Chương 7
The sound of cars passing on the street.
Even the ticking clock on the wall.
Everything faded.
“What is this?”
Michael did not answer immediately.
Daniel looked down again.
The document was old.
The paper had been folded several times.
His name was clearly printed near the top.
“This is my medical record.”
Michael nodded.
“Yes.”
Daniel looked up.
“From before I met Emma?”
“Yes.”
His confusion turned into anger.
“Why do you have this?”
Michael looked away.
“Because I found it.”
“Where?”
“That doesn’t matter.”
Daniel slammed the paper onto the table.
“It matters.”
Michael remained silent.
Daniel took a deep breath, trying to control himself.
“You have been lying to me for months.”
“You interfered with my relationship.”
“You made Emma think I didn’t care.”
“And now you show me a medical record you refuse to explain.”
Michael looked at him.
“You want answers?”
“Yes.”
“Then stop pretending everything started with Emma.”
Daniel frowned.
“What does that mean?”
Michael pointed at the document.
“Read the date.”
Daniel looked down.
The date was almost eight years earlier.
His expression changed.
He remembered that time.
The accident.
The hospital visits.
The months he had tried to forget.
“I don’t understand.”
Michael walked toward the window.
“You told everyone you were fine.”
Daniel said nothing.
“After the accident, you changed.”
Daniel’s eyes narrowed.
“What accident?”
Michael looked back.
“The one you never talk about.”
Daniel felt a strange pressure in his chest.
He remembered pieces.
Rain.
A highway.
Bright lights.
A hospital room.
But nothing clear.
“I was injured,” Daniel said slowly.
“Yes.”
“So?”
Michael looked at him.
“So you were not supposed to be able to have children.”
The words struck him.
Daniel froze.
“What?”
Michael continued.
“The doctors told you.”
Daniel shook his head.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“That’s impossible.”
Michael pulled out another paper.
“You were told after the surgery.”
Daniel took it.
His hands trembled slightly.
The information was there.
Medical notes.
Follow-up appointments.
A discussion about possible complications.
He read the same lines again and again.
But his mind refused to accept them.
“I don’t remember this.”
Michael’s expression softened slightly.
“That’s why I kept trying to tell you.”
Daniel looked up.
“Tell me what?”
“That something about Lily didn’t make sense.”
Daniel’s voice became quieter.
“You thought she wasn’t my daughter.”
Michael looked down.
“I thought there was something you didn’t know.”
Daniel felt sick.
“And instead of telling me, you destroyed everything?”
Michael looked ashamed for the first time.
“I thought if I pushed hard enough, you would finally remember.”
Daniel stared at him.
“That is not an excuse.”
“I know.”
“No, you don’t.”
Daniel picked up the document.
“You watched me lose my family.”
Michael closed his eyes.
“I made a mistake.”
“A mistake?”
Daniel’s voice broke.
“You made Emma believe she was abandoned.”
Michael did not respond.
“You made me believe she betrayed me.”
“I was angry.”
“At what?”
Michael looked at him.
“At the fact that you forgot.”
Daniel shook his head.
“I forgot an injury.”
Michael stepped closer.
“You forgot the worst moment of your life.”
Daniel looked away.
Because that part was true.
There were gaps in his memory.
Pieces missing.
Things he had avoided thinking about.
Michael lowered his voice.
“You woke up after the accident and acted like nothing happened.”
Daniel whispered.
“Because I wanted to move on.”
“You moved on from everything.”
The words hurt.
But they also opened something inside him.
A memory.
A hospital room.
A doctor speaking carefully.
A warning about his future.
Daniel grabbed the edge of the table.
He suddenly felt unsteady.
“I really forgot.”
Michael nodded.
“Yes.”
For several moments, neither brother spoke.
Then Daniel looked at him.
“Why didn’t you just tell me?”
Michael looked away.
“Because I hated seeing you happy.”
The honesty shocked him.
Michael continued.
“You had forgotten everything painful.”
“You built a new life.”
“And I was still angry about everything we lost.”
Daniel stared.
“We?”
Michael’s face changed.
“Our parents.”
“The accident.”
“The years after.”
Daniel remembered.
Their parents had died several years before.
Michael had been the one who stayed.
Michael had handled the hospital paperwork.
Michael had carried the anger.
And Daniel had run from the memories.
But none of that justified what he had done.
“I’m sorry,” Daniel said quietly.
Michael looked surprised.
“For what?”
“For forgetting what happened to us.”
Michael’s expression softened.
“But that doesn’t erase what you did.”
Daniel nodded.
“No.”
The room became quiet.
Then Daniel picked up the photograph again.
“One question.”
Michael looked at him.
“Why the picture of Emma?”
Michael hesitated.
“I wanted proof.”
“Proof of what?”
“That someone was lying.”
Daniel’s eyes hardened.
“Who?”
Michael looked at him.
“I don’t know.”
Daniel frowned.
“What?”
“I found evidence that someone else was changing things.”
Michael walked to a cabinet and pulled out a folder.
“I thought Emma was hiding something.”
“So I started looking.”
Daniel opened the folder.
Inside were copies of messages.
Hospital records.
Names.
Dates.
Then he saw something that made his heart stop.
A signature.
Not Michael’s.
Not Emma’s.
Someone else’s.
Daniel looked closer.
“This person accessed the hospital system?”
Michael nodded.
“Yes.”
“Who?”
Michael pointed to the name.
Daniel read it.
His face changed instantly.
Because he knew the name.
Everyone knew the name.
It belonged to someone who had been helping Emma during her pregnancy.
Someone who had been there when Daniel was not.
Someone Emma trusted completely.
Daniel felt a wave of disbelief.
“No.”
Michael watched him carefully.
“You know her.”
Daniel slowly looked up.
“Margaret.”
The name felt impossible.
The woman who had comforted Emma.
The woman who had defended her.
The woman who had held Lily when everyone else was falling apart.
Michael nodded.
“I think she knows more than she told you.”
Daniel grabbed his phone immediately.
He called Emma.
She answered after one ring.
“Daniel?”
His voice was tense.
“Where is Margaret?”
A pause.
“She’s here.”
Daniel stood still.
“What?”
May you like
“She came over.”
His heart dropped.
