Chương 5
Daniel looked frozen.
Anna slowly stepped farther into the room, still holding the envelope against her chest.
“I know this is a lot,” she said quietly.
Her voice shook.
“I almost didn’t come.”
Eleanor’s eyes moved between her and Daniel.
“You knew?”
The question was directed at Daniel.
He looked ashamed.
“Yes.”
The answer hurt more than she expected.
Eleanor closed her eyes for a moment.
Another secret.
Another piece of her life that everyone else seemed to know before she did.
“When did you find out?”
Daniel looked at Anna.
Then back at Eleanor.
“A few weeks ago.”
A few weeks.
Eleanor almost smiled from disbelief.
She had been fighting for her life.
She had been lying in that hospital bed wondering if she would survive.
And during all that time, Daniel had been carrying the biggest truth of their entire lives.
“She came to you first,” Eleanor whispered.
Anna lowered her eyes.
“I didn’t know what to do.”
Eleanor looked at her.
The anger inside her softened slightly when she saw the fear in the young woman’s face.
Anna was not standing there like someone who wanted something.
She looked like someone who had spent years searching for a place where she belonged.
“I’m sorry,” Anna said.
The words came quickly.
“I know I can’t just walk into your life and expect anything.”
Eleanor studied her.
“What makes you think you’re my daughter?”
Anna carefully opened the envelope.
Inside were several papers.
She walked closer and placed them on the small table beside Eleanor’s bed.
“I had a DNA test done.”
Daniel looked down.
“She matched.”
Eleanor looked at him.
“You saw the results?”
“Yes.”
“And you still didn’t tell me?”
Daniel’s eyes filled with regret.
“I wanted to make sure.”
Eleanor looked at him in disbelief.
“Make sure?”
“I needed time to understand.”
“No.”
Her voice became stronger.
“You needed time to decide whether I deserved the truth.”
Daniel had no answer.
Anna watched them silently.
She looked uncomfortable being the reason for their pain.
But Eleanor noticed something else.
The way Anna looked at Daniel.
Not with anger.
With disappointment.
Like she had already experienced a lifetime of being let down.
“How did you find us?” Eleanor asked.
Anna took a breath.
“My adoptive mother passed away last year.”
Eleanor listened carefully.
“She left me a letter.”
Anna looked down at the papers.
“She told me she had always known there was something unusual about my adoption.”
Daniel’s expression changed.
“She knew?”
Anna nodded.
“She said my birth records were incomplete.”
Eleanor felt a chill.
“She spent years trying to find answers.”
Anna’s fingers tightened around the envelope.
“Before she died, she gave me everything she had.”
“What did she know?”
Anna looked at Daniel.
“She knew the name of the doctor who arranged my adoption.”
Daniel looked away.
“Thomas Hale.”
Eleanor felt her heart sink.
The same name Daniel had mentioned.
“The doctor who told us our baby died.”
Anna nodded.
“Yes.”
The room became silent.
Three people connected by a truth that had been hidden for almost three decades.
Eleanor looked at Anna again.
She wanted to deny it.
She wanted to say this was impossible.
She wanted to protect herself from another heartbreak.
But something about the young woman’s eyes made that impossible.
They carried the same sadness Eleanor had carried for years.
The same quiet feeling of searching for something missing.
“Did you grow up knowing?” Eleanor asked.
Anna shook her head.
“No.”
Her voice became softer.
“I grew up believing my parents chose me.”
Eleanor felt tears forming.
“They loved me.”
Anna paused.
“And I loved them.”
She looked toward the floor.
“But there was always a part of me that felt like a missing page in a book.”
Eleanor touched her own blanket with trembling fingers.
“I felt that too.”
The words escaped before she could stop them.
Anna looked up.
For a moment, neither of them spoke.
There was no anger.
No accusation.
Only two people recognizing the same emptiness.
Daniel watched them quietly.
Then Anna turned toward him.
“I wanted to meet you before I met her.”
Eleanor looked at her.
“Why?”
Anna hesitated.
“Because I needed to know if my father knew.”
The room went still.
Daniel looked away.
Eleanor immediately understood.
“You knew she existed.”
Daniel’s silence answered.
Anna’s eyes filled with disappointment.
“He told me he thought my mother would not survive the truth.”
Eleanor stared at Daniel.
“What did you tell her?”
Daniel looked broken.
“I told her I was sorry.”
Anna gave a small, painful laugh.
“That was all.”
Daniel looked at her.
“What else could I say?”
“The truth would have been a start.”
Her voice was calm.
But the pain behind it was obvious.
Eleanor watched the two of them.
She had spent years believing Daniel was protecting her.
Now she wondered how many people he had hurt while trying to control a truth that was never his to own.
“Anna,” Eleanor said softly.
The young woman looked at her.
“Did you have a good life?”
The question surprised everyone.
Anna blinked.
Then she nodded.
“Yes.”
A small smile appeared.
“My parents were wonderful.”
Eleanor felt relief and sadness at the same time.
She was grateful Anna had been loved.
But she mourned every moment she had missed.
“Do you have brothers or sisters?”
Anna shook her head.
“No.”
Eleanor looked down.
“Neither do you.”
The words came out quietly.
Anna’s expression changed.
“You mean…”
Eleanor nodded slowly.
“You were my only child.”
Anna covered her mouth.
Tears filled her eyes.
“I always wanted a sibling.”
Eleanor smiled sadly.
“I always wanted to give you one.”
The simple sentence broke something inside both of them.
Anna moved closer.
“I don’t know what I’m supposed to call you.”
Eleanor looked at her.
“You don’t have to call me anything.”
Anna nodded.
“I don’t know how to do this.”
May you like
“Neither do I.”
For the first time, Eleanor saw a small smile appear on Anna’s face.
