Chương 3
“No.”
“Then how did she find you?”
“I don’t know.”
Mara gave a short, humorless laugh.
“You don’t know a lot right now.”
“I know.”
She closed her eyes for a moment.
The exhaustion from labor pressed against her bones, but the anger kept her awake.
“Daniel, I need you to stop saying that like it fixes anything.”
He nodded.
“I’m sorry.”
“That’s different.”
“I know.”
She almost told him not to say it again, but the words stayed in her throat.
Daniel leaned forward.
“She said she had information about a baby.”
Mara’s face tightened.
“Our baby?”
“No.”
The answer came too quickly.
She noticed.
“What does that mean?”
Daniel swallowed.
“She said the baby was connected to something that happened before we met.”
“Then why is my name on the paperwork?”
“I don’t know yet.”
“Yet?”
He looked at her.
“I was trying to find out before I told you.”
Mara looked down at Lillian.
The baby’s mouth opened slightly as she slept.
A tiny movement.
A tiny reminder that she had spent months preparing for a future that suddenly felt like it belonged to someone else.
“You were investigating my life without telling me.”
“I was trying to protect you.”
“No.”
The word came out sharper than she expected.
Daniel stopped.
“Don’t do that.”
“Do what?”
“Turn hiding things into protecting me.”
His jaw tightened.
“I wasn’t trying to betray you.”
“Maybe not.”
She adjusted the blanket around Lillian.
“But you still made the decision that I couldn’t handle the truth.”
Daniel looked down.
“I was afraid.”
“Of what?”
He took a long breath.
“That you would look at me differently.”
Mara felt something inside her shift.
Not because she forgave him.
Because she understood that his fear had never been about the paperwork alone.
There was something deeper.
Something he had carried before today.
“What happened three years ago?” she asked.
Daniel did not answer immediately.
That hesitation pulled at her more than any confession could have.
“Daniel.”
He stood and walked toward the window.
Outside, the parking lot lights glowed against the dark morning.
People moved between cars carrying coffee cups and overnight bags.
Families arrived.
Families left.
Life continued with no interest in what happened inside one hospital room.
“I was married before,” he said.
Mara felt the room become colder.
She knew that.
He had told her about his first marriage.
A short marriage when he was twenty-three.
A divorce before they met.
She had never pushed because he never spoke about it.
“She had a daughter,” Daniel continued.
Mara looked at him.
“What?”
“Rachel was my first wife.”
The name landed differently now.
Not because it explained everything.
Because it created more questions.
“She has a daughter?”
“She did.”
Mara’s hand stopped moving.
“Did?”
Daniel turned around.
“She lost custody.”
“Why?”
He looked toward the baby.
“Because she wasn’t stable.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“It’s the truth.”
“No.”
Mara shook her head.
“It’s your version.”
The words hurt him.
She could see that.
But she could also see something else.
A small flicker of defensiveness.
“I’m not saying she was perfect.”
“Did you love her?”
Daniel looked stunned.
“That was years ago.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
“No.”
The answer was quiet.
“No, I didn’t.”
Mara watched him carefully.
“Then why didn’t you ever tell me about the daughter?”
“Because Rachel disappeared.”
“People don’t just disappear.”
“She did.”
“Or you stopped looking.”
Daniel looked at her.
The silence between them grew.
“I looked.”
“How long?”
He hesitated.
“Daniel.”
“Two years.”
Mara frowned.
“Two years after your divorce?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
His face tightened.
“Because she left something behind.”
The baby stirred.
Mara lowered her voice.
“What did she leave?”
Daniel reached into his jacket again.
This time, he pulled out a small envelope.
He placed it on the table.
“I found this in my storage unit.”
Mara stared at it.
“You have a storage unit?”
“I kept some things after the divorce.”
“And you never mentioned that?”
“No.”
The honesty almost made it worse.
He was finally telling the truth in pieces.
Each piece only revealed another hidden room inside him.
“What’s inside?”
Daniel opened the envelope.
There was a photograph.
He slid it toward her.
Mara looked at it.
A woman stood outside a house she did not recognize.
Rachel.
She looked younger than Mara expected.
Not happy.
Not miserable.
Just tired.
Beside her was a little girl holding a stuffed rabbit.
Mara stared at the child.
“She looks about four.”
“She was four when I last saw her.”
“What was her name?”
Daniel’s voice became softer.
“Lily.”
Mara looked up.
The baby in her arms suddenly felt heavier.
“No.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
“I know.”
“No.”
Mara shook her head.
“That’s not funny.”
“I’m not joking.”
“She named her Lily?”
“Yes.”
“And now we named our daughter Lillian?”
“Yes.”
Mara looked at the photograph again.
The little girl’s face was partly turned away.
She could barely see her features.
But the name sat there between them.
A coincidence.
A horrible coincidence.
Or something else.
“Why did you choose Lillian?”
Daniel’s expression changed.
“Because of my grandmother.”
“Did Rachel know that?”
“I don’t know.”
“You don’t know.”
He flinched.
Mara hated that she kept saying it.
But she did not know what else to say.
A knock came at the door.
Neither of them responded.
The door opened slightly.
A hospital administrator stood there holding a folder.
“Mrs. Whitmore?”
Mara straightened.
“Yes?”
The woman glanced at Daniel.
Then at the baby.
“I’m sorry to interrupt, but there is a documentation issue that needs clarification before discharge.”
Daniel stood immediately.
“What kind of issue?”
The administrator hesitated.
“The birth record review team found a discrepancy.”
Mara felt her stomach tighten.
“What discrepancy?”
The woman looked uncomfortable.
“Your identification was connected to a previous maternal record.”
Daniel moved closer.
“We already know.”
The administrator looked surprised.
“You do?”
Mara noticed that reaction.
A small reaction.
But real.
May you like
“Who reported it?” she asked.
The woman looked between them.
