Chapter 4: The Daughter He Lost
Dad read the message so many times that the screen went dark in his hand.
Grandma Linda stood beside him, staring at the phone.
“Marcus, what baby are they talking about?””
He swallowed.
“Before I met Nicole, I was married to someone named Rachel.””
Grandma nodded slowly.
“I remember Rachel.””
“She was pregnant when we divorced. We lost the baby shortly after she was born.””
His voice cracked on the final word.
Grandma reached for his arm.
“I'm so sorry, sweetheart. I know how much that hurt you.””
Dad shook his head.
“I never knew Nicole before Rachel and I separated. I didn't even meet Nicole until almost two years later.””
“Then why would someone send you that message?””
“I don't know.””
He looked at the photograph he'd taken of the storage unit documents.
“Unless Nicole knew Rachel before she met me.””
The thought seemed impossible.
But something about the timing bothered him.
He called his attorney, explained the anonymous message, and asked him to investigate the sender without contacting Nicole.
Then he drove home.
When Dad entered the house, I was sitting on the living room couch with Jordan.
We had spent the morning watching cartoons, but neither of us had really been paying attention.
I stood immediately.
“Daddy?””
He crouched and hugged me.
“I'm home, sweetheart.””
“Did you find something?””
He hesitated.
“Yes. But there's something I need to understand first.””
Grandma entered behind him.
“Marcus, perhaps we should wait until the attorney calls.””
He shook his head.
“No. I need to know whether Nicole has been lying about more than the money.””
He took out his phone and called her.
She answered after several rings.
“What now?””
“I need to see you.””
“I'm busy.””
“Then make time.””
“Marcus, I'm not coming back to that house just to be insulted.””
“I found something in the storage unit. I think you know what it is.””
A pause.
“What did you find?””
Dad looked at Grandma.
“A message about Rachel.””
The silence on the other end lasted several seconds.
Then Nicole said something that made his face go rigid.
“Why are you bringing that woman into this?””
Dad gripped the phone.
“What do you know about Rachel?””
“Nothing.””
“Then why are you afraid of her name?””
“I'm not afraid.””
“Nicole, did you know Rachel before you met me?””
She exhaled sharply.
“I have to go.””
“Nicole!””
The call ended.
Dad stared at the phone.
Grandma whispered, “She knows something.””
He nodded.
“I think so.””
That afternoon, Dad drove to the address of Rachel's last known residence.
He had not spoken to her in years.
After their divorce, she'd moved to another state, and the grief surrounding their daughter's death had made every conversation unbearable.
He'd tried to move forward.
Then he'd met Nicole.
Nicole had been patient, gentle, and understanding when he told her about his past.
She had even encouraged him to keep a photograph of the baby.
He remembered that photograph.
It had disappeared from his bedside drawer shortly after their wedding.
When he'd asked Nicole about it, she'd said she'd put it somewhere safe.
He had never found it.
Now, sitting in his car outside Rachel's old neighborhood, he wondered whether that photograph had ever been lost accidentally.
A woman answered the door.
She was older than he remembered, with silver strands in her brown hair.
For a moment, neither spoke.
Then she whispered, “Marcus?””
“Rachel.””
She looked past him.
“Is something wrong?””
“I need to ask you about our daughter.””
Rachel's face changed.
She stepped back.
“Come inside.””
They sat in her living room.
Dad placed the anonymous message on the coffee table.
Rachel read it.
Her hands began shaking.
“Where did you get this?””
“Someone sent it to me yesterday.””
She looked up.
“Marcus, what did Nicole tell you about the baby?””
“That she knew nothing about my previous marriage.””
Rachel closed her eyes.
“Oh, God.””
Dad leaned forward.
“Rachel, what happened fifteen years ago?””
She walked to a cabinet and removed a small photograph.
It showed a newborn wrapped in a pink blanket.
On the back was a name.
*Emily Rose.*
Dad stared at it.
“That's our daughter.””
Rachel nodded.
“But there's something you never knew.””
His breathing became shallow.
“What?””
Rachel placed the photograph in front of him.
“Emily didn't die.””
Dad stopped moving.
“What?””
“The hospital told me she had died shortly after birth. I believed them. I signed the paperwork. I buried an empty coffin because they said her body couldn't be released.””
Dad's face drained of color.
“An empty coffin?””
Rachel began crying.
“Six months later, I received an anonymous letter. It said someone had arranged for Emily to be transferred to another hospital. I tried to investigate, but the records had disappeared.””
Dad gripped the edge of the table.
“Why didn't you tell me?””
“I did try. I called your old number. I sent letters to your office. You never responded.””
“I never received anything.””
Rachel shook her head.
“Someone must have intercepted them.””
Dad stood.
“Who?””
Rachel looked directly at him.
“I don't know. But three months after Emily was born, a woman visited me at the hospital.””
“Who?””
“I didn't know her name then. She told me she was helping arrange Emily's care.””
Dad's mouth went dry.
“What did she look like?””
Rachel hesitated.
“Dark hair. Green eyes. A small scar near her left eyebrow.””
Dad closed his eyes.
Nicole had a scar in exactly that place.
Rachel reached into a drawer.
“I kept something else.””
She handed him an old envelope.
Inside was a photograph of a woman standing outside the hospital.
Dad stared at it.
It was Nicole.
And on the back, in handwriting he recognized immediately, were six words:
*Emily deserves a better family.*
Dad felt the room tilt.
Rachel began sobbing.
“Marcus, I think your daughter is alive.””
His phone rang.
The attorney.
Dad answered immediately.
“Tell me you found something.””
The attorney's voice was serious.
“We traced the anonymous message. It came from a prepaid phone, but we've uncovered something else. Nicole's original identity records don't match the information she gave you when you married.””
Dad looked at the photograph.
“What do you mean?””
“Her name wasn't Nicole Bennett fifteen years ago.””
Dad's fingers tightened around the phone.
“What was it?””
The attorney paused.
“Nicole Bennett was born under the name Nicole Carter. And she worked at the hospital where Emily was born.””
Dad couldn't speak.
Then the attorney added:
“There's one more thing. We found a woman who was adopted under a different name fifteen years ago. Her birth date matches Emily's.””
Dad looked at Rachel.
Her lips trembled.
“Where is she?””
May you like
The attorney gave him an address.
And when Dad heard the name of the woman living there, he realized that the stranger who had sent the message might have been trying to lead him toward the truth all along.
