Chương 6
Claire wrapped her arms around him.
Margaret continued.
"But someone wanted people to believe you were."
Daniel frowned.
"Why?"
Margaret looked toward the old box.
"Because of your father."
Claire froze.
"My father?"
The words came out slowly.
Ethan looked up.
"I have a father?"
Nobody answered.
Because that question opened another door nobody was ready to walk through.
Rachel looked at Claire with sympathy.
"There is more you were never told."
Claire shook her head.
"I cannot believe there is more."
Rachel placed another document on the table.
"This was found with the original records."
Daniel picked it up.
His eyes scanned the page.
Then he stopped.
His face changed.
"What?"
Claire asked.
Daniel looked at her.
"The name of Ethan's father."
The room held its breath.
Claire whispered.
"Who is it?"
Daniel slowly turned the paper around.
The name was written clearly.
A name that made Margaret step backward.
A name that made Daniel lose his ability to speak.
And a name that changed the meaning of everything they thought they knew.
Because Ethan's father was not a stranger.
He was someone who had been in their lives all along.
The name was written clearly.
A name that made Margaret step backward.
A name that made Daniel lose his ability to speak.
And a name that changed the meaning of everything they thought they knew.
Because Ethan's father was not a stranger.
He was someone who had been in their lives all along.
Claire stared at the paper in Daniel's hand.
She could see the shock on his face before he even spoke.
"Tell me," she whispered.
Daniel looked at Margaret.
"Is this real?"
Margaret did not answer.
That was the answer.
Claire's heart began racing.
"Who is it?"
Daniel slowly lowered the paper.
His voice was quiet.
"Thomas Reed."
The room went completely silent.
Ethan looked from one adult to another, trying to understand.
"Who is Thomas Reed?"
Nobody answered immediately.
Because the truth was too painful to explain.
Because the man whose name appeared on that paper was not just a hospital administrator.
He was the person who had controlled the records.
The person who had hidden the truth.
The person everyone believed had disappeared from their lives.
Claire shook her head.
"No."
She stepped back.
"That cannot be possible."
Daniel looked at her.
"Claire."
"No."
Her voice became stronger.
"My father was never involved in anything like this."
Margaret closed her eyes.
"Claire."
Claire turned toward her.
"You knew?"
The older woman looked devastated.
"I knew his name was connected."
Claire felt tears forming.
"You knew my father had something to do with this?"
"I knew he was afraid."
"Afraid of what?"
Margaret looked at Ethan.
"Of being exposed."
Ethan sat quietly at the table.
The conversation around him felt like a storm.
Everyone was talking about people from the past.
Everyone was talking about secrets.
But nobody was telling him where he belonged.
Claire noticed his expression.
She immediately moved closer.
"Ethan."
He looked up.
"Why does everyone keep saying my name like it is part of a problem?"
The question broke the tension.
Claire knelt beside him.
"Because adults made mistakes."
"But was I one of them?"
Claire's eyes filled with tears.
"No."
She held his hands.
"You were the best thing that ever happened to me."
Ethan looked at her.
"Then why does everyone keep trying to explain who I am?"
Claire had no answer.
Because she was asking herself the same thing.
Rachel quietly stepped forward.
"There is something you need to know about Thomas Reed."
Claire looked at her.
"What?"
Rachel opened another document.
"Thomas did not know Ethan was his son until years later."
Daniel frowned.
"Then why is his name here?"
Rachel looked at the paper.
"Because after the records were changed, Thomas discovered the truth."
Margaret nodded slowly.
"He came to me."
Claire looked shocked.
"He came to you?"
Margaret looked ashamed.
"He told me Ethan was his child."
Daniel stared.
"And what did you do?"
Margaret looked toward Ethan.
"I told him he had lost the right to be called a father."
The room became quiet.
Claire looked at her mother.
"You stood up to him?"
Margaret nodded.
"For the first time in my life, I was not afraid."
Rachel added quietly.
"That was why Thomas started threatening her."
Daniel looked angry.
"Threatening her how?"
Margaret looked down.
"He said if I told anyone, he would destroy everything."
Claire felt sick.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
Margaret's voice cracked.
"Because I was afraid he would hurt you."
Claire looked away.
She wanted to stay angry.
She wanted to blame someone.
But seeing her mother break under the weight of years of fear made it harder.
Daniel walked toward the table.
"What happened to Thomas?"
Rachel answered.
"He vanished."
"When?"
"Shortly after the investigation began."
Daniel looked at the documents.
"Everyone thought he escaped."
Rachel shook her head.
"No."
Everyone looked at her.
"He didn't escape."
The room became colder.
"What are you saying?" Claire asked.
Rachel took a slow breath.
"Thomas Reed died."
Daniel frowned.
"Then why are we still talking about him?"
Rachel looked at Ethan.
"Because someone else continued what he started."
The words settled over them.
Someone else.
Claire immediately looked around the room.
The idea that another person was involved made everything worse.
"Who?"
Rachel shook her head.
"I do not know."
Daniel looked frustrated.
"Then why bring all this here?"
Rachel reached into the folder.
"Because I found this."
She placed a small envelope on the table.
Margaret looked at it and immediately recognized it.
Her face changed.
"Where did you get that?"
Rachel answered quietly.
"From the storage room beneath the old hospital."
Daniel picked it up.
"Why was it there?"
Rachel looked at Margaret.
"Because someone wanted it hidden."
Claire watched her mother.
"Mom."
Margaret slowly sat down.
"I never opened it."
"Why?"
"Because I was afraid of what I would find."
May you like
Daniel opened the envelope carefully.
Inside was another letter.
