.
I turned back to Emily.
“What does Lily have to do with you marrying Ryan?””
Emily wiped her cheeks.
“She found something.””
“What?””
“A letter.””
“From your father?””
“Yes.””
My heart pounded.
“What did it say?””
Emily hesitated.
“That he was sorry.””
“For what?””
“For leaving her mother.””
I swallowed.
“Who is her mother?””
“I don’t know.””
“Then how do you know Lily exists?””
“Because I met her.””
The words hit me harder than everything else.
“You met her?””
“A year before my wedding.””
I stared.
“And you never told me?””
“She made me promise.””
“Why?””
Emily looked at Ryan again.
His expression had become unreadable.
“She was afraid.””
“Afraid of what?””
Emily whispered:
“Patricia.””
I looked at my daughter-in-law’s mother.
She was completely still.
“You are saying my husband’s daughter was afraid of Patricia?””
“Yes.””
“Why?””
Emily shook her head.
“I don’t know everything.””
“Then tell me what you do know.””
She took a breath.
“Lily believed your husband owed her mother money. A lot of money. She said he promised to take care of them and then disappeared.””
My throat tightened.
“That doesn’t sound like him.””
Emily looked at me sadly.
“You didn’t know him as well as you thought.””
The words cut deeper than any insult.
I turned toward the window.
Outside, the afternoon sun was bright.
People were probably driving past this house.
Walking dogs.
Picking up groceries.
Living normal lives.
Inside, my family history was collapsing.
I whispered, “How did you meet her?””
“Online.””
“When?””
“Six months before the wedding.””
“And she contacted you?””
“Yes.””
“Why?””
“She had photographs.””
“Of Dad?””
“Of Dad and her mother.””
I turned back.
“Where are they?””
Emily’s face changed.
“I had copies.””
“Had?””
“They took them.””
“Who?””
She looked at Ryan.
He said nothing.
I suddenly understood.
“Your husband?””
Emily nodded.
“He found out I was talking to Lily.””
“And?””
“He told me to stop.””
“Why?””
“Because Patricia knew Lily was looking for evidence that your father had transferred money to her mother.””
I frowned.
“What evidence?””
Emily’s voice dropped.
“A bank account.””
“Whose?””
“Yours.””
The room went silent.
“My bank account?””
“Not directly.””
She reached into her canvas bag again.
This time she pulled out a small envelope.
It was old.
The edges were worn.
There was handwriting across the front.
My name.
*Carol.*
I stared at it.
“Where did you get that?””
“Lily gave it to me.””
I didn’t touch it.
“Why?””
“She said if anything happened to her, I was supposed to give it to you.””
My fingers began to shake.
“Anything?””
Emily nodded.
“She disappeared three months ago.””
The world seemed to stop.
“What do you mean disappeared?””
“She stopped answering me.””
“Did you call the police?””
“I tried.””
“And?””
“Ryan told me not to.””
I looked at my daughter in disbelief.
“You listened to him?””
“I was scared.””
I took the envelope.
Inside was a single photograph.
I pulled it out.
My hands went numb.
It was my husband.
Younger.
Maybe thirty-five.
Standing outside a motel.
Beside him was a woman I had never seen before.
And in the woman’s arms was a baby girl.
On the back of the photograph was a date.
Twenty-eight years earlier.
My daughter’s birth year.
I stared at it.
“No.””
Emily began crying.
“Mom…”
“No.””
I turned the photograph over again as if changing the angle could change the truth.
But there it was.
The date.
The woman.
The baby.
My husband.
Then I noticed something else.
A small bracelet around the baby’s wrist.
Silver.
With a tiny engraved heart.
My husband used to buy those for us.
One for me.
One for Emily.
He had told me the bracelet he gave Emily was the only one he ever bought.
Apparently, that was another lie.
I sat down hard on the bottom stair.
“Why would he give this to Lily?””
“He didn’t.””
Emily crouched beside me.
“Lily said her mother bought it.””
I looked at the photograph again.
“Then where is Lily?””
“I don’t know.””
“Where does she live?””
“She moved around.””
“Do you have an address?””
“No.””
“Phone number?””
“Disconnected.””
I looked at Emily.
“So you’re trapped here because of a woman who disappeared?””
She shook her head.
“No.””
“Then why?””
“Because Ryan knows where she is.””
I froze.
“What?””
“He found her.””
“When?””
“Two months ago.””
“And he knows where she is now?””
Emily nodded.
“Or he knew.””
I stood.
“Take me to her.””
Emily’s eyes widened.
“I can’t.””
“You said Ryan knows.””
“He does.””
“Then we find him and make him tell us.””
Her face twisted with fear.
“Mom, you don’t understand.””
“Then explain it.””
Emily looked toward the front door.
“Lily isn’t the only person missing.””
A chill crawled over my skin.
“Who else?””
Emily said nothing.
I grabbed her shoulders gently.
“Emily.””
She looked directly into my eyes.
“Lily’s mother.””
My breath caught.
“What about her?””
“She came here.””
“To this house?””
“Yes.””
“When?””
“Before my wedding.””
“Why?””
“To meet Patricia.””
I looked toward Patricia.
She was still standing by the dining room entrance.
Motionless.
Emily continued.
“She demanded answers about the money.””
“What money?””
“The money your husband left behind.””
“I thought you said she believed he owed her money.””
“He did.””
“How much?””
“Three hundred thousand dollars.””
I stared at her.
“No.””
“Yes.””
“My husband didn’t have three hundred thousand dollars.””
“He did.””
My mind raced.
“The life insurance?””
Emily nodded.
“Part of it.””
I felt sick.
“Part of my life insurance?””
“No.””
She shook her head.
“Part of his.””
That was when the front door suddenly unlocked.
Everyone turned.
The knob moved.
The door opened.
A woman stood outside.
She looked exhausted.
Her dark hair was tangled by the wind.
Her coat was soaked.
And she was clutching something against her chest.
Emily made a sound I had never heard from her before.
A gasp mixed with a sob.
She stood.
“Lily?””
The woman looked directly at my daughter.
Then at me.
Her face crumpled.
She stepped inside.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered.
Patricia’s face went white.
Ryan went completely still.
And Lily slowly pulled a thick folder from beneath her coat.
“I found the records,” she said.
Her hands were shaking.
“The ones your father hid.””
I stared at the folder.
“What records?””
Lily looked at me.
“The ones proving your husband didn’t die with everything paid off.””
She swallowed.
“He left someone a fortune.””
May you like
Then she looked at Patricia.
“And she’s been stealing it ever since.””
