Chương 6
And Emily deserved to know why everyone had fought so hard to keep her away.
She carefully covered Lily with a blanket before leaving the room.
But before she reached the door, a small voice stopped her.
"Mommy?"
Emily turned immediately.
Lily was awake, her eyes half open.
"Where are you going?"
Emily walked back and sat beside her.
"I have to find some answers."
Lily looked worried.
"Are you leaving me?"
The question shattered something inside Emily.
She took Lily’s hand.
"Never."
The little girl studied her face.
"Promise?"
Emily nodded.
"I promise."
Only after Lily closed her eyes again did Emily leave.
The old Carter estate sat on the edge of the city, hidden behind tall iron gates and overgrown trees.
Emily had not been there in eighteen years.
She remembered it as a place filled with laughter.
Her father’s voice in the hallway.
Her mother’s piano in the living room.
Family dinners where everyone pretended everything was perfect.
But when she arrived that morning, the estate looked nothing like her memories.
The house stood silent beneath the gray sky.
The windows were dark.
The garden was abandoned.
The place looked like it had been waiting for someone to return.
Emily stepped out of the car.
Her heart beat faster with every step toward the front door.
Before she could knock, the door opened.
Alexander stood there.
She stopped.
"What are you doing here?"
He looked exhausted.
"I knew you would come."
Emily’s expression hardened.
"You don't get to predict me anymore."
Alexander accepted the anger in her voice.
"I understand."
"No, you don't."
She walked past him.
"You lost that right."
Inside, the house smelled like old wood and dust.
But beneath that familiar scent was something else.
Something that made Emily uneasy.
Someone had been living there recently.
"Where is he?" she asked.
Alexander looked toward the hallway.
"Upstairs."
Emily froze.
"You really saw him?"
"Yes."
"And you didn't call the police?"
Alexander looked away.
"Because I didn't know if he was a victim or the person behind everything."
Emily stared at him.
For once, she saw genuine uncertainty in his face.
Not control.
Not secrecy.
Fear.
They walked upstairs together.
Every step brought back memories Emily had buried.
The room at the end of the hallway was her father’s study.
The door was slightly open.
Emily pushed it slowly.
The room was empty.
But on the desk sat a single photograph.
Emily picked it up.
Her hands began shaking.
It was a picture of her as a child.
Standing beside her father.
And beside them was a baby wrapped in a white blanket.
Emily looked closer.
The baby wore a small silver necklace.
The same necklace Lily had.
"That's impossible."
Alexander stood behind her.
"What is it?"
Emily turned the photo around.
"That necklace belonged to my family before I was born."
Alexander looked confused.
"So?"
"So Lily was not the first child connected to it."
A sound came from behind them.
A slow clap.
Emily turned around.
An older man stood in the doorway.
His hair was gray.
His face showed years of hardship.
But Emily knew those eyes.
She had seen them in childhood photographs.
Her entire body went cold.
"Dad?"
The man looked at her.
For a moment, neither of them moved.
Then he whispered her name.
"Emily."
The world seemed to stop.
She took a step backward.
"No."
Her voice trembled.
"You are dead."
The man looked down.
"I wanted to be."
Emily felt anger replace shock.
"You wanted to be?"
She walked toward him.
"You let me believe you were dead."
"I was trying to protect you."
The words made her laugh bitterly.
"Everyone says that."
Her eyes filled with tears.
"Everyone says they were protecting me."
She pointed toward the photograph.
"Was this why?"
Her father looked at the image.
His expression changed.
"Where did you find that?"
Emily held it up.
"You tell me."
The man remained silent.
Alexander stepped forward.
"You owe her the truth."
Emily looked at him.
"Don't defend him."
"I am not."
Alexander shook his head.
"I am saying he is the only person who can explain what happened."
Her father walked into the room slowly.
He looked older than he should have.
Tired.
Broken.
Like someone who had spent years running from something.
"Five years ago, Lily was not taken because of your family."
Emily watched him carefully.
"Then why?"
He looked at the necklace.
"Because of mine."
The answer confused her.
"My family?"
He nodded.
"There was another Carter child."
Emily’s breath caught.
"What?"
Her father looked at her.
"Before you were born, your mother and I had another daughter."
The room went silent.
Emily felt like the floor disappeared.
"No."
Her father continued.
"She was taken when she was a baby."
Emily stared at him.
"That's impossible."
"I spent my life searching for her."
His voice cracked.
"And when I finally found evidence she was alive, I discovered something worse."
Emily whispered.
"What?"
"She was connected to the same people who wanted Lily hidden."
Alexander looked stunned.
"Are you saying..."
Emily turned toward him.
But her father answered.
"Yes."
He looked directly at Emily.
"The woman who took Lily knew about your sister."
Emily felt a chill.
"Who?"
Her father looked toward the photograph.
"The woman who raised Victoria Hayes."
Emily’s face changed.
"What does Victoria’s family have to do with my sister?"
Her father walked toward the desk.
He opened a hidden compartment beneath it.
Inside was a folder.
Old documents.
Medical records.
Photographs.
And one name written across the first page.
Emily reached for it.
Her fingers froze before touching the paper.
Because she already knew something inside that folder would change everything.
Her father spoke quietly.
"Your daughter was not hidden because someone wanted to destroy your family."
He looked at her with tears in his eyes.
"She was hidden because someone was trying to stop the truth from coming out."
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Emily opened the folder.
The first photograph inside showed a young woman holding a newborn baby.
